EU24072 WILDCARD (KB-50-003-033)

Rewilding is an important trend in Europe’s forest to achieve benefits of Nature based solutions. These forests need to deliver more and more products and services, where rewilding is one of them. WILDCARD will quantify the impact of rewilding of abandoned agricultural land and of proforestation on carbon removal and on biodiversity conservation. It will account for socio-economic impact through a comprehensive analysis of barriers and opportunities, such as carbon credits and ecosystem services. It will support European policies by producing actionable advice to decision-makers on the uptake of rewilding as a strategic approach to achieve climate neutrality. Wildcard will produce consolidated datasets on site specific trajectories of C stocks and biodiversity following proforestation; Quantify the resistance and resilience of rewilded areas to disturbances with a specific focus on fires; Identify conflicts and challenges related to the two proposed rewilding schemes and the social and technical innovations required to overcome them; Raise awareness by engaging with media and society stakeholders concerning the potential benefits, but also limitations and trade-offs of proposed rewilding approaches; and as last assess policy implications. WR will especially be involved and pull the task to assess the large-scale effects on C and biodiversity in forest and agriculture landscapes. We will do this with a large scale, detailed European forest resource model