🐟 Endangered Species Day | Baltic sturgeon – the fish that survived the dinosaurs, but did not survive humans
For thousands of years, it swam in the waters of the Baltic Sea and the Oder River. It reached up to 4 metres in length and 350 kilograms in weight. It could live for several decades, and its ancestors date back to the age of the dinosaurs.
Overfishing, pollution, dam construction, river straightening and concrete embankments — within just a few decades, humans erased a species that had survived for millions of years. In 1996, the last wild sturgeon in the Baltic Sea was caught in Estonia.
For years, it was believed that the Baltic Sea had been home to the European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio). Only DNA analyses revealed that the Baltic sturgeon was in fact the Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) — a species that still survives today in the rivers of Canada's eastern coast. That discovery changed everything.
Since 2006, more than 2 million juvenile sturgeons from Canada's Saint John River have been released into the Oder River. Tagged fish are now appearing along the coasts of Baltic countries, Norway, Denmark, the British Isles and the Loire estuary in France.
August 2022 — a major blow. Scientists assessed that the programme was close to a breakthrough — the first natural spawning in the Oder could have been only a matter of years away. The ecological disaster on the Oder — caused by a bloom of toxic golden algae — killed millions of aquatic organisms. Most of the 1,000+ young sturgeons released that spring did not survive.
Despite this, the work continues. In May 2024, more juvenile sturgeons were released into the Oder. Reintroduction also began in Sweden for the first time. But sturgeon reach sexual maturity only after 15–20 years. The first natural spawning has still not yet occurred.
The Oder remains the last large river in the region where fish can still migrate freely over long distances. The Oder Delta may play a key role in the future of this species in Europe.
This story is not over yet.
📷 Photos 1, 4, 5, 7: Jon Juarez | Photos 2, 3, 6: Magnus Lundgren
#rewilding #reintroduction #endangeredspecies #sturgeon #baltic
Nicpoń (Rascal) is a lynx born in 2023 at the in-house breeding facility run by the ZTP (West Pomeranian Nature Society). He was released in March 2024 as part of a lynx reintroduction project.
After his release he lived in the wild, however his collar stopped working and we lost contact with him. In April 2026 he was spotted and recaptured, as he was found to be in poor condition. He was taken to the ZTP Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre where he underwent treatment. Within a short time he was assessed as ready for re-release.
In the project, lynxes are not only prepared for life in the wild, but also monitored and cared for after release. When concerning signals arise, appropriate action is taken. Nicpoń has returned to where he belongs — to nature. He was released in the Rokita Forest District.
Every lynx returned to the wild, every successful treatment and every new chance is a unique moment. That is why, during such occasions, everyone wants to preserve at least a fragment of the event. This reel was made from shared footage by witnesses of the release:
Zachodnopomorskie Towarzystwo Przyrodnicze • Nadleśnictwo Rokita • Rewilding Oder Delta
These activities are carried out by the West Pomeranian Nature Society as part of the LIFE LYNX PL LT DE Project "Expanding the range of the lynx population in northern Poland", co-financed by the European Union, Narodowy Fundusz Ochrony Środowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej, and the WWF Poland Foundation.
Rewilding Oder Delta is a project partner together with:
Zachodniopomorskie Towarzystwo Przyrodnicze
WWF Poland
Nadleśnictwo Spychowo, Lasy Państwowe
Ekosistemų apsaugos centras
#LIFEprogramme #LIFEproject #LIFEprojects #biodiversity #eugreendeal
Der Wendehals (*Jynx torquilla*) braucht lebendige Landschaften mit alten Bäumen, offenen Flächen und vor allem Ameisen. Genau diese Vielfalt ist in Europa im 20. Jahrhundert durch intensive Landwirtschaft und Habitatverlust massiv zurückgegangen. In Deutschland steht er heute auf der Roten Liste.
Rewilding soll genau das fördern, vielfältige Landschaften, in denen solche Arten wieder eine Chance haben. Im Video sprechen wir von einer Rückkehr, aber der Wendehals ist nie ganz verschwunden. In vielen Regionen waren die Bestände jedoch so niedrig, dass eine Fortpflanzung kaum noch möglich war.
