rewilding

1 of 2

noun

re·​wild·​ing (ˌ)rē-ˈwī(-ə)l-diŋ How to pronounce rewilding (audio)
: an effort to increase biodiversity and restore the natural processes of an ecosystem that typically involves reducing or ceasing human activity and often the planned reintroduction of a plant or animal species and especially a keystone species
Rewilding—giving nature the space and opportunity to express itself—is largely a leap of faith.Isabella Tree
Large-scale domestic rewilding projects include dam removal in the Pacific Northwest and in the Northeast to facilitate the return of several endangered species of salmon, as well as reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone National Park, which stabilized and reinvigorated the ecosystem.Carey Smith
The concept of rewilding creates hope; it gives the opportunity to set things right, to link protected areas through corridors, to bring back species once lost, and to revitalize our forests, rivers, and wetlands with all forms of life.Bahar Dutt
The truth of when this forest actually existed and why it disappeared is murky. … Now, a group of visionary conservationists and ecotourism companies are working to revive the landscape through rewilding.Chloe Berge

rewilding

2 of 2

present participle of rewild

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
This project is part of Affric Highlands, the UK's largest rewilding project. Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 16 Apr. 2023 Urban rewilding can't return landscapes to pre-settlement times and doesn't try, said Marie Law Adams, a Northeastern University associate professor of architecture. John Flesher, Detroit Free Press, 7 Dec. 2022 Urban rewilding can’t return landscapes to pre-settlement times and doesn’t try, said Marie Law Adams, a Northeastern University associate professor of architecture. John Flesher, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Dec. 2022 For example: In 2015 the media mogul philanthropist Ted Turner turned his 1.1 million acres in New Mexico into a nonprofit trust called the Turner Reserves to protect them and showcase the massive and expensive rewilding and conservation work being done. Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, 18 Nov. 2022 Funds are being raised for Wilder Blean, all of which will go toward rewilding — a conservation effort intended to replenish land and restore it to its natural state. Sydney Page, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2022 Intent on making the farm a greener, cleaner space for her young children, Bamford also set about planting wildflower meadows and reinstalling hedgerows, now-typical methods of rewilding that were unfashionable at the time. New York Times, 28 July 2021 The most radical plans to curb humanity’s all-consuming effects on the planet—the rewilding movement, for instance, or the biologist E.O. Wilson’s proposal to designate half of the world a nature preserve—necessitate extraordinary levels of human intervention. Mark O’connell, The New York Review of Books, 22 July 2021 As in Los Angeles, which is moving forward with the rehabilitation of its eponymous river, rewilding projects are poised to supplant the concrete jungle with actual jungle. Ian Volner, ELLE Decor, 21 Oct. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rewilding.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

rewild + -ing entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1993, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rewilding was in 1993

Dictionary Entries Near rewilding

Cite this Entry

“Rewilding.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rewilding. Accessed 3 Jun. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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