Accounting and accountability for rewilding Europe, auroch de-extinction and rewilding tauros

Purpose

This study contributes to the emerging research into accounting and accountability for rewilding and de-extinction by investigating the accounting and financing of Rewilding Europe's rewilding efforts, and by focusing on the de-extinction (in progress) of the auroch, a prehistoric species of cattle, and the subsequent rewilding of the tauros, the new species produced by means of de-extinction.

Design/methodology/approach

The study introduces the second part of a Special Issue of this journal and portrays the contributions published in this next and final part. The study uses interpretive content analysis to investigate the website disclosures and annual reports of Rewilding Europe, as well as disclosures relating to the de-extinction of the auroch and rewilding of tauros.

Findings

The key findings indicate there has been a significant acceleration in rewilding efforts by Rewilding Europe and an exponential increase in rewilding financing and expenditure over a short period of time. Further, we found that the acceleration and increase in rewilding, and the funding thereof, are being driven largely by the recent changes to European legislation encapsulated in the European Union (EU) Nature Law as well as by recent developments in accounting frameworks, especially the CSRD and TNFD, as evidenced in Atkins et al. (2026). Our findings provide further evidence to those of Atkins et al. (2026) that accounting and finance are core disciplines contributing to rewilding efforts that require explicit recognition in any multidisciplinary approach. The paper also explores the moral maze surrounding de-extinction and the need for further research to untangle the complexity of the various arguments in relation to accountability.

Research limitations/implications

This paper demonstrates the recent substantial growth in rewilding across Europe but emphasises the urgency for greater momentum to prevent species extinctions and to enhance biodiversity and habitats, highlighting the crucial role accounting and finance are to play in these efforts.

Practical implications

The study demonstrates the need for further developments in funding of rewilding strategies and the need for the evolving definition of accounting to incorporate rewilding and de-extinction. This is intended to contribute positively such that nature and non-human life flourish together in harmony with humans.

Social implications

Rewilding has significant positive outcomes for local communities and also for ecotourism, which are tangential to the topics explored in relation to species in this paper.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to explore the accounting and financing of Rewilding Europe and is the first accounting and finance study of the de-extinction and subsequent rewilding of the auroch.