The first ever World Rewilding Day is Saturday March 20! 

This is a very important topic for CCT as we start our ambitious programme, Healthy Islands, Healthy Reefs, to rewild the 30 ecologically degraded islands of the outer atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, returning them to refuges for native species and supporting thriving coral reefs.

World Rewilding Day has been launched by the Global Rewilding Alliance, which now boasts more than 115 supporting organisations from across world – these are engaged in a wide range of rewilding actions.

So, what is rewilding? The Global Charter for Rewilding the Earth describes rewilding as helping nature heal. It means giving space back to wildlife and returning wildlife back to the land, as well as to the seas. It also means the mass recovery of ecosystems and the life-supporting functions they provide.

“Rewilding is about allowing natural processes to shape whole ecosystems so that they work in all their colourful complexity to give life to the land and the seas.” 

CCT’s rewilding programme will remove invasive rats and manage abandoned coconut plantations that have had a very negative affect on the biodiversity of the Chagos Archipelago. By removing these negative impacts native vegetation can recover and seabirds can return and recolonise the islands, which in turn support coral reef communities.

#ReadytoRewild #WorldRewildingDay