United for a Wilder Wales: New alliance launches with a vision to restore nature, boost rural jobs, and keep young people in the countryside
Today, a movement from across Wales has launched the Welsh Rewilding Alliance. The Alliance unites local communities, landowners, and organisations through a shared vision: a wilder Wales where nature thrives, rural economies prosper, and we all have better access to wild landscapes.
Alongside the launch of a new report, The Welsh Way to Wild, the Alliance sets out a positive, practical vision for Wales to become a world leader in nature restoration, on its own terms, for its own people. The report reveals the scale of the challenge - and the scale of the opportunity.
Wales is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, ranking 225th out of 240 nations for biological intactness. Around 300 species have been lost since 1800, with overall wildlife abundance declining by 20% in the last thirty years. Two-thirds of land designated for nature protection is in ‘unfavourable’ condition.
The Welsh Rewilding Alliance says that the solutions to these challenges are within reach - and that rewilding can play a central role in reversing these trends while creating new opportunities for rural communities.
Crucially, the public is already on side for the Alliance’s movement. Polling shows that 75% of people in Wales support rewilding, with 82% backing the reintroduction of native species - including 94% for bringing back beavers, the highest level in the UK.
With rural Wales experiencing widespread depopulation due to an ageing population and losses in agricultural jobs - 8,000 lost in a decade and 40% of young people expecting to leave - the Alliance says rewilding offers a route to rural renewal.
Analysis of rewilding projects across Wales and England shows an average uplift in employment of 120% compared with previous land use. Research from Aberystwyth University finds that 75% of young people enjoy living in rural Wales, and 57% of those who have left could be tempted to return if opportunities in employment, housing, and social life were available.
“Rewilding is repopulation,” says Jon Moses, author of the Welsh Way to Wild and core member of the Alliance. “The answer to our social and ecological challenges is the same: we need a diversification of rural life, just as we need a diversification of habitat. Rewilding can help with both: bringing more jobs with more varied career opportunities to bolster traditional rural careers like farming. Crucially, those jobs are aligned with the types of career young people in Wales want but struggle to access within rural areas.”
The Alliance is clear that rewilding in Wales must be uniquely Welsh. With smaller-than-average landholdings than elsewhere in the UK, the approach will need to be collaborative and powered by community action, networking small and medium sites via nature-rich corridors, while seeking opportunities for landscape-scale restoration where possible, as seen at Tir Natur, a core member of the Alliance.
Eben Muse, ambassador for Campaign for National Parks and core member of the Alliance, said: “The Welsh Rewilding Alliance shows what is possible when we come together: restoring nature, renewing hope, and putting local people back at the heart of our Welsh landscapes. Rewilding isn’t about excluding people - it’s about welcoming them back in, to belong, to participate, and to take pride in our shared heritage. Our vision for a wilder Wales is where people’s deep connections to the land enables nature to thrive, where future generations gain better access to wild landscapes, and where decisions about land are genuinely shared.”
The Welsh Rewilding Alliance is made up of the British Mountaineering Council, the Grange Project, Green Valleys, Rewilding Britain, Right to Roam, Tir Natur, and Wye Valley Rewilding as core members, with supporters including Black Mountains College, Campaign for National Parks, Climate Cymru, River Action, Save the Wye, and Tir Pontypridd.
The Alliance is guided by six core aims:
Flourishing ecosystems, where nature is given the space to recover and natural processes can thrive.
Active public and community involvement, so people are part of shaping the future of land and sea in Wales through rewilding.
Strong, diverse rural economies, rooted in nature and creating meaningful, long-term opportunities for local communities.
Supportive policies, laws, and funding that make rewilding possible and effective.
A Wales rich in culture and language, where rewilding contributes to vibrant communities and a thriving Welsh language.
Fairer access to land, recognising the need for land reform in Wales and the opportunities rewilding can offer communities within this.
For more information about the Welsh Rewilding Alliance, please visit www.rewildingalliance.cymru
