David Oakes

Shows

Episodes

  1. The Executive Branch: Beccy Speight (RSPB), Darren Moorcroft (Woodland Trust) and Craig Bennett (The Wildlife Trusts)

    MAR 17

    The Executive Branch: Beccy Speight (RSPB), Darren Moorcroft (Woodland Trust) and Craig Bennett (The Wildlife Trusts)

    Around a table at the Woodland Trust's headquarters in Grantham, David sits down with three of the most powerful voices in British conservation: Darren Moorcroft, Chief Executive of the Woodland Trust; Craig Bennett OBE, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts; and Beccy Speight, Chief Executive of the RSPB - between them, custodians of millions of members, thousands of nature reserves, and decades of hard-won environmental progress. It is, on paper, a story of success. The RSPB alone counts more members than every major UK political party combined. The Woodland Trust manages 1,200 sites, all free and open to anyone. The Wildlife Trusts have more nature reserves than McDonald's has restaurants - and if an ambitious bid for a vast estate in Northumberland succeeds, their newest will be the size of Athens. (Put that in your Veggie Burger, Ronald!) And yet the State of Nature reports - co-authored by all three organisations since 2013 - tell a grimmer story: the UK remains one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet. So if these organisations are succeeding, why is there less wildlife in Britain today than when the first report was published? What follows is a candid, wide-ranging conversation about why that gap persists - and, more importantly, what it will take to close it. The trio are frank about the limits of their power and the outsized influence of ideology on Downing Street, but also clear-eyed about what is changing: public awareness is shifting, businesses are moving beyond philanthropy, and a growing movement is starting to feel "...like a wave that can be pushed further up the beach than ever before." All three believe that tipping-point is closer than it looks. As Craig puts it: if you got rid of the economy, nature would be fine. If you got rid of nature, there would be no economy. Get that truth to land in the right places - and the next State of Nature report might finally tell a different story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 22m
  2. Rakan Zahawi: Giant ambitions at the Charles Darwin Foundation

    MAR 3

    Rakan Zahawi: Giant ambitions at the Charles Darwin Foundation

    Following on from two episodes recorded on San Cristóbal Island, this episode finds David having set sail across the Galapagos archipelago for Santa Cruz; destination: the headquarters of the Charles Darwin Foundation — the research institution founded alongside the Galápagos National Park, and still at the heart of how science becomes conservation on the islands. Joining David is Rakan Zahawi, CDF’s relatively new Chief Executive. Rakan is a botanist and restoration ecologist who arrived after running botanical gardens in Hawaii and Costa Rica, and now helps steer one of the most ambitious ecological recovery efforts anywhere on the planet. At the centre of this conversation is the Floreana Project: a multi-decade initiative to restore the Galapagos island of Floreana to a natural state, one pre-dating humankind’s arrival in the Galapagos. By tackling invasive species at scale and rebuilding ecosystem function from the ground up, Rakan explains why removing cats and rodents is only the start, and how quickly native wildlife can rebound when pressure lifts — from finches and reptiles to the startling reappearance of the Galápagos Rail for the first time since Darwin’s 1835 visit. With that groundwork laid, attention turns to what comes next: a carefully sequenced programme of reintroductions, led by the recent (last week, no less!) return of giant tortoises to Floreana — hybrids, standing in for a lineage wiped out long ago — as a headline step in a restoration story decades in the making. All that, plus the methodical science behind biocontrol, the worries of a parasitic “avian vampire fly” that threatens Galápagos avian life, and what lies ahead for CDF and its present and future partnerships. This episode was recorded live at the Charles Darwin Science Centre on Isla Santa Cruz in the Galápagos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    33 min
  3. Abraham Joffe: The Secret Trade in Polar Bears (or, “How to Save an Animal Everyone Thinks Is Already Protected!”)

    12/09/2025

    Abraham Joffe: The Secret Trade in Polar Bears (or, “How to Save an Animal Everyone Thinks Is Already Protected!”)

    In the second of two CITES-centric episodes, this episode finds David in conversation with Australian filmmaker Abraham Joffe – director of Trade Secret, the award-winning documentary exposing the global trade in polar bear skins. While climate change relentlessly erodes the sea ice these animals depend on, Abraham reveals how polar bears are still legally trophy-hunted, skinned and sold as luxury rugs and taxidermy, their fate decided in conference halls thousands of miles from the Arctic. David and Abraham explore how Trade Secret follows journalists, advocates and Arctic guides – including previous guest Iris Ho – as they investigate both legal and illegal polar bear markets, and push for the species to be “uplisted” to the highest level of CITES protection. Along the way, they discuss the blurred line between filmmaking and journalism, the ethical weight that comes with shaping a story in the edit, and the power – and limits – of a documentary to change international policy. Crucially, the conversation also turns north, to the Indigenous communities who have lived alongside polar bears for generations. Abraham reflects on the cultural and subsistence importance of traditional hunting, how little money actually reaches those communities from the luxury trade, and why giving polar bears the protection they deserve doesn’t have to mean erasing the people who share their icy home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    35 min
  4. Prof. Diana Pazmiño: Rays, Research and the Real Guardians of the Galápagos

