Fields, Forests and a Fun Guy

Tom Holland
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Documentary
  • Updated weekly

Fields, Forests & a Fun Guy is a podcast about Britain’s countryside, the people who live in it, work it, protect it and sometimes argue about it. Hosted by Tom Holland, each episode goes beyond the headlines to have honest, long-form conversations with farmers, conservationists, landowners, scientists, wildlife experts, beekeepers, hunters, campaigners and the people making decisions about our natural world. From wildlife and farming to rewilding, habitat loss, rivers, hedgerows, biodiversity and the future of the British countryside, we ask the questions that matter.

Episodes

  1. 6 hr ago

    Tree Kangaroos Have A Smell… | Ep 3

    A tree kangaroo that smells so distinctive you'll never forget it, logging deals worth millions, and a conservationist who has spent more than 20 years trying to stop one of the world's rarest animals disappearing.Jim Thomas is CEO of the Tenkile Conservation Alliance and has worked in Papua New Guinea's Torricelli Mountains since 2003. The Tenkile, or Scott's tree kangaroo, was down to an estimated 100 animals when the project began. Today, TCA says that figure has risen to around 300, after communities across the mountains agreed to stop hunting the species.IN THIS EPISODE🦘 How the Tenkile fell to an estimated 100 animals, and how communities helped bring it back👃 Why Tenkile have a smell that Jim can only describe as "like a tree kangaroo"🌳 What happens when conservation comes up against logging, money and outside interests🚰 How water, health, livelihoods and conservation became part of the same projectTHE GUESTJim Thomas, CEO, Tenkile Conservation Alliance.Jim is a zoologist and conservationist who previously worked at Zoos Victoria before moving into conservation in Papua New Guinea. He has led TCA's work since 2003, working with communities across the Torricelli Mountain Range to protect tree kangaroos, rainforest and local livelihoods.Tenkile Conservation Alliance - https://tenkile.com/THE TENKILEThe Tenkile, Dendrolagus scottae, is a critically endangered tree kangaroo found only in Papua New Guinea's Torricelli Mountain Range. Its habitat is thought to cover only around 125 square kilometres of mid-montane rainforest.TCA says the population may have fallen to roughly 100 animals when the organisation was established. Hunting moratoriums agreed with local communities have been in place since 1999, and TCA now estimates the population at around 300.TWHAT YOU CAN DOThis episode makes one thing particularly clear: conservation cannot always be separated from the people living alongside wildlife.TCA works with communities on everything from protecting tree kangaroos to water supplies, village lighting and sustainable livelihoods. You can learn about its projects, support a ranger or tree kangaroo, or contribute directly through:Tenkile Conservation AllianceSOURCES AND FURTHER READINGWe check the numbers our guests use, and say so when we cannot.VERIFIED. The Tenkile is Dendrolagus scottae, is restricted to the Torricelli Mountain Range and is listed as critically endangered. TCA gives its habitat as approximately 125 square kilometres.SUPPORTED BY TCA DATA. TCA says the Tenkile population was once estimated at approximately 100 animals and has subsequently increased to around 300 following hunting moratoriums and conservation work. These are TCA's estimates rather than a complete census of every animal.GUEST ACCOUNT. Discussion in this episode concerning particular logging companies, alleged corruption, payments, political influence or individual conduct represents Jim's account and experiences. Where those claims cannot be independently established from reliable public evidence, we have not presented them as independently verified facts.ABOUT THE SHOWFields, Forests and a Fun Guy is a UK conservation podcast hosted by Tom Holland.Nature Uncensored.FOLLOWInstagram: @fieldsforestsandafunguyFacebook: @FieldsForestsandaFunGuyTikTok: @fieldsforestsandafunguyX: @FieldsforestsFGYouTube: @fieldsforestsandafunguyA NOTE ON BALANCEThis show hosts people who disagree with each other. Views expressed by guests are their own. Where guests make factual claims, we check what we reasonably can and distinguish between independently supported information and personal accounts. If we have got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.

