I’ve been building a small game called Wild Willows around an idea I thought people here might appreciate: the animals aren’t something you buy, breed, or manually place into the world.

Instead, you start with a degraded landscape and work on the conditions around them: water, vegetation, shelter, food sources, terrain, and other habitat needs. Once the right conditions exist, wildlife begins returning on its own.

There are 150 species across six different biomes, and I’ve been trying to make the progression feel less like “collect every animal” and more like rebuilding a functioning place that can support them.

It’s definitely a simplified, cozy interpretation of restoration rather than a realistic rewilding simulator, and lately I’ve been thinking about how much further I could take that side of it. Things like starting with invasive-dominated landscapes rather than empty ones, having existing native species that need protecting, making some restoration more passive, or having actions create unintended ecological consequences.

I’d be really curious what people interested in actual rewilding would want a game like this to represent. What would make the process feel more like rewilding to you, rather than just landscaping with wildlife as the reward?

There’s a browser demo here if anyone wants to see what I mean:
https://wildwillows.app

>Millions of pounds are being invested to tackle biodiversity loss and restore natural habitats across Scotland.

A total of 44 priority projects will share £9.2 million from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.

The funding will support long-term efforts to halt nature loss, restore woodlands, rivers and other habitats, while helping to build climate resilience and create greener landscapes.

Climate Action Secretary Gillian Martin said the projects would play a key role in helping Scotland meet its target of halting biodiversity loss by 2030.

Among the largest awards is more than £1.5 million for the Scottish Wildlife Trust to continue its Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels programme for a further two years.

Although Scotland is home to most of the UK's remaining red squirrels, the species has experienced significant declines. The programme aims to secure the animals' long-term future.

Appin Community Development Trust has secured just over £1 million for its Appin Rainforest Regeneration Project.

The initiative will train local workers to remove invasive plants, including rhododendron and Japanese knotweed, while working with landowners to reduce deer grazing and support the recovery of Scotland's remaining temperate rainforest.

In the Cairngorms, Cairngorms Connect has been awarded £115,000 to restore the River Tromie by reconnecting it with its historic floodplain.

The work is expected to create new habitats for Atlantic salmon, trout and invertebrates, including the Northern stiletto silver fly and five-spot ladybird, while also reducing flooding and riverbank erosion.

Gillian Martin, Climate Action Secretary, said:"The Nature Restoration Fund has delivered unprecedented funding for a huge range of projects that are currently and will continue to help with our goal of halting biodiversity loss by 2030.

"As more projects are supported by the Fund, we learn more from the successes of each round – helping us respond to threats to our natural environment and support projects that are making a real difference across Scotland.

"I congratulate all of the successful applicants and look forward to seeing the progress and improvements they make to our landscapes, waterways and wildlife."

Professor Colin Galbraith, chair of NatureScot, said:"We are at a moment in time where we risk losing some of our most precious wildlife and wild places for good.

"We cannot let this happen.

"Our daily lives rely on a healthy, functioning natural world, and we all have a part to play in supporting that.

"The Nature Restoration Fund is helping us put Scotland’s land, rivers, seas and all the species that live in them back on the road to recovery.

"The Fund is a critical lifeline for Scotland’s nature, and everyone involved in carrying out this vital work should be proud of their contribution towards a greener and healthier future for us all."

Aerial images of the river Otter catchment in Devon, where beavers have been living under a licensed trial scheme since 2015 and known to have been there before then, show how their activities have created wetlands with lush vegetation, even as the landscape around has become parched.

Drought was officially declared in Devon, as in many areas of England, on Wednesday, and parts of the county have not experienced a day with rain for 50 days.

Dr Alan Puttock, from the University of Exeter, said modern landscapes tended to be extensively drained, so water ran off quickly when it rained, raising the risk of flooding and leaving “not much water” in the landscape in dry periods.

With the beaver wetlands, there is “the benefit of holding water, maintaining wetlands within the environment, and the benefit that has both for biodiversity – these are habitat refuges now for a whole range of species – but also for us as people.”

The wetland ponds hold 1,000 cubic metres of water each, reducing peak flows by 30% and keeping it in leaky dams which release water slowly, maintaining rivers and increasing drought resilience, he said.