Let's Talk Conservation

Today’s episode I talk to Joe Olson who has an incredible brain child for an environmental initiative called the WorldPOP Festival. This festival is to get people around the world to commit to making changes - large and small - that'll have an impact on helping their own environments, leading to benefits globally.Use the links and tags below to find out more information:Facebook: WorldPOP FestivalInstagram: @worldpop.festival

In this episode I am talking to friends and colleagues of mine about the world of Environmental Consulting. It is an industry that offers a variety of opportunities - from terrestrial to marine, field work to legislations, even research. It can be seen as if those of us in the industry have ‘sold our souls’ to help development but that’s not the case. We are in this industry to help the environment alongside development. To make sure laws, regulations and legislations are followed. To advise on how to improve how we develop the world without completely devastating it. Without environmental professional, develop would run rampant! it is an intense industry and a steep learning curve, but those of us in it do love it!Don’t judge us until to hear our side. You never know, you may want to join us. Come to the Greenside we have Cupcakes.

A very special episode for me this week as we go to Peru, travelling to the Manu Biosphere Reserve to talk to Quinn Meyer, founder of the CREES foundation. I volunteered with CREES way back in 2009, and it was a trip that changed my life and has left a lasting impression. Quinn is a social anthropologist with an entrepreneurial streak. After volunteering around the Manu Biosphere area he fell in love with and bought some land and the dream that CREES would become began. Opening officially in 2005 the Manu Learning Centre (MLC) has seen over 13,000 visitors! The data that has been collected has shed new light, not just on biodiversity numbers of regenerated jungle species, but also opened some eyes to how nature has learnt to adapt to the ever pressing presence of humans. A static monitoring base for Amazon conservation for the over a decade has given CREES an immense data set to study and from this some amazing news is in the works. Check out the episode to hear more and follow the links below to CREES social media for more information.Website: https://crees-manu.org/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creesmanuYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB0tTBi3wN9Pjhh3D8fI3CwTwitter: @creesfoundationInstagram: crees.manu

This week we're back in the UK talking to countryside ranger and wildlife presenter, Ajay Tegala. Ajay has a degree in Environmental Conservation and nine years’ experience working in nature conservation. He was a ranger on Britain’s first coastal reserve, Blakeney Point for many years and currently works at Wicken Fen, Britain’s oldest and very first nature reserve (1899); alongside 100 Konik ponies and 50 Highland cattle! Growing up in East Anglia, Ajay became interested in wetland birds. Through his career in nature conservation, he went on to work with seabirds, in particular terns; monitoring their breeding behaviour and contributing to national monitoring programmes. He has managed and studied England’s largest Grey Seal rookery, off the Norfolk coast. Ajay champions and monitors the success of habitat creation for nature, which partners well with his great love for the fenland landscape, and is passionate about its restoration. Ajay has promoted beach cleans in East Anglia, gardening for wildlife and clothing for Cotswold Outdoor, appearing in shop windows across the UK. Ajay has chalked-up over 15 appearances across the five main channels, including the popular BBC nature documentaries ‘Countryfile’, ‘Coast’ and ‘Winterwatch’ plus a live appearance on ‘Springwatch: Unsprung’ and many, many more! He is currently undertaking a talent development placement with the BBC Natural History Unit working on Springwatch 2021. You can follow Ajay on his social to see what he does.YouTube: Ajay TegalaTwitter: @AjayTegalaInstagram: ajaytegala

I am very happy to introduce Daniel Ward this week, a fellow Bangor Alum and friend. We discuss different approaches to conservation - what works, what isn’t and what direction could we go in. Change maker, big picture thinker and solution finder Dan is a forward thinking ecologist based in the UK. Dan has worked for the last decade across on the ground action, landscape scale projects and government policy and now works as a micro Think and Do Tank to drive the thinking and conversation around what successful conservation and ecosystems look like and how to get there. Over his time in conservation Dan has realised that conventional conservation thinking and models aren’t working, and that large scale ecosystem restoration/rewilding, using nature based solutions and challenging shifting baselines is the way forwards. Dan is a systems thinker that helps people and organisations understand these big systems so that they can make decisions and choose sustainable solutions that help people and planet. Check out his social media to find out more @danward_org 

Going halfway around the work this week to the beautiful Seychelles archipelago talking to Dr Nirmal Shah, Chief Executive of Nature Seychelles. Nirmal is a well-known figure in the Seychelles conservation scene. A biology heavy upbringing in the Seychelles and education have earned him having an encyclopaedic knowledge of Seychelles biodiversity. He was formerly the Assistant Director of Fisheries Research, the Director of the Seychelles Conservation and National Parks service as well as the Managing Director of an environmental firm, ENVIRO where he worked on projects covering almost every aspect of environmental management. Nature Seychelles boasts some incredible conservation success stories, along with incredible programs and initiatives that are at the forefront conservation management. Check out everything Nature Seychelles involved with in the links below:Website: http://ww.natureseychelles.org/homeTwitter: @NatureSeyInstagram: @natureseyFacebook: @natureseychelles

