Rewilding Britain has now awarded more than £1 million in grants through its Rewilding Innovation Fund, helping ambitious projects across the country bring landscapes, coastlines and marine habitats back to life.
And the latest round of funding shows one thing loud and clear: working with nature is rapidly becoming one of Britain’s best defences against climate change.
From the shores of North Wales to the windswept islands of Orkney, communities are embracing rewilding not as a luxury, but as a practical solution to rising sea levels, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss.
Wales Looks Beneath the Waves
One of the standout projects is the Menai-Connecting Coasts initiative in North Wales, led by the Zoological Society of London and Bangor University.
The project aims to restore marine habitats across the Menai Strait and Conwy Bay, with a particular focus on reviving native oyster reefs.
That may sound niche, but oysters are environmental superheroes. Healthy oyster reefs can improve water quality, boost biodiversity and create thriving underwater habitats for marine life. They can even support local fishing and tourism economies.
The project will now explore where oyster recovery could successfully take place across North Wales, laying the foundations for large-scale marine restoration.
Orkney Fights Back Against Coastal Erosion
Meanwhile, in the Orkney Isles, the Growing Sanday Land & Sea project is tackling one of the biggest threats facing island communities: coastal erosion.
Parts of Sanday sit only a few metres above sea level, and some dunes have already retreated by an astonishing 37 metres.
Instead of relying purely on expensive man-made defences, the community is turning to nature itself.
The project plans to restore kelp forests, dunes and saltmarshes to create natural coastal protection systems capable of helping shield the island from storms and erosion.
It’s a powerful example of how rewilding is no longer just about “letting nature grow wild” — it’s increasingly about helping communities survive and thrive in a changing climate.
More Than Just Wildlife
Other projects receiving funding include river restoration work along Dorset’s River Char to reduce flooding and boost biodiversity, alongside habitat recovery efforts in the Cairngorms National Park, where degraded peatlands, woodlands and freshwater systems are being revived.
And that’s the key point here: rewilding benefits people as well as nature.
Healthier ecosystems can reduce flooding, store carbon, support wildlife, improve water quality and create greener local economies. In many cases, restoring nature is proving cheaper, and far more sustainable, than constantly battling environmental damage after it happens.
Rebecca Wrigley, CEO of Rewilding Britain, said the growing demand for funding reflects the rapid rise of rewilding projects across the country, with communities increasingly choosing long-term nature-based solutions over short-term fixes.
A Wilder Future?
Rewilding Britain wants to see at least 30% of Britain’s land and seas rewilded by 2030, an ambitious target, but one that feels increasingly achievable as projects like these gain momentum.
And perhaps most encouraging of all is the fact that many of these schemes are community-led. From Welsh coastlines to Scottish islands, ordinary people are helping shape a greener, wilder and more resilient future.
Nature, it seems, may finally be getting a fighting chance.
