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That the wilderness of the European lowlands once was one dense, endless forest is a myth, biologist en ecologist Frans Vera pointed out in his bestselling "Grazing Ecology and Forest History" (2000). We should rather think of scrubs, solitary trees and groves, alternating with open grassland. This half open, park-like landscape was created by the grazing and browsing of large herbivores such as tarpan, European bison and red deer. Nature managers wanting to restore some of the natural landscape, should take this original park-like character into account.

In Wilderness in Europe, Frans Buissink presents Frans Vera's fascinating theory by means of different areas in the Netherlands where this restoration of the natural landscape has meanwhile been established. Photographer Jaap Weidema travelled through Europe to capture the last vestiges of the landscaps that inspired Frans Vera to his theory.