The International Union on the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Resolution WCC 2020 Res 085, which underpins the formation of our inter-commissional working group tasked with establishing principles, guidelines and an IUCN policy on rewilding, was adopted by IUCN Council early 2021.

Since then, a number of developments have occurred. First, nearly all commissions have appointed focal points, and two secretariat focal points have been allocated to this resolution.

Second, two co-chairs for the rewilding working group have been appointed: Nathalie Pettorelli and James Butler. Nathalie is a senior scientist at the Zoological Society of London; her expertise includes biodiversity monitoring, environmental management, and conservation biology. James is a senior scientist based at CSIRO in Australia; his expertise includes sustainability, resilience, human-wildlife conflict and adaptive co-management. Nathalie is a member of the Mangrove Specialist Group while James is a member of the Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group.

The two co-chairs have now established basic principles around how Resolution 85 should be delivered and terms of reference for working groups members. They are currently finalising working group membership, and want this working group to work in an extremely transparent way – meaning that all members will be asked to disclose any IUCN membership and conflict of interest, and that regular updates on progress will be posted on this website.