Rewilding increasingly attracts private investment through carbon markets, wildlife tourism, and ecosystem service payments, creating new economic models that can fund animal welfare at landscape scale.
Rewilding economics matters for animal welfare because it determines the scale and sustainability of habitat restoration. When rewilded land generates competitive economic returns through carbon credits and wildlife tourism, private landowners have market incentives to restore habitat that supports animal welfare at landscape scale. Knepp Estate demonstrates that pasture-raised cattle at low density, alongside wild deer and ponies as ecological proxies for extinct megafauna, can generate wildlife welfare benefits while maintaining economic viability. Payment for ecosystem services frameworks — valuing flood prevention, water purification, and carbon storage — can direct public and private investment to the landscapes that provide the greatest welfare and ecological returns.