    FEB 17

    Prof. Diana Pazmiño: Rays, Research and the Real Guardians of the Galápagos

    A Galápagos native – born on Isla Isabela – marine biologist and conservation geneticist Diana Pazmiño focuses her research on rays, sharks, and the human communities that live alongside them. In this relaxed discussion with David Oakes, Diana explains why she brings conservation science home, how education shapes what gets noticed, valued, and protected, and what ‘protected’ actually means in practice – especially in those liminal spaces where rules and regulations require regular enforcement. Nothing epitomises Diana’s belief in the value of education more than the project she initiated on the archipelago – The Gill’s Club. Empowering girls aged 8 to 12 across the four inhabited islands of the Galápagos through experiential learning in marine science and conservation, The Gill’s Club fosters a strong bond with the ocean, develops aquatic skills, critical thinking, and female leadership. They also explore what happens when conservation becomes purely prohibitive, how bans can drive use underground, and why durable protection depends on local buy-in, education, and a sense of shared identity that’s still being built. This episode was recorded live at the Galápagos Science Centre on Isla San Cristóbal in the Galápagos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min
  5. Prof. Carlos Mena: Trust the Locals, Trust the Science, Protect the Galápagos

    FEB 24

    Prof. Carlos Mena: Trust the Locals, Trust the Science, Protect the Galápagos

    This episode finds David in conversation with the Galápagos-born geographer, Director of Universidad San Francisco de Quito’s Galápagos campus and Co-Director of the Galápagos Science Centre, Professor Carlos F. Mena (recorded with a chorus of barking sea lions providing an unmistakably local backdrop!) From a NASA fellowship and early work modelling human behaviour in the Amazon, Carlos explains how his research led to a simple, uncomfortable truth: conservation succeeds or fails at the level of families. In places where survival is precarious, the forest becomes a bank account — and any environmental message that ignores poverty, health and education is doomed to stay theoretical. From there, the conversation moves to the Galápagos as a living, inhabited system: a place of extraordinary protection and extraordinary pressure. Carlos describes the islands’ dependence on tourism, the “fortress conservation” model that tightly regulates both people and nature, and the political push to open the archipelago to outside investment. They explore how the Science Centre builds trust with local communities after a history of extractive science, why co-authorship and two-way learning matter, and how citizen-science livelihoods emerged in the shock of COVID. The episode ends where it began — with sea lions spilling into town — as Carlos unpacks the new sea lion management plan, the challenge of educating residents and tourists alike, and the looming threat of disease in small, irreplaceable populations. This episode was recorded live at the Galápagos Science Centre on Isla San Cristóbal in the Galápagos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    37 min
  6. Dr Trevor Dines (Part One): Nobody ties themselves to buttercups (unless you’re born a botanist!)

    01/10/2023

    Dr Trevor Dines (Part One): Nobody ties themselves to buttercups (unless you’re born a botanist!)

    Despite being raised in the fields of England and having slept upon the Rainforest Canopies of Cameroon, Dr Trevor Dines’ heart is intertwined with the flora of Wales. Recorded in his own personal Wildflower Meadow in North Wales’ Conwy Valley, this interview charts Trevor’s journey from the youngest member of the Wessex Orchid Society (when still only aged in single digits) to one of the inspirational forces behind the UK’s largest botanical charity, Plantlife. Trevor has written books, presented a television programme for Channel 4, appeared on the likes of BBC’s Countryfile and Springwatch, and prior to that, he spent 6 years manifesting the ground-breaking "New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora" - collating nine million records to map over 4,000 species of plants in the wild. Listening to his passion, you’ll find it hard not to agree with Trevor, that: “I think you’re born a botanist.” In this first of two episodes, we explore the importance of cattle and other creatures as vectors to help plants survive climate change, discuss what exactly a “Wildflower” is, and hear how when Trevor enters the countryside, it’s “…like going to a party, meeting friends, family, and sometimes exciting unexpected strangers…!” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    45 min
  7. Paul Donald: Birds, Buddhists and Bypasses; Tales of Trafficking & Traffication with that Lark Sex Ratio Guy

    11/07/2023

    Paul Donald: Birds, Buddhists and Bypasses; Tales of Trafficking & Traffication with that Lark Sex Ratio Guy

