Send us a textOur 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 piece entitled Now is the time for conservationists to stand up for social justicehttps://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.300...
Send us a textHuman 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 ecological patterns created by sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems, including agriculture, urbanisation, and other land uses. Anthromes now cover ...
Send us a textWhat 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 argument raised buy Dr. Sophus zu Ermgassen and a team of experts in a recent pre-print: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/td4qjWe talk to him about this mission-drive...
Send us a textThis 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 essential that we understand the role of people in making these solutions work.. It's hoped that Nature Recovery projects supported by local commun...
Send us a textOn 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 differences between large scale fish production verus community governed artisanal fishing.Christina is an Environmental Social Scientist interested in the relation...
Send us a textIn 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 purposeful, it's essential that people get a say and participate from every sector of society.You can find out more about their work here:https://www.bristol...
Send us a textThe 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 flexible, white wood is still in high demand today and is used in the manufacture of Morgan cars, Irish hurling sticks and numerous items of furniture and carpe...
Send us a textIn 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 Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery is interested in promoting a wide variety of views and opinions on nature recovery from researchers and practitioners. The views...
Send us a textIn 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 Centre for Nature Recovery is interested in promoting a wide variety of views and opinions on nature recovery from researchers and practitioners. The views, opini...
Send us a textWe 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/oe2dKpudS4sas well as numerous articles like this:https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04154-wandhttps://royalsociety.org/blog/2023/01/biodiversity-cop15-sandra-diaz/We'd love to hear from you and answ...
Send us a textNature 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 ECEHH was the first Centre of its kind in Europe and pioneered much of the early work on fostering health and wellbeing using the natural environment (from ar...
Send us a textPatrick 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 worthless.In this podcast we discuss some of the implications and dive into the challenges and complexities of wanting to do the right thing in a world wh...
Send us a textIn 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/news-and-insights/news-and-features/2020/kidbrooke-village-wins-attenborough-awardsLye Valleyhttp://www.friendsoflyevalley.org.uk/about/index.htmland of course...
Send us a textIn 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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl7wSuAuKyQ&ab_channel=OxfordBiodiversityNetwork Notes:The valuation of nature and ecosystem services in monetar...
Send us a textIn 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 as deserted as you might think.You can see a full version of Jo speaking at the Leverhulme Centre at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLSWXIb2ycMThe Leverhulme...