Rewilding Britain is a group that was started in 2015. Its goal is to help restore nature in Great Britain. It is a charity registered in England, Wales, and Scotland.
Rewilding is a way to help ecosystems recover by increasing the variety of plants and animals and by letting natural processes happen again. It is different from other ways of restoring ecosystems because it tries to reduce how much humans affect nature. Rewilding also focuses on bringing back the specific interactions and functions that existed in an area before humans changed it.
The history of wolves in Yellowstone includes the removal, absence, and return of gray wolves (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone National Park and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. When the park was established in 1872, wolf populations were already decreasing in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. The creation of the national park did not protect wolves or other predators, and government programs to control predators in the early 1900s helped remove gray wolves from Yellowstone.
A nature reserve is a protected area that is important for plants, animals, fungi, or special natural features. These areas are set aside and managed to protect wildlife and natural features, and to allow people to study or research them. Governments or private groups, like charities and research organizations, may create these reserves.
The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) includes special areas around the world that have many different kinds of plants, animals, and cultures. These areas, called biosphere reserves, show how people and nature can live together in harmony. They help promote ways to use resources without harming the environment for future generations.
Protected areas or conservation areas are places that are protected because they have important natural or cultural features. These areas limit human activity and the use of natural resources, such as firewood, non-timber forest products, and water. The term “protected area” includes both marine protected areas and areas that cross borders between countries.
The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88–577) is a law about managing federal lands.
The National Wilderness Preservation System includes 806 wilderness areas that protect 111,889,002 acres (174,826.566 mi²; 452,798.73 km²) of federal land as of 2023. Four agencies manage these areas. These wilderness areas cover about 4.5% of the United States’ total land area, which is larger than the state of California.
Since 1872, the United States National Park System has expanded from one protected area, Yellowstone National Park, to include 431 natural, historical, recreational, and cultural places across the United States, its territories, and islands. These areas consist of 63 National Parks, as well as National Monuments, National Memorials, National Military Parks, National Historic Sites, National Parkways, National Recreation Areas, National Seashores, National Scenic Riverways, and National Scenic Trails.
Bycatch, also called by-catch, is a fish or other sea creature that is caught accidentally when fishing for certain types of fish or sizes. This happens when the wrong species, the wrong sex, or young or small fish of the target species are caught. The term “bycatch” is sometimes used for animals caught unintentionally in other types of hunting or collecting.