Contribution short abstract:

This paper explores the tensions between ethical commitments and structural conditions in a project, which aims to restore coastal ecosystems. Drawing on Tsing’s Feral Atlas and Fassin’s ideas of humanity and security, it examines how ecological and humanitarian crises intersect in a common world.

Contribution long abstract:

This paper examines the tensions between ethical commitments, practical actions, and structural conditions through the lens of the EU project REWRITE, which aims to "rewild" coastal ecosystems as part of broader ecological and social transformations. Aligned with the European Green Deal, the project seeks to turn intertidal soft sediment ecosystems into carbon sinks and to restore biodiversity. However, closer inspection reveals contradictions between ecological restoration and the complexities of global economic and climate dynamics. These tensions become visible for example in the Bay of Cádiz, where refugee boats arrive amidst ongoing restoration efforts, or in the Wadden Sea, where rewilding compensates for port expansion, which seeks to facilitate global trade and to enhance national security (LNG terminals).

Building on Anna Tsing’s Feral Atlas, this contribution extends the ecological transect—the investigation of an ecosystem’s diverse ecological features—by including the intersecting movements of ecosystems, displaced people, and global trade. Inspired by Didier Fassin’s exploration of the tension between humanity and security, it interrogates how localized care—for ecosystems or human lives—both reveals and reproduces structural inequalities.

By following these “feral” entanglements, the paper invites reflection on the boundaries of ethical practice. Can extending the transect help us imagine "rewilding" as a practice that addresses both ecological and humanitarian crises? Or does it risk reinforcing the very exclusions it seeks to challenge?