The Oder Delta is building a reputation for rewilding and as a prominent nature tourism destination. Rewilding Europe and local partners have started work on several pilot business projects here, based on the exploration of nature-based economic opportunities. A developing network of local wilderness guides, wildlife watching tours and hides, lodging and other nature-based enterprises is creating jobs and burgeoning support for rewilding. The eventual aim is to develop an alternative, sustainable and competitive model of land and sea use for local landowners, entrepreneurs and residents.

Within the project Wildlife Economies (WLE) we work with 8 other parties on enabling nature-based enterprises in 4 European regions, including Oder Delta. Efforts in tourism promotion, education and communication are also creating positive attitudes for a wilder delta and a wilder Europe. Growth in the local wildlife watching business is increasingly benefitting delta communities, with the first tourism packages offered from local outfitters via the European Safari Company.

A completed project funded by the Krombacher Brewary saw DUH identify and protect suitable feeding habitats for the lesser spotted eagle in the delta’s Ueckermünde Heath area. In Germany this beautiful raptor is one of the rarest breeding bird species, with only about 100 breeding pairs left in the northeastern part of the country, most of them in the Oder Delta rewilding area and its surroundings. Nest protection shields were also installed to protect eagle nests against predation in order to boost breeding success.

With funding from the German Postcode Lottery, the Rewilding Oder Delta team have started work on the return of elk to Germany. Polish elk have done well in the Oder Delta area in recent decades and are now starting to expand their range across the Oder River. Working with local communities along the Polish border, the team are helping people to get ready for elk – adapting to the presence of one of Europe’s big herbivores.

The team are also working with partners from across Europe to look at how natural grazing can fit into existing agricultural systems and improve European policy so that wild animals, particualry the big herbivores can once again play their role as keystone species in Europe’s wild areas.

Many streams and smaller rivers on the northeastern Baltic Sea coast of Germany are currently in very poor condition. The reintroduction of species (such as salmon, sturgeon and sea trout) here means that aquatic habitats urgently need to be improved.
The Rewilding Oder Delta team is working to restore fish populations and fish migration in the Szczecin Lagoon and associated rivers, in collaboration with local communities and the State Office for Agriculture and the Environment in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Activities, which focus on rivers in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, include the rewilding of river banks, the restoration of natural hydrodynamics, the removal of obstacles to support fish migration, and the re-wetting of areas adjacent to waterways. Likewise, on the Polish side, Rewilding Oder Delta partner – TPRIIG – is rebuilding spawning gravels and reducing poaching to enable the return of migratory fish such as salmon and trout.