Legal Status of Natural Grazers

Advancing Restoration Knowledge

A legal framework for rewilding large herbivores.

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Project context

Legal frameworks strongly shape rewilding practice, yet guidance on managing large herbivores remains scattered and difficult to interpret across Europe. Restoration projects increasingly rely on natural grazing by free-living horses, cattle or wild herbivores to support biodiversity, reduce fuel loads and build landscape resilience. However, these animals are often classified as livestock, which brings strict requirements for identification, registration, health checks and carcass disposal. These rules can limit natural behaviours and restrict the use of low-intervention management models.

Information on these obligations is not centralised, and practitioners frequently face uncertainty when attempting to restore or manage free-living herds. Clear guidance is needed to help them navigate existing regulations and understand what is legally possible within current frameworks.

What the project will do

This project will produce accessible legal guidance on how large herbivores can be managed under current regulations, with practical advice on identification, health requirements, carcass management and responsibilities for land managers. It will also highlight opportunities for derogations and present the case for creating a potential future category of “kept wild” animals that better reflects rewilding approaches.

The project will focus on six European jurisdictions: Portugal, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Croatia and Denmark. These countries have been selected for their ecological relevance and the practical importance of large herbivore rewilding within their landscapes. The resulting guidance will help practitioners understand applicable laws, reduce uncertainty and support low-intervention management models that contribute to ecological restoration.

Project partners