#Wendehals #Rewilding #Artenvielfalt #Naturschutz #Wildtiere
Out in the field with Rewilding Delta: tracking wildlife and collecting wolf scat for DNA research.
#rewilding #wildlife #fieldwork #conservation #ecology
Spring doesn't just arrive. It's built.
While the forest was still frozen, a big wild boar family was already at work — rooting, turning, opening the soil. Every snout a plow. Every rooted patch a future microhabitat for insects, amphibians, and plants most people will never notice.
Boar rooting can increase plant species diversity in an area by up to 30%. They do for free what foresters spend thousands on.
This is what spring preparation actually looks like.
🎥 Trail cam | 🐗 Silent Engineers of the Forest: Sus scrofa
#Rewilding #wildboar #CameraTraps #wildlife #oderdelta
No conservation plan. No funding. No committee meetings.
Just one beaver family that showed up and quietly changed everything.
This dam transformed the entire area — water levels rising, new wetlands forming, the whole landscape shifting on its own terms.
This World Water Day we were reminded that water shapes everything around it. Turns out beavers already knew that. 🦫💚
That's the beauty of rewilding. Sometimes nature doesn't need our help. It just needs a chance.
🦫 #WorldWaterDay #rewilding #beavers #wildlife #naturerestoration
Trockene Böden. Leere Gräben. Gewässer, die jedes Jahr ein Stück schrumpfen.
Das kennen wir hier.
Und dann kommt einer mit Fell, Nagezähnen und einer ziemlich guten Idee vom Wasserhalten. 🦫
Wo der Biber baut, bleibt das Wasser.
Wo Wasser bleibt, kommen Libellen, Fische, Frösche. Und irgendwann steht da wieder ein lebendiges Moor. Man hört es. Man riecht es. Man sieht es wachsen. 🦋🐟
Wir müssen die Landschaft nicht neu erfinden.
Wir müssen ihr nur wieder Raum geben.
In der Lebenslandschaft Vorpommern arbeiten wir mit Landnutzer:innen, Gemeinden und Partnern daran, Wasser zurückzubringen – Schritt für Schritt, Graben für Graben.
Wenn du wissen willst, wo das passiert, wer mitmacht oder wie du dich einbringen kannst:
Schau dir unsere Arbeit und die Geschehnisse in der Lebenslandschaft Vorpommern an. Wir haben auch Infos darüber, was du tun kannst, wenn du Biberspuren auf deinem Grundstück entdeckst.
👉Link in Bio.
Gemeinsam mehr Natur wagen.
In der Lebenslandschaft Vorpommern arbeitet Rewilding Oder Delta zusammen mit dem @mein_vorpommern , der @succowstiftung und der OSTSEESTIFTUNG. Die Region liegt anteilig im Hotspot 30 der biologischen Vielfalt.
Zusammen mit der @postcodelotterie für den natürlichen Klimaschutz mit dem Biber.
@rewildingeurope
Produziert von @biofilm.sichtbar.nachhaltig und @paul.sland
🗣️Gesprochen von @pitch.and.honey
Konzept und Story von @pitch.and.honey
#BMUKN #BfN #ANK #PostcodeEffect #LebenslandschaftVorpommern #Biber
“Ostsee im Herz” - a song about life along our coast.
From ringed plovers on the shore to seagrass meadows beneath the waves – everything is connected.
Seagrass meadows store carbon, provide habitat for marine life, and help sustain a resilient Baltic Sea ecosystem.
Perhaps you have just been visiting the Baltic Sea and enjoyed the clear water and clean beaches. This may make it all the more difficult to believe that the Baltic Sea is in poor condition. Human impacts such as over-fertilisation of field crops and bottom trawling are severely decreasing the health of the Baltic Sea.
With “Ostsee im Herz” (“Baltic Sea at Heart”), we aim to raise awareness about the importance of protecting, restoring and rewilding vital Baltic Sea habitats.
