Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest global health challenges of the 21st century, yet most frontline drugs—from penicillin to statins—originate in natural products discovered in fungi, plants, and soil microbes. At the same time, accelerating biodiversity loss has dramatically reduced the pool of species available for medical discovery, threatening our ability to find new cures. My project investigates whether rewilded ecosystems—landscapes restored to ecological complexity after degradation—can serve as living libraries of chemical diversity for medicine. By comparing microbial and fungal isolates from rewilded versus degraded soils, I aim to determine whether ecosystem restoration enhances the likelihood of finding bioactive compounds with antimicrobial properties.

 

Even at pilot scale, this research will provide proof-of-concept data that conservation is not only about protecting biodiversity for its own sake, but also about safeguarding the raw materials of future medical innovation. If rewilded soils demonstrate higher rates of antimicrobial activity, this project would strengthen the case for investing in restoration as a public health strategy—linking ecological recovery to drug discovery pipelines.

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This research is innovative because it makes a connection that has been largely overlooked. Historically, bioprospecting has focused on “pristine” rainforests or coral reefs, while conservation has measured success in biodiversity or carbon metrics. Rewilding is a relatively new practice, and until recently the tools for rapid microbial screening were too costly for short projects. Now, with affordable assays and sequencing, it is finally feasible to ask: Can restoring land also restore our ability to find cures?

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The project’s significance lies in providing the first pilot evidence that rewilding enhances not just ecological services, but also public health infrastructure. If rewilded soils demonstrate higher bioactivity, this reframes restoration as a direct contributor to medical innovation—an argument with implications for conservation funding, policy design, and interdisciplinary collaboration.