When I donate, what happens with my money? 

Every single penny goes directly toward our rewilding efforts. In our daily work, we constantly strive to reduce our consumption. If we want to establish a hiking trail, we try to use materials found on-site as much as possible, rather than, for example, purchasing pressure-treated posts and boards. If we need a footbridge, we build it from what happens to surround us. Similarly, we don’t purchase saplings; instead, we relocate trees, shrubs, and herbs. Consequently, a large portion of the donations we receive goes toward labor costs. Rewilding doesn’t require high consumption – it requires work.

Why should I donate to The Romantics' Reserve?

In just a few years, we have succeeded in transforming the biological deserts that are monocultures, into habitats for several red-listed species, never before observed in the area. Perhaps most importantly, we have created the necessary conditions, not just for red-listed species, but for a great variety of species to thrive.  Hypothetically, a spruce plantation could be rewilded simply by leaving it to its own devices for a few hundred years. Sooner or later, natural processes would transform it into something resembling old-growth forest. The problem, however, is that we are currently living through a sixth mass extinction; we simply do not have the time to sit back and wait for species to return on their own. By then, many of them will no longer exist. They need active help – now.

What is rewilding?

Rewilding is a collective term for a wide range of experiments taking place across the globe, all aimed at attempting to restore a wilder nature. This process can happen in many ways. In some places, the focus is on releasing horses and cattle into the wild, in the hope that they will eventually give rise to new populations of wild horses and kine. Elsewhere, underwater structures are built to provide a foundation where corals can grow. Our method, which we call 'rewilding, regreening, and rebeautifying,' is slightly different. We do not work with individual keystone species, but with the very ecosystem that forms the foundation for the survival of all species. We work with the forest. Almost all forests in Sweden have been so heavily affected by humans that it has lost its ability to sustain the entire web of life we call biodiversity. Often, what we name a forest is, in fact, a plantation. The trees, all of the same species, stand at regular intervals. The wetlands have been drained. There are no clearings. The number of dead trees, which are vital for so many forms of life, has been reduced to a minimum. The ground flora consists of only a few species. In short, this is a place that no longer possesses the capacity to support a diversity of life. Releasing wild horses here, for example, would be pointless since the conditions for their continued survival are entirely absent. Before anything like that can happen, the forest must first undergo a transformation. The plantation must become a real forest again.