Threatened conservation scientists: The aftermath of an eye-opening publication on rewilding

‘Rewilding’ is a nature conservation strategy gaining prominence worldwide. Established in the Northern Hemisphere, rewilding initiatives have increasingly been proposed in Argentina, but their relative merits, feasibility of implementation and accountability have lacked adequate analysis and discussion. Recently, 125 scientists and practitioners wrote an article to assess the justification and methods of current rewilding initiatives in Argentina. Rather than engaging in a constructive debate with the scientific community, one of the major organizations behind these initiatives threatened to sue the authors for libel. We strongly reject this baseless threat. Scientific discussions around this and other conservation topics of societal concern should be addressed in an academic context and conducted in a respectful and rational manner, embracing the right of scientists and practitioners to express themselves freely and without fear of coercion. •Rewilding has sparked controversies within the scientific community.•A conservation NGO threatened to sue a group of scientists and practitioners for an academic paper.•As scientists and ptactitioners, our role extends beyond knowledge generation.•Conservation requires open and free debate on topics of societal concern.