Rewilding Law Hub
Helping create the legal foundations for large-scale rewilding
What we do
Lifescape’s Rewilding Law team exists to bridge the gap between legal systems and rewilding practice. Across the UK, Europe and internationally, we work at the interface between lawyers, regulators and rewilding practitioners translating complex legal frameworks into practical, accessible guidance while ensuring that the realities of rewilding on the ground are reflected in legal thinking and decision-making.
As well as developing and sharing legal knowledge, we work directly with rewilding project teams to tackle legal barriers, test innovative solutions and identify opportunities for wider legal reform. We believe that legal knowledge, strategy and system change are essential if rewilding is to reach its full potential.
Our work focuses on three interconnected areas
Legal Guidance for Rewilders
We develop accessible legal guidance designed specifically for people delivering rewilding on the ground. Our guidance notes help rewilders understand the legal frameworks relevant to their work, identify potential barriers early, and navigate regulatory processes with greater confidence.
Working with partners including Rewilding Britain and Rewilding Europe, we have produced guidance covering England & Wales, Scotland, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Romania.
Removing systemic legal barriers
Many legal challenges faced by rewilding projects are not isolated problems — they reflect wider systemic issues within existing regulatory frameworks.
Through our Rewilding Legal Innovation Lab, we work directly with rewilding projects to test innovative approaches and develop practical solutions to legal barriers. By supporting projects as they engage with regulators and implement rewilding activities on the ground, we are able to identify where legal systems are failing to support ecological recovery and where new approaches are needed.
We then share lessons and case studies so that other projects, practitioners and policymakers can benefit from these experiences.
Supporting long-term legal system change
Beyond individual projects, we believe there is a growing need to rethink how law interacts with ecological restoration and wild nature.
We work to identify opportunities for wider legal and policy reform that could better support rewilding at scale: from regulatory interpretation and governance approaches through to new legal frameworks that recognise the dynamic and long-term nature of ecological recovery.
Our aim is not only to help projects navigate existing systems, but to shape legal systems that are better equipped for the environmental challenges of the future.
We discuss all of these issues as part of our Rewilding Law Group.
Why this matters
Work with us
Are you facing legal, regulatory or governance challenges in your rewilding project? Or are you interested in collaborating with us as part of our Rewilding Law Innovation Lab?
Many of the barriers facing rewilding projects are shared across landscapes and jurisdictions. By working together, we can develop practical solutions and help shape legal frameworks that better support nature recovery.