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Rewilding in Amsterdam: local projects to join

Local Rewilding initiatives in Amsterdam — practical projects you can start or join this week.

In Amsterdam, neighbours are already working on Rewilding, including «Rewilding principles: let nature lead». Start something similar this week, or join an initiative already planned.

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Rewilding ideas in Amsterdam

Rewilding Amsterdam

Rewilding principles: let nature lead

Eleven shared principles for a wilder Europe Practitioners across Europe co-created a set of rewilding principles that guide landscape recovery: letting natural processes shape land and sea, working at nature's scale, and building hope through action today. What you can do - Read the full Rewilding principles and discuss which apply in your watershed or valley - Start a local conversation: grazing, river dynamics, wetland recovery, or wildlife corridors near you - Share the principles with a land manager, park ranger, or councillor who stewards public green space Core ideas (paraphrased) - Letting nature lead: restored processes (flooding, grazing, predation) reshape places without a fixed end state - Working at nature's scale: enough connected space for species and processes to thrive - Building nature-based economies: livelihoods linked to living ecosystems, not extraction alone Why it matters Rewilding is a builder's invitation: less control, more curiosity, and landscapes where people and wild nature share the future.

rewilding principles natural processes

Join inRewilding Amsterdam

Natural grazing and the Wildlife Comeback Fund

Restore herbivore-led landscapes and fund translocations Natural grazing by wild or semi-wild herbivores rebuilds mosaic habitats. The European Wildlife Comeback Fund helps ERN members fund ready-to-go species translocations when permits and feasibility work are complete. What you can do - Learn how grazing shapes grasslands and forests on the natural grazing programme page - If you manage land, explore the Natural Grazing Facility to match herbivore supply and demand across network members - Support or follow comeback projects via the wildlife comeback programme and ERN updates Why it matters Hoofprints and horns are engineers, when grazing returns, flowers, birds, and predators often follow.

natural grazing wildlife comeback herbivores

Rewilding Amsterdam

Rewild abandoned farmland

Let retired fields become self-willed nature again Across Europe, marginal farmland is being abandoned. WILDCARD measures how natural vegetation recovery on those lands affects soil carbon, biodiversity, and community preferences. What you can do - Explore the abandoned agricultural land research stream - Map retired parcels near your town and ask who owns them, many regions lack a public conversation about wilding vs. development - Join local stakeholder forums where WILDCARD pilots dialogue with residents and decision-makers Why it matters When people leave the plough, wildflowers, scrub, and eventually forest can return, if communities choose patience over sprawl.

abandoned land farmland succession

VolunteerRewilding Amsterdam

Restore coastal dunes through native plant communities

Rebuild dunes with marram grass and neighbours Dutch and Belgian coasts rely on living dunes as storm buffers. Natura 2000 Award heroes show how residents transplant marram grass, close illegal paths, and keep dunes breathing. What you can do - Browse Meet the Natura 2000 heroes for coastal dune projects near you - Join municipal dune planting days along the Hollandse Duinen and Zuid-Kennemerland coast - Follow marked boardwalks and help redirect walkers away from fragile slopes How it works Rangers mark zones where foot traffic compacted sand. Volunteers plant plugs, install rope fences, and monitor sand buildup after winter storms. Why it matters Thick dunes shelter villages, recharge groundwater, and host orchids and rabbits that make beach walks feel wild again.

dunes coastal native

VolunteerRewilding Amsterdam

Join a wetland restoration brigade in your river delta

Rewild peat and reedbeds in the delta ARK Rewilding Netherlands works with farmers and volunteers to reopen river channels, graze wetlands lightly, and bring bitterns and spoonbills back to the Rhine–Meuse delta. What you can do - Sign up for ARK volunteer days: removing drains, planting reeds, or building bird hides - Visit rewilding demonstration farms and ask how grazing herds shape wet meadows - Map ditches on your polder walk and share photos with local water boards How it works Brigades work in waders on weekends. Ecologists show which sections can flood safely and which paths stay open for cyclists. Why it matters Wet deltas store floodwater, filter farm runoff, and give city dwellers a weekend marsh full of sound and colour.

wetland delta birds

Rewilding Amsterdam

Proforestation: let forests grow old

Halt management and measure carbon and biodiversity gains The WILDCARD Horizon Europe project studies proforestation, leaving forests to mature without extraction, as a rewilding pathway that can store carbon and shelter rare species. What you can do - Read how WILDCARD assesses proforestation across Mediterranean and Alpine forests on their proforestation work page - Discuss where local woods could keep standing deadwood, old trees, and undisturbed understory - Follow project papers and the WILDCARD Rewilding Forum for stakeholder dialogue Why it matters Old forests are living archives, when we stop treating every stand as timber, climate and wild neighbours both benefit.

proforestation forest carbon

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