Hempel Foundation Launches “The Wilderness”

Together with the existing Saksfjed Wilderness, these acquisitions form the foundation of The Wilderness, an initiative designed to unite research, education, and practical action to identify the most effective ways to transform land taken out of production and allow it to return to biodiversity-rich nature.

The Wilderness will bring together researchers, students, and practitioners to find answers to how Denmark can achieve the greatest possible biodiversity benefits when converting degraded land back to wild nature.

The initiative will support Denmark’s ongoing national development, as mandated by the Green Tripartite Agreement, and explore how Denmark can meet its binding international biodiversity obligations under the Europe and the UN. 

“With The Wilderness, we will bring together researchers from Denmark and abroad, students, practitioners, and nature enthusiasts to identify the solutions that deliver the greatest biodiversity impact for the investment, as Denmark prepares to convert large areas of land into nature. At the same time, we will rethink nature communication and help strengthen public understanding of nature – while we, in practice, convert four highly significant areas in Denmark into biodiversity-rich landscapes,” says Anders Holm, CEO of the Hempel Foundation.

The Wilderness will:

• Develop and implement large-scale nature restoration cases using rewilding as a method, in collaboration with researchers.
• Support researchers and students by providing access to land and facilities to help create the best solutions.
• Help connect rewilding projects across Denmark and Europe to ensure shared learning.
• Communicate knowledge and evidence about what works in practice to landowners, nature managers, and other key decision-makers.
• Inspire new projects and foster a deeper understanding of nature among children and young people through innovative outreach and teaching.

The four wilderness areas, covering a total of nearly 2,500 hectares, represent widely different habitat types with different challenges – and therefore require different solutions.
The Mols laboratory, will become the physical center of The Wilderness, hosting a wide range of activities. 

The Hempel Foundation have already entered into cooperation agreements with both Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen, ensuring that research activities are launched immediately and that field-based teaching is significantly strengthened so that more future biologists receive training within The Wilderness.

“With The Wilderness, we are creating an ambitious new framework where research, education, and practice go hand in hand. The goal is to develop and test solutions that can set new standards for nature restoration in Denmark – while contributing to international progress in the field. We want to support and facilitate access to knowledge and inspiration for anyone working with, or wishing to work with, biodiversity,” says Thor Hjarsen, Project Director and Senior Biologist at the Hempel Foundation.

The research community sees great potential in the initiative and the new collaborations. At Aarhus University, Professor Jens-Christian Svenning looks forward to the new national knowledge that will be generated:

“The Wilderness initiative creates an exceptional national framework for research, teaching, and practice in ecological restoration. The four areas provide unique opportunities to investigate how rewilding — the re-establishment of natural processes — can most effectively promote biodiversity in Danish landscapes. The collaboration makes it possible to develop new knowledge, strengthen field-based teaching, and deliver evidence-based solutions that can support Denmark’s ambitions for nature and biodiversity,” says Jens-Christian Svenning, professor and head of the Danish National Research Foundation’s Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) at Aarhus University.

At the University of Copenhagen, they are also looking forward to the opportunities created by The Wilderness, especially with a focus on connecting research and practice:

“The collaboration with the Hempel Foundation gives our students and future researchers a unique opportunity to follow and investigate some of the most exciting initiatives within biodiversity and nature restoration. Our graduates play a key role in achieving the Green Tripartite Agreement and biodiversity targets, and these ‘natural laboratories’ in The Wilderness provide ideal settings for excursions and fieldwork - something the students both appreciate and are academically strengthened by. The collaboration opens the door to both short projects and multi-year research programmes, which will enhance both our study programmes and research at SCIENCE,” says Andreas de Neergaard, professor and vice-dean for education at the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen.

Initiatives launched immediately

• Research – collaborating with the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University on new research activities to ensure that The Wilderness develops based on new knowledge and contributes to new research and best practice.
• Education – a significant strengthening of field-based biology teaching, expected to provide approx. 1,500 future biologists and nature managers from the two universities with field courses in the wilderness areas over the coming years.
• School partnerships – all Danish schools will be given the opportunity to visit the wilderness areas and learn about nature and rewilding. Teaching materials and learning programmes will be free for all.
• Rewilding Festival – In 2026, Hempel Foundation and the pan-European organisation, Rewilding Europe, will host the first‑ever European Rewilding Festival in Denmark. More than 100 rewilding initiatives and members of the European rewilding network will be invited to exchange knowledge.
• Youth engagement – support will be provided for the National Youth Green Summit to be held at the Mols laboratory in 2026.
• Networking – together with other stakeholders, a Danish rewilding network will be established with a physical base at the Mols laboratory to facilitate and accelerate the expansion of wild nature in Denmark.
• International conference – in partnership with the UK NGO Citizen Zoo, Denmark will host the 3rd International Rewilding Conference in 2027.
• Communication – establishment of a new knowledge platform, The Wilderness.dk, focused on rewilding and biodiversity in Denmark, as well as an international communication partnership with global media organisation, Imagine5, to highlight the results of rewilding initiatives in Europe, including Denmark.
• Evidence – in the first half of 2026, leading researchers will be gathered to compile an overview of existing evidence for effective nature restoration – and to identify areas where further research and practical experimentation are needed.

FACTS: About the wilderness areas

The Mols laboratory (147 ha)

For 80 years, Mols laboratory has been a center for research and nature management. In 2016, Denmark’s most ambitious research-based rewilding project was launched here with year-round grazing by horses and cattle. The area is protected and part of Natura 2000. The Hempel Foundation will develop the site into a center for research, education, and outreach.

Asnæs Wilderness (640 ha)

The Asnæs Peninsula features a hilly moraine landscape with forest, farmland, dramatic coastal cliffs, and grasslands. Until now, the area has been managed as organic farmland but will now be transformed into a wilderness through rewilding with large herbivores, natural hydrology, untouched forests, and new grassland habitats. The tip of the peninsula is part of Natura 2000.

Nørholm Wilderness (870 ha)

The Nørholm Estate includes farmland, plantations, and existing natural habitats. Nørholm Heath and its surrounding areas are Natura 2000 protected and host rare habitat types and species – from otters and wolves to rare fungi and insects. The heath is undergoing encroachment, and the Foundation will protect this vulnerable nature through careful clearing of mountain pine, extensive year-round grazing, and improved hydrology.

Saksfjed Wilderness (813 ha)

One of Denmark’s largest ongoing rewilding initiatives, where former farmland has been undergoing conversion to wild nature since autumn 2023. The area is now home to tauros cattle, Exmoor ponies, Galloway cattle, and large populations of deer. Saksfjed Wilderness is part of Natura 2000 and hosts many rare species.

Total area: 2,470 hectares

Across all wilderness areas, protection and restoration are carried out through rewilding, allowing natural processes to shape habitats and ecosystems. Animal populations are continuously adjusted to match the natural food base, and full supplementary feeding is provided whenever necessary to ensure animal welfare.