Photo detail / credit: Peace Parks Foundation
At the heart of every successful rewilding project is the desire to restore nature’s balance and foster resilient ecosystems. Animating the Carbon Cycle (ACC) offers a powerful approach to enhance these efforts by integrating carbon sequestration into your conservation initiatives.
As the global rewilding movement gains momentum, it’s crucial to scale up and emphasize how restoring nature can simultaneously address climate and ecological crises.
The impact of wild animals on the carbon cycle is becoming increasingly relevant in nature-based climate solutions. ACC offers a transformative approach by recognizing animals not just for their intrinsic value but also for their role in regulating the climate. By restoring and protecting key wildlife species, we can significantly boost CO2 sequestration and improve ecosystem resilience.
Rewilding is rooted in practical action. Integrating ACC into your initiatives can lead the way in demonstrating the possibilities and benefits of this approach, inspiring others to take similar steps.
Together, we can animate the carbon cycle, bolster biodiversity, and help keep the 1.5°C climate target within reach.
Photo detail / credit: Rewilding, WWF Tasmania
Photo detail / credit:
Junglo Rewilders – Bali, Indonesia
THE BENEFITS FOR PRACTITIONERS OF WORKING WITH ACC
Increase CO2
capture & storage
Boost
biodiversity
Increase
project impact
Get new funding
opportunities
Global
recognition
SPREAD THE WORD: TAKE ACTION
Those already engaged with rewilding are ideally placed to help advance the ACC concept at both a practical and theoretical level.
Become an Alliance Partner
If you’re not part of our growing global movement, come join us! As a rewilding organisation, your expertise and passion are invaluable assets that can shape the future of rewilding efforts globally. It’s free to join, learn more here!
Spread the word
Share the importance of ACC with your networks and the broader conservation community. Reach out to key government decision-makers involved in climate and biodiversity negotiations.
Focus on high-potential species
Identify and promote wildlife species that significantly influence the carbon cycle in your region.
Collaborate with scientists
Engage with the scientific community to advance ACC research, validating and expanding the science behind it.
Professor Oswald Schmitz of the Yale School of Environment, lead author of the report and developer of the ACC model
Photo detail / credit: Osprey, Rewilding Europe
– Neil Aldridge
READ: Global Tiger Density Linked With Forest Carbon Stock, Top-Down and Bottom-Up
A new study, published in Global Change Biology (Roberts et al., MAY 2025),reveals that forests with healthy populations of wild Tigers store more carbon and remove more CO₂ from the atmosphere than ‘empty forests’ without Tigers. This connection between wild animals and carbon sequestration provides additional compelling evidence that wildlife recovery is a critical, yet often overlooked, tool in climate mitigation.
Image credit: Alexas_Fotos on Pixabay
Join the Global Rewilding Alliance
As a rewilding organisation, your expertise and passion are invaluable assets that can shape the future of rewilding efforts globally.
Together, we can be a stronger collective force – we can learn more quickly, amplify our voices, create a stronger evidence base, advocate for supportive policies, and build partnerships.
You’re not alone anymore! It’s free to join, let’s rewild the Earth together.
Photo detail / credit: Rhino – Peace Parks Foundation
NEXT STEPS
If you’re a rewilding organisation and want to enhance your rewilding projects
Join the GRA
If you’re not part of the GRA yet, find out more and apply now to become an Alliance Partner
Apply the ACC Model
If you want to apply the model to your project,
get in touch with our team
SCIENTISTS & ORGANISATIONS BEHIND
This initiative is led by a partnership between the Global Rewilding Alliance and Yale School of the Environment.
This work would not have been possible without our Rewilding Champions. A great thank you to:
Biophilia Foundation, Rewilding Europe, Rewilding Chile, IFAW, André Hoffmann, Ben Goldsmith, Re:wild. We also want to thank One Earth and the WILD Foundation for helping us get started on his important initiative.
Together, this coalition advocates a very clear solution: preserving intact nature and immediately restoring and rewilding functional ecosystems at landscape and seascape scale. You can find out more about us here.