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Conservation biology: Reflecting the past

Nature volume 462, pages 30–32 (2009)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 02 December 2009

Unsatisfied with merely halting environmental destruction, some conservationists are trying to reconstruct ecosystems of the past. Emma Marris travels back in time with the rewilders.

Fenced off from the modern Dutch countryside is a scene that looks more like a diorama in a natural-history museum than a typical central-European park: a plain is dotted with wild herds of large mammals. Empty of humans and haunted by eagles, it is a vision of a distant past on some of the newest land on Earth — the reserve was only reclaimed from the sea in 1968. It's called the Oostvaardersplassen, and the visionary behind it is Frans Vera, a tall, greying government scientist from Staatsbosbeheer, the organization responsible for overseeing Dutch nature reserves.

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References

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  1. Emma Marris
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Click here for a slideshow of scenes from the Oostvaardersplassen. Click here to hear Emma Marris talk about this story on the this week's Nature Podcast.

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Josh Donlan

The IUCN/SSC Re-Introduction Specialist Group (RSG)

Pleistocene Park

Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area

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Marris, E. Conservation biology: Reflecting the past. Nature 462, 30–32 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/462030a

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