3.3.7—Rewilding
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Objective
- 3.3.7
- Level
- HL
Rewild Processes, Not a Frozen Picture of Nature
Rewilding aims to restore self-sustaining processes such as predation, grazing, succession, seed dispersal and connectivity.
It may involve reintroductions, habitat reconnection, reduced intensive use or temporary control of invasive pressures. Success is an observable process response, not a return to one imagined past snapshot.
At Hinewai, stopping intensive farming allowed succession after initial non-native control, with native vegetation and birds returning.
Process and outcome—natural regeneration, food-web interactions, habitat connectivity and target species—not only animal counts.
Rewilding is not ‘do nothing everywhere’; early intervention or ongoing safeguards may be necessary.