Corporate roles in preventing species extinction: Integrating rewilding through the taskforce on nature-related financial disclosures

This study examines how the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) can support corporate engagement with biodiversity through rewilding. Although the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework calls on businesses to disclose nature impacts, biodiversity remains weakly represented in ESG metrics and corporate strategy. We conduct qualitative document analysis of TNFD publications, together with policy and academic literature on biodiversity accounting and rewilding. We also compare four illustrative cases (Tompkins Conservation; Yellowstone to Yukon; the Natural Capital Laboratory; and the Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project) to assess governance, financing, and partnership models. The analysis shows that disclosure can remain decoupled from restoration unless firms report indicators that capture extinction risk and ecological outcomes. Extinction-accounting approaches, used alongside TNFD’s disclosure pillars, help connect reporting to place-based rewilding actions when participatory governance safeguards Indigenous rights and standardized metrics constrain greenwashing. This framing requires moving beyond utilitarian risk management towards ethical commitments to biodiversity recovery. The paper maps rewilding activities to TNFD-aligned governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics/targets disclosures, offering practical entry points for firms, investors, and regulators seeking nature-positive outcomes.