More than 30 years after it was first proposed as a biodiversity conservation strategy, rewilding remains a controversial concept. There is currently little agreement about what the goals of rewilding are, and how these are best achieved, limiting the utility of rewilding in mainstream conservation. Achieving consensus about rewilding requires agreeing about what “wild” means, but many different definitions exist, reflecting the diversity of values in conservation. There are three key debates that must be addressed to find a consensual definition of “wild”: (1) to which extent can people and “wild” nature co-exist?; (2) how much space does “wild” nature need? and (3) what kinds of “wild” nature do we value? Depending on the kinds of “wild” nature rewilding aims to create, rewilding policy will be faced with managing different opportunities and risks for biodiversity and people.

野化作为生物多样性保护战略首次提出 30 多年后，仍然是一个有争议的概念。目前对于野化的目标是什么以及如何最好地实现这些目标几乎没有达成一致，这限制了野化在主流保护中的效用。就野化问题达成共识需要就“野生”的含义达成一致，但存在许多不同的定义，反映了保护价值观的多样性。为了找到“野生”的共识定义，必须解决三个关键争论：（1）人类和“野生”自然可以在多大程度上共存？（2）“野生”自然需要多少空间？（3）我们珍视什么样的“野性”自然？根据野化目标所要创造的“野生”自然类型，野化政策将面临管理生物多样性和人类的不同机会和风险的问题。