  2. 6 days ago

    I Delayed Princess Anne's Helicopter Talking About Bees | Ep 2

    A Cheshire barber kept Princess Anne's helicopter waiting because he would not stop talking about bees.Dave Curbishley has cut hair in Northwich for 57 years and kept honeybees for about 30, and was one of the first in Cheshire to sit the British Beekeepers Association basic assessment.Tom Holland gives him an unhurried hour: how a haircut turned into a beehive inside a week, why a thousand pound weekend course does not make you a beekeeper, what happened when a Wirral beekeeper was accused of smuggling Australian honey, and the winter that killed six of his eight colonies. We check every number afterwards, including the ones the host got wrong.*IN THIS EPISODE*👑 The Royal Cheshire County Show chat that put a royal helicopter behind schedule💷 A thousand pounds for two days, against Dave's three years of Sunday afternoons🍯 Why more manuka honey is sold here than New Zealand actually produces🔬 The eucalyptus honey that got a beekeeper investigated, and the garden that explained it🐝 Six hives out of eight lost in one winter, and the mite outliving its own treatments*CHAPTERS*00:00 One of the first qualified beekeepers in Cheshire01:49 Fifty seven years as a barber in Northwich03:25 How a haircut turned into a beehive in the garden04:59 Learning beekeeping properly, three years with a mentor08:58 The two day beekeeping course that cost a thousand pounds14:03 Bee stings, anaphylaxis and venom immunotherapy19:55 Queen cells, swarming and how to prevent it23:05 Delaying Princess Anne's helicopter at the Royal Cheshire Show28:15 Local honey, hay fever and the manuka problem29:35 Pound a jar supermarket honey that never saw a hive40:31 Losing hives over winter and the varroa mite47:44 Importing queens and Britain's native black bee52:47 Honey in the pyramids and the eucalyptus investigation1:10:50 What you can do this weekend for bees*THE GUEST*Dave Curbishley, barber and beekeeper, Rudheath, NorthwichRestore Habitat UK, charity 1209108: https://www.restorehabitat.uk*WHAT YOU CAN DO*Dave's answer was the cheapest in the episode. Plant flowers, any flowers, and leave a shallow dish of water out with pebbles so bees can drink without drowning. And find a mentor before you buy a hive.Cheshire Beekeepers Association: https://www.cheshirebka.co.ukBritish Beekeepers Association: https://www.bbka.org.uk*SOURCES AND FURTHER READING*We check the numbers our guests use, and say so when we cannot.VERIFIED. More manuka is sold than made. UK sales alone have been reported as exceeding global manuka production: https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2013/08/26/Fake-honey-UK-manuka-sales-alone-outstrip-entire-global-production/CORRECTION. Dave's hunch on resistance was right, and bigger than he knew. Researchers traced the worst bee die off in US history to miticide resistant varroa carrying deformed wing virus: https://www.dvm360.com/view/usda-pinpoints-cause-of-recent-mass-honeybee-collapsePART RIGHT. Sealed honey keeps almost indefinitely, but the still edible 3,000 year old tomb honey story is folklore, not a documented test. A hive centre runs about 34 to 35 degrees celsius, and only while there is brood to warm, not all year round.*ABOUT THE SHOW*Fields, Forests and a Fun Guy is a UK conservation podcast hosted by Tom Holland. Nature Uncensored. An unhurried hour with the people doing the work.*FOLLOW*Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fieldsforestsandafunguy/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FieldsForestsandaFunGuyTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fieldsforestsandafunguyX: https://x.com/FieldsforestsFGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FieldsForestsandaFunGuy*A NOTE ON BALANCE*This show hosts people who disagree with each other. Views expressed by guests are their own. If we have got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.

