Rewilding and Regenerative Agriculture: Partners in Restoring Africa’s Landscapes

Can Conservation and Farming Coexist?

Africa’s landscapes have always been shaped by a dynamic relationship between wildlife, people, and ecosystems. From the vast wooded grasslands where megafauna roam to the mixed farming systems where livestock graze alongside wild herbivores, humans and nature have evolved together for millennia. Yet, traditional perspectives often frame conservation and agriculture as being at odds, as if humans and nature exist separately (Schulte To Bühne, Pettorelli, and Hoffmann, 2022).

However, a shift in thinking is gaining traction—one that recognizes humans as an integral part of natural systems. Rewilding has emerged as a strategy to rejuvenate ecosystems by reintroducing keystone species and rebuilding ecological functions (Svenning et al., 2016). Meanwhile, regenerative agriculture takes a nature-aligned approach, revitalizing soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and promoting sustainable livelihoods (Keesstra et al., 2018). Both positive steps forward in the how humanity views itself in relation to the natural world.

It's obvious, then, that these concepts aren't competing, they're deeply interconnected. In Africa, where people, livestock, and wildlife have always coexisted, rewilding and regenerative agriculture might just be stronger together (Egoh et al., 2021).

Rewilding: A Dynamic Approach to Ecosystem Function

Contrary to popular belief, rewilding isn’t about rewinding time or recreating an untouched wilderness. It’s about restoring ecosystem functions, boosting biodiversity, and increasing resilience in a changing climate (Fahrig, 2003; Perino et al., 2019). This process-driven approach focuses on re-establishing self-sustaining ecosystems rather than freezing nature in a particular state (Du Toit and Pettorelli, 2019). In its essence, rewilding is a dynamic and progressive pursuit. 

At its core, rewilding works by reintroducing ecosystem engineers—species that physically shape their environments. Dung beetles recycle nutrients (Hajji et al., 2024), hippos maintain water channels, and elephants transform woodlands into open savannas (Berzaghi et al., 2019). These species drive ecological processes like nutrient cycling, seed dispersal, and habitat structuring (Svenning et al., 2019). Without them, landscapes lose their resilience, and key ecological functions falter (Atkins et al., 2019).

In Africa, rewilding can’t happen in isolation from people. Traditional land-use practices—fire regimes, rotational livestock grazing, and controlled hunting—have shaped these ecosystems for millennia (MacDonald et al., 2017; Fernández, Navarro, and Pereira, 2017). Pastoralist grazing patterns, for example, mimic the natural movements of large herbivores, reducing bush encroachment and maintaining the balance between grasslands and woody vegetation (Guyton et al., 2020). These human-driven processes aren’t in conflict with rewilding—they’re a crucial part of it.

Rather than excluding people, rewilding in Africa should embrace coexistence, leveraging human-wildlife interactions to maintain dynamic, functioning landscapes (Atkinson et al., 2024).

Regenerative Agriculture: Farming with Nature, Not Against It

Industrial agriculture, when practiced unsustainably, has led to soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and weakened resilience to drought and climate change (Kremen, 2015). In response, regenerative agriculture has emerged- not as a rejection of farming, but as a shift toward practices that work with ecosystems while maintaining productivity (Broughton et al., 2021).

Instead of chasing short-term yields, regenerative agriculture works with ecological processes to rebuild soil, enhance biodiversity, and improve water cycles. In many cases, supporting nature rather than fighting it leads to more sustainable and profitable production in the long run (Bullock et al., 2022).

Regenerative principles focus on:

• Building Soil Health: Minimizing soil disturbance, incorporating organic matter, and using livestock grazing to cycle nutrients, promote soil microbial communities and stimulate plant growth (Keesstra et al., 2018; Hajji et al., 2024).
• Enhancing Biodiversity: Integrating tree cover, diversified cropping systems, and habitat corridors while reducing biocide use to support both agriculture and wild species (Lorimer and Driessen, 2016).
• Strengthening Climate Resilience: Improving water retention, restoring degraded lands, and incorporating agroforestry to create more adaptive landscapes (Arya, 2023).

Many farming communities have practiced forms of regenerative agriculture for centuries—from silvopastoral systems that mix livestock with tree crops to rotational cropping that mirrors natural disturbance cycles (Mthembu and Zwane, 2017). The challenge today isn’t inventing new solutions; it’s scaling these existing practices while ensuring they support both livelihoods and ecosystem health (Trepel et al., 2024).

Where Rewilding and Regenerative Agriculture Overlap

These are not contradictory strategies. Rewilding and regenerative agriculture reinforce each other in several key ways:

1. Mixed Farming as a Rewilding Tool Traditional mixed farming systems—where livestock, trees, and crops coexist—already reflect natural ecosystem dynamics. Research shows that integrating livestock grazing with rewilding projects helps restore soil fertility and maintain habitat mosaics or matrix quality (Franklin et al., 2002).

   For instance, pastoralist herders in Kenya and Namibia enhance ecosystem resilience by grazing cattle in patterns similar to migratory herbivores. This prevents overgrazing and maintains a balance between grasses, shrubs, and trees (Ries et al., 2017).

2. Wildlife Corridors Through Agricultural Landscapes One of the biggest challenges in rewilding is habitat fragmentation. But agricultural landscapes don’t have to be barriers—they can serve as stepping stones for wildlife movement (Fahrig, 2003).

   In parts of South Africa, private game reserves, livestock farms, and communal grazing lands are being linked through wildlife corridors. This allows species like leopard and elephant to move more freely while reducing human-wildlife conflict (Gordon et al., 2023). It also provides habitat for vital pollinators and other insects, increasing over all ecosystem health. 

3. Rewilding Soil: Bringing Microbial Life Back to Land Soil is the foundation of all ecosystems, and both rewilding and regenerative agriculture focus on restoring its health. Studies show that introducing grazing animals to degraded landscapes can kickstart soil recovery, cycling nutrients and rebuilding microbial communities (Keesstra et al., 2018).

   In many ways, rewilding isn’t just about large animals—it’s about regenerating soil microbiomes, fungal networks, and insect populations, just like regenerative agriculture (Kalbitzer et al., 2019).

Conclusion: A Shared Future for Africa’s Landscapes

Rewilding and regenerative agriculture aren’t competing ideologies—they’re part of the same broader vision: restoring resilience to our landscapes (Svenning, 2020). Africa, in particular, offers a unique opportunity to combine these approaches, ensuring that wildlife, people, and farming systems thrive together.

By moving beyond the conservation vs. agriculture debate and embracing coexistence, we can create a future where farming regenerates ecosystems, and wild spaces remain connected to human lives.

The real challenge isn’t choosing one over the other—it’s finding ways to make them work together.



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