Ep. 8: Where wolves walk: natural reforestation and the return of wildlife

As European forests regenerate, wildlife responds, but the relationship is far more complex than animals simply returning to restored habitats. They actively shape forests through browsing, seed dispersal, and creating gaps.

Trishna Dutta from the European Forest Institute studied how wildlife and forest regeneration interact in North Rhine-Westphalia. Her camera traps revealed how changing landscapes become corridors for animal movement. Species colonized new territories.

Ecologist Davide Serva explains habitat connectivity: naturally regenerating forests create pathways through human-dominated landscapes, allowing animals to moveand establish populations. Yet animals don't simply occupy these spaces, they transform them. Predators and prey shape forest structure together. Herbivores influence which plants survive.

This is rewilding as a two-way conversation between land and wildlife, each reshaping the other.

Welcome to WILDCARD: The Forest Game, the scientific podcast that explores Europe's rewilding revolution through real ecological detective stories, uncovering how nature recovers when humans step back and observe.

CREDITS

«WILDCARD. The Forest Game» is a podcast production written by Silvia Giralucci for the WILDCARD projectand Starter.

Featuring: Trishna Dutta, European Forest Institute,Davide Serva, Doñana Biological Station.

Scientific Supervisor: Giorgio Alberti, University of Udine

Editorial Supervisor: Gesche Schifferdecker, European ForestInstitute

Voice-over: Rahel Könen, European Forest Institute

Post-production: Sara Uzquiano, European Forest Institute

Graphic design and visuals: Gabriela Rueda, European Forest Institute

⬇️Audio transcription available HERE:

Learn more about the WILDCARD project: ⁠www.wildcard-project.eu ⁠

European Forest Institute:⁠ www.efi.int ⁠

Follow us also on LinkedIn: ⁠WILDCARD project