To move from awareness to action, we’ve published recommendations for restoring and rewilding the Baltic Sea – including practical steps for policymakers and outlining the need to involve communities and individuals.
👉 Link in bio.
Coast. Sea. Diversity.
Together for a healthy Baltic Sea. 💙
#BfN #BMUKN #RewildTheBaltic #OstseeImHerz #BalticSea #MarineRestoration #Seagrass #Rewilding #Biodiversity #ClimateAction #CoastalEcosystems #TogetherForNature #ostsee #ostseeküste
@rewildingeurope
Concept and lyrics by @pitch.and.honey and Laura Meinecke.
Illustrations and animation @elsa.ollin
Fieldwork isn't always glamorous. Today's mission: retrieving camera traps set up around the water's edge — which meant scrambling through muddy banks and wet undergrowth, trousers off, no complaints. Cold, messy, and absolutely worth it. This is how we get the data. This is how we find out what's been passing through.
Rewilding isn't just watching nature come back — sometimes you have to wade into the mud to be part of it.
If you're waiting for the perfect moment to do something meaningful for nature, it's not coming. Just roll up your trousers and get stuck in. 🌿💧
#Rewilding #FieldWork #CameraTraps #RewildingEurope #NatureRestoration
Der Biber baut. 🦫
Und plötzlich reden alle mit.
Landwirt:innen. Fischer. Naturschützer:innen. Gemeinden.
Zwischen nassen Wiesen und gestauten Gräben prallen Interessen aufeinander – und manchmal wachsen genau dort neue Lösungen.
Unser neuer Film zeigt nicht nur den Biber.
Er zeigt die Menschen in der Landschaft. Ihre Fragen. Ihre Sorgen. Ihre Ideen.
Und wie wir bei Rewilding Oder Delta versuchen, Nutzung und Natur zusammenzubringen – ohne Schönfärberei, aber mit offenem Blick.
Manchmal heißt das: reden.
Manchmal: ausprobieren.
Und manchmal auch: den Biber einfach machen lassen.
Der ganze Film dauert 8 Minuten. Es lohnt sich.
👉Du findest ihn über den Link in unserer Bio.
In der Lebenslandschaft Vorpommern arbeitet Rewilding Oder Delta zusammen mit dem Tourismusverband Vorpommern, der Michael Succow Stiftung und der OSTSEESTIFTUNG. Die Region liegt anteilig im Hotspot 30 der biologischen Vielfalt.
Zusammen mit @postcodelotterie für den natürlichen Klimaschutz mit dem Biber.
@rewildingeurope@hoefegemeinschaft_pommern@bauernverband_ostvorpommern@natural_human_life
Produziert von @biofilm.sichtbar.nachhaltig
Konzept und Story von @natural_human_life und @pitch.and.honey
#BMUKN #BfN #ANK #PostcodeEffect #LebenslandschaftVorpommern #Biber #KNK #beavers #rewilding
In the world of lynxes, it is the female who sets the pace.
And it is this natural strength that we want to restore by protecting wildlife.
Because #rewilding is not just about rebuilding the landscape.
It is about restoring a place for natural roles, instincts, and processes.
For the freedom to be oneself — in the forest and beyond.
On Women's Day, we celebrate all female leaders — in cities and in the wild.
👉 If a lynx had a dating profile, what would she write in her bio?
👉 Which trait of a lynx do you value most: independence, courage, or the fact that she doesn't need a male to raise her offspring?
Photo: Sylwia Rylowska
The forest isn't dangerous. But some situations are.
Most wildlife encounters go unnoticed — animals sense you long before you see them. What creates risk isn't the wolf, the boar, or the bear. It's the unexpected: a mother protecting her young, a startled animal with no escape route, a human who got too close.
Rewilding brings nature back into balance — and that means learning to share space wisely. Knowledge, not fear, is what keeps both us and wildlife safe.
Rewilding Oder Delta is restoring that balance. One species, one habitat, one informed human at a time.
#rewilding #oderdelta #wildlifeawareness #natureeducation #coexistence