This week I am joined by my friend Dr Hernani Oliveira to talk about bats! Hernani is a tropical conservation ecologist with fieldwork experience across different environments, including: the savannahs and rainforests of Brazil, the dry and rainforests of Costa Rica, the lowland and pre-montane forests of Cameroon, and the limestone forests of Rota Island. During his expeditions, Hernani worked with a range of techniques (DNA barcoding, mist nets, radio telemetry, and camera recording systems) and statistical analysis (geometric morphometry, network analysis, and ecological analysis) to understand the response of bat communities and populations to natural and anthropogenic changes in their environment. Bats have been one of the main groups that he has studied, but he has been involved in research and publications across a variety of mammalian species. He has a big passion for environmental education and bringing awareness into the conservation issues that the world is facing nowadays.  Hernani’s photos and videos of rare species of bats he has encountered, are being used to bring people closer to the species and places that he works. Check out the links below to learn more about Hernani’s work and the wonderful world of bats.Website: https://hfmoconservationandscience.weebly.com/Twitter: @HernaniFMOInstagram: hernanif77Articles: Protecting the Cerrado: where should we direct efforts for the conservation of bat-plant interactions?- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-019-01793-w- The Response of Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to Habitat Modification in a Neotropical Savannah - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940082917697263- Improved survival for an albino - https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2302?af=R

Join me this week in sunny Australia where I talk to Dr Andy Lewis, CEO and founder of the Coral Sea Foundation. Andy has a PhD in coral reef ecology from James Cook University and, along with his extensive experience in small ship adventure cruising, he has become one of the most skilled and widely traveled ecotourism professionals in the Indo-Pacific region. He managed the ecotourism activities aboard the luxury vessel True North for over a decade, exploring a wide variety of tropical locations, from the Rowley Shoals to the Kimberley in Australia; Komodo, Raja Ampat, and West Papua in Indonesia; the Bismarck Sea and Louisiade Archipelago in PNG, and the Western Province of Solomon Islands. Andy’s passion for the reefs, islands and people of the South-Pacific is what inspired the birth of the Coral Sea Foundation. The aim of which is to be a platform for delivering a vision for sustainable reef management and the ultimate marine ecotourism experience. As part of this, Andy was able to setup the amazing Sea Women of Melanesia program which empowers indigenous women in the region, through scuba diving and marine science skills, so they can take an active role in creating and monitoring marine protected areas on their own coral reefs and inspire their island communities to protect and sustainably conserve this resource for generations to come. Check out the links below to find out more.Website: www.coralseafoundation.net Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjmwu7uoVi70MK32hQuZgQInstagram @coralseafoundation and twitter @coralseafound

This week we head to California and meet Kimberly Ray, Founder and CEO of Marine Conservation Network (MCN)! An original water baby from Florida, Kimberly was always in the water and became fascinated with the ocean and the mysteries of what waited below the surface. This love eventually led to a serious interest in scuba diving, getting a degree in Marine Biology, and working hands on with marine life. at the aquarium in Santa Barbara. Kimberly became known as the Shark Lady because of her relationships with the smaller sharks. The sharks would be hand-held and brought to the surface for the public to get a closer view and to touch. During her time there, Kimberly found that there was disconnect between scientific conservation and the general public. So she started talking and relating to the public on a more general level and in doing that, she found there was more retention and more connection. It was this realisation that led to Marine Conservation Network being born six years ago. Now, MCN, is going global on building an ocean community by interpreting a common language for all to be on the same page. MCN have two departments that are working to spread the word of ocean conservation:1)  Networking through videos and interviews, promoting the lesser-known conservation organisations that no one knows about and educational videos, and2)   Our Youth Ambassador Program - youths of ages 8 to 15 who are actively making an impact on saving the oceans, doing well in school, and spreading the word of all forms of ocean conservation and education. For those who are continually successful and actively participate in the program, we offer a scholarship to the college of their choice when they graduate high school.To find out more about MCN and their mains for conservation check out the links below:https://marineconservationnet.org/twitter: @MCNnetwork

What a guest to open with! The remarkable Cristina Zenato; ocean and cave diving guru; shark whisper; speaker, writer and conservationist. Cristina is known for her special relationship with her local sharks and her passion for promoting the protection of all sharks in the world. Her current projects include shark photogrammetry and identification of sharks’ mating and birth areas; creating interactive and 3D cave maps, and using photography and videography of these uncharted areas in the Bahamas to light for the public. In 2019 she founded the nonprofit People of the Water www.pownonprofit.org, an organisation to widen the conduction and distribution of training, education, research, and studies relating to water, ocean and environmental issues, affecting both the people and the animals of the oceans and caves. After twenty-seven years Cristina is still diving and pushing the boundaries of our knowledge. Cristina has been inducted in the Women Divers Hall of Fame, the Explorers Club, the Ocean Artists Society. To find out more about Cristina, her sharks and caves and the wonderful People of the Water foundation follow the links below:Website: www.cristinazenato.comWebsite: www.pownonprofit.orgYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5OxtcCvv9wNe-VbasQqj-AInstagram: cristinazenato; peopleofthewaterTwitter: @CristinaZenato