Rewilding

noun (uncountable); also gerund/present participle

/ˌriːˈwaɪl.dɪŋ/

A large-scale conservation strategy that aims to restore self-regulating, biodiverse ecosystems by reintroducing apex predators and other keystone species, reinstating natural processes (fire, flood, predation), and reducing human management intervention to allow nature to recover. The concept was articulated by Michael Soulé and Reed Noss in their 1998 paper introducing the '3 Cs' framework: Cores (protected areas), Corridors (wildlife passages), and Carnivores (apex predators). India's Project Cheetah — reintroduction of cheetahs at Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, beginning September 2022 — is the world's first inter-continental wild carnivore translocation and a flagship rewilding initiative.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

India's Project Cheetah marks a paradigm shift from passive habitat protection to active rewilding, with the translocation of Namibian and South African cheetahs to Kuno National Park intended to restore trophic regulation lost since the species' local extinction in 1952.

Synonyms

ecological restorationspecies reintroductionlandscape restorationtrophic rewilding

Antonyms

domesticationland cultivationconservation management (passive contrast)degradation

🌱 Word Family

rewild (verb), rewilded (adjective), rewilderness (noun, rare), conservation corridor (noun phrase), reintroduction (noun)

🔡 Root

Old English re- = again; Old English wild = in a natural state; -ing = continuous process

📜 Etymology

The term rewilding is a modern coinage (late 20th century), first appearing in conservation biology literature in the 1990s. It was popularised by Dave Foreman's Wildlands Project (1991) and the foundational Soulé–Noss paper (1998), then brought to mainstream readership by George Monbiot's 2013 book Feral.

🧠 Memory Hook

RE (again) + WILD (natural state). Rewilding = making nature wild again. Imagine a farmed field slowly returning to jungle as wolves are reintroduced, deer populations are regulated, and trees reclaim the land — that is rewilding: letting wildness return.

🌿 Environment & Ecology 📖 Seen in: Ecology Fundamentals — Ecosystems, Foo...

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