The economic case for rewilding is increasingly well-evidenced, but securing social licence from rural communities remains a critical challenge for large-scale rewilding projects across the UK and Europe.
Rewilding creates welfare benefits for wild animals by restoring natural habitats and ecological processes. However, economic and social licence challenges are genuine welfare considerations too — communities that feel their livelihoods are threatened may respond with hostility to wildlife, increasing persecution pressure on reintroduced and recovering species. Genuine co-design of rewilding projects with local communities, fair compensation for livestock predation, and equitable sharing of eco-tourism revenues are welfare-supporting economic policies that reduce human-wildlife conflict and create positive incentives for wildlife protection.