  3. 4 Sept

    This Is What Disappeared. 70 Years On One Patch. | Ep 1

    A Cheshire birdkeeper who has watched the same fields for a lifetime explains what has gone.Tom Holland's first guest is his father, Mike Holland, a birdkeeper, falconer and former meat trade worker from Barnton in Cheshire who has bred Scottish crossbills since 1982.They walk through one patch of countryside: the orchards that became housing, the song thrushes that stopped singing in the village, the insects that stopped hitting the windscreen, and the forty acres of lime beds outside Northwich that now hold almost nothing. It ends with a target. Seven acres of gorse, three filled in ponds, two years to raise the money.IN THIS EPISODE🐦 Breeding Scottish crossbills from two pairs bought in 1982, and the year six pairs produced 44 young📺 The crossbills that ended up in a BBC series, filmed in a Cheshire garden and cut into a wild Scottish nest🦡 What the BTO nest camera data actually says about badgers, foxes and ground nesting birds📉 Why tree sparrows collapsed, and the one farm change that brought the linnets back🌿 What actually works in a garden, and why a plastic lawn does notTHE GUESTMike Holland, birdkeeper, falconer and lifelong naturalist, Barnton, Cheshire.WHAT YOU CAN DORecord what is in your own patch. BTO BirdTrack is free, takes minutes a week, and it proves what changed.https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/birdtrackSOURCES AND FURTHER READINGWe check the numbers our guests use, and say so when we cannot.PART RIGHT. Nest predation. The study is real: Barton et al, "Identity of predators of bird nests in the British Islands", Ibis 2025, BTO and University of East Anglia, 2,088 nests and 609 predation events. For waders it reports badgers, foxes and hedgehogs together at 53% of predation events, and ungulates, mainly sheep, at 6%. There is no separate badger figure, so the 42% and 23% stated on air are not supported, and 42 plus 23 will not fit inside 53. The sheep figure is right, and it is the surprising one. https://www.bto.org/our-work/science/publications/papers/identity-predators-bird-nests-british-islandsVERIFIED. Tree sparrows down about 93% between 1970 and 2008, with an 18% rise since 1995 from a very low base.https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/tree-sparrowVERIFIED. Squirrel pox is carried by greys, harms them not at all, and is usually fatal to reds.https://www.lancswt.org.uk/RedSquirrelFAQPART RIGHT. Badgers. About 480,000 is broadly right: 485,000 for England and Wales, 2011 to 2014. The 37,000 before protection is not supported; the published 1980s estimate for Great Britain is nearer 250,000.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00378-3PART RIGHT. The farm with the flower margins is almost certainly the Allerton Project at Loddington, Leicestershire, not Lincolnshire. A 97% rise in songbird numbers since 1992.https://www.allertontrust.org.uk/projects/long-term-wildlife-monitoring/ABOUT THE SHOWFields, Forests and a Fun Guy is a UK conservation podcast hosted by Tom Holland. Nature Uncensored. An unhurried hour with the people actually doing the work.FOLLOWInstagram: @fieldsforestsandafunguy/Facebook: @FieldsForestsandaFunGuyTikTok: @fieldsforestsandafunguyX: @FieldsforestsFGYouTube: @FieldsForestsandaFunGuyRestore Habitat UK, charity 1209108: https://www.restorehabitat.ukA NOTE ON BALANCEThis show hosts people who disagree with each other. Views expressed by guests are their own. If we have got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.

  • 3 Episodes

About

Fields, Forests & a Fun Guy is a podcast about Britain’s countryside, the people who live in it, work it, protect it and sometimes argue about it. Hosted by Tom Holland, each episode goes beyond the headlines to have honest, long-form conversations with farmers, conservationists, landowners, scientists, wildlife experts, beekeepers, hunters, campaigners and the people making decisions about our natural world. From wildlife and farming to rewilding, habitat loss, rivers, hedgerows, biodiversity and the future of the British countryside, we ask the questions that matter.

Information