Send us a Text Message. Our guest this week is Professor Dame E.J. Milner-Gulland who is the Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity at Oxford. She leads the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science, founded the Conservation Optimism organization and co-founded the Saiga Conservation Alliance. In June 2024 she published a perspectives pie…

Send us a Text Message. Human societies and their use of land have transformed ecology across this planet for thousands of years. As a result, the global patterns of life on Earth, the biomes, can no longer be understood without considering how humans have altered them. Anthromes, or anthropogenic biomes, characterise the globally significant ecolo…

Send us a Text Message. What role does the state have to play in nature recovery? If we are serious about halting the decline in biodiversity do we need to lay out a more ambitious agenda that can unify the currently fragmented aspects of private nature finance, state intervention and the role of public sector institutions. This is part of the argu…

Send us a Text Message. This week we look at Rewilding from the social perspective. Most of the challenges currently facing nature can be linked to human activity and more specific human prioritizations of one type of land use over another. So when we come to look at solutions to biodiversity loss (Rewilding being one of the most well known) its es…

Send us a Text Message. On this podcast we are joined by guest host Alena Goebel as we talk to Professor Christina Hicks about the impact of fishing on our oceans. We examine the differences in scales of fisheries and the important nutritional role fish plays in numerous communities. We look at what is meant by sustainable fisheries and the differe…

Send us a Text Message. In this episode Dr Alix Dietzel and Dr. Caitlin Hafferty discuss 'Just Transitions' and discuss different approaches to societal change whether it be decarbonization or recovering nature. If we only focus on the technical aspects we will eliminate the voices of those who are directly impacted. For change to be effective and …

Send us a Text Message. The ash tree plays a huge role in Europe's culture and ecology. From Yggdrasill, the giant ash world tree of Norse Mythology to the Guardian trees of Ireland; the ash tree has been a central part of European folklore and mythology. It can be a prolific natural regenerator making it an excellent species for timber and its fle…

Send us a Text Message. In this taster episode we speak to the award -winning writer Emma Marris who offers a fresh and challenging view on some of the issues around conservation and nature recovery. We'd really encourage you to check out more of Emma's writing. You can find links to her articles and books at: https://www.emmamarris.com/ The Leverh…

Send us a Text Message. In this podcast we take a look at Ghana, where landscapes are changing as mining and industrialisation affect traditional ways of managing the land. We look at the impact on cocoa and the effectiveness of global regulations on preventing deforestation and contrast these with traditional community methods. The Leverhulme Cent…

Send us a Text Message. We were lucky enough to have a short conversation with Sandra Diaz, where we find out more about here involvement with the COP 15 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. If you enjoy what she has to say, you can find a full lecture from her here: https://youtu.be/oe2dKpudS4s as well as numerous articles like this: ht…

Send us a Text Message. Nature recovery isn't just about biodiversity; it has real implications for our health and wellbeing. In this episode Joseph Gent joins the podcast to talk to Emeritus Prof Michael Depledge CBE DSc FRSB FRCP who is one of the founding members of the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health. (www.ECEHH.org). The E…

Send us a Text Message. Patrick Greenfield is a biodiversity and environment reporter for the Guardian and the Observer. In January 2023, a joint investigation by the Guardian, Die Zeit and Source Material found that the forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading certifier and used by major corporations for climate claims are largely wor…

Send us a Text Message. In this espisode we speak to Nat Duffus to find out the good and the bad about Biodiversity Net Gain which is a major driver of the UK's policy to improve the state of biodiversity whilst still allowing for development. Some of the things mentioned in this podcast include: Kidbrooke Village: https://www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/n…

Send us a Text Message. In this episode we have a debate between Kate Raworth, Bob Costanza and Eric Gòmez-Baggethun on Monetary Valuation of Nature: pragmatic conservation or unhelpful commodification? This is an edited version of a debate that took place at the Oxford Martin School in February 2023. You can find the fill video of it here: https:/…

Send us a Text Message. In this episode we talk to Dr. Joseph Bull, Associate Professor in Climate Change Biology at the University of Oxford and find out what is meant by the term Nature Positive. We look at reasons for pragmatic optimism in the face of biodiversity decline and find out more about his work in the Aral Sea and why deserts are not a…