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Environment

How a surprising twist on rewilding could help settle our carbon debt

We’ve pumped huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that needs to be paid back. Large animals like wolves, bison and whales may already be tackling the problem

By Graham Lawton

24 March 2025

Rewilded Bison - Romania?s Tarcu mountains Daniel M?rlea Fee agreed

Daniel Mîrlea

In the Èšarcu mountains of Romania, a pioneering experiment is changing the atmosphere around rewilding. Starting in 2014, around 100 European bison were gradually reintroduced to the area, having been wiped out by hunting more than 200 years ago. They now number more than 170 and graze over some 48 square kilometres. That is a success story in itself. But there is more to this project than just bringing back the big beasts. Their domain has also become a carbon hoover, sucking an estimated 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the air every year, equivalent to taking 43,000…

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