    Senior Scientist at Bird Life International, previously the Principal Scientist at the RSPB, and before that at the BTO, Paul Donald is a world expert on things that fly. As such, it is perhaps somewhat surprising that he has focused this expertise into a groundbreaking book about roads, the things that travel upon them, and the damage they do to nature. This in depth discussion of two halves begins by showcasing how Paul helped re-establish the population of one of the world’s most endangered birds - the Raso Lark of the Cape Verde Islands, how birds living within the EU have greater life expectancy than those living outside it, and how Buddhist beliefs may be inadvertently bolstering the illegal trade in rare birds. From then it’s on to the “extinction driving, landscape splitting, wildlife slaughtering, soundscape shattering, pollution spewing, climate changing, health wrecking, global catastrophe” which Paul has labelled ‘Traffication’. Did you know that the area in a bird’s brain dedicated to song learning is smaller in a bird exposed to road noise? Did you know the first electric car dates from 1888? And did you know that there is a species of Nightjar known to exist purely because of a single piece of feathered roadkill scraped up from the tarmacadam?! But most importantly, if you drive a car, what single thing can you do today to help our wildlife? This and much more in November’s episode of Trees a Crowd. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 3m
  8. Peter Wohlleben: The hidden life of the ‘Green Sheep’ who wanted to become an Ent

    09/03/2021

    Peter Wohlleben: The hidden life of the ‘Green Sheep’ who wanted to become an Ent

    Peter Wohlleben is a German forester, an international best-selling author and (unfortunately for our host) a rival dendro-podcaster! Here Peter talks not only in the manner for how he has become internationally renowned - speaking of how trees can have families, of how they can feel panic and of how they may LITERALLY be able to see what we are doing with tiny optical lenses in their leaves - but also more personally - about how he was the “green sheep” of his family, spending his childhood imitating frogs and whispering sweet nothings to egg yolks. Peter and David discuss the importance of trees as whole ecosystems, of how trees work as a natural thermostat and how the forests of Europe provide the rain for much of China. Add in some of Peter’s respect for the UK's Woodland Trust, and his concerns about forest bathing in the buff, and you have an incredibly wide ranging conversation, that seeks to unroot the secrets and stories surrounding the hidden life of Peter Wohlleben. For further information on this and other episodes, visit: https://www.treesacrowd.fm/peter-wohlleben/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    38 min
  9. Mark Frith: a legacy of Britain's ancient oaks

    02/21/2019

    Mark Frith: a legacy of Britain's ancient oaks

    Mark Frith is an artist and film-maker. His documentaries include “The War on Love”, “Hotel Splendide”, and BAFTA award-winning documentary “The Lie of the Land”. In 2011, he began a project which was commissioned by the late publisher and poet Felix Dennis to draw 20 large scale, intricate portraits of Britain’s ancient oak trees. His series of graphite drawings, which took the best part of a decade to complete, were gifted to the Royal Botanical Society’s permanent collection at Kew and to Felix Dennis’ Heart of England Forest charity. In this in-depth conversation, Mark shares his childhood memories of growing up in Gloucestershire, explains how his spiritual empathy with the natural world helped to create the detail in his drawings which “appeared to draw themselves”, and shares his concerns about the human activities that continue to destroy the natural world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min
  10. David Fettes: Going against the crowd - and the best moment to press the button

    03/25/2019

    David Fettes: Going against the crowd - and the best moment to press the button

    David Fettes is technically a wildlife photographer but is far better described as a force – and primarily a part – of nature. Growing up in India and in England, surrounded by snakes, langur monkeys and even more baleful creatures, he has stretched the definition of “self-taught”. An initial career in curiosity led to a mandatory career in management and insurance, before he landed, feet-firm, in what proved to be his destined vocation. His work has featured in the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition and in magazines worldwide. In this in-depth conversation, he explains why he’s dedicated to educating children on where we fit into the ecosystem, argues that relying on technology has encouraged photographers to be “lazy”, and pleads for listeners to immerse themselves within other cultures, other species, and a more tolerant world to break down our woeful human misconceptions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min
  11. Save the Rhino Trust Namibia: Desert days with the Black Rhinos and the Rangers who protect them from Poachers

    07/04/2023

    Save the Rhino Trust Namibia: Desert days with the Black Rhinos and the Rangers who protect them from Poachers

    This episode is about Rhinos; desert-adapted free-ranging Black Rhinoceroses and the men and women who devote their lives to protect them - to be precise. Save the Rhino Trust Nambia has existed for over 40 years, their mission is to monitor and conduct research on the Black Rhinos of the North-Western part of Namibia known as the Kunene desert region. An incredibly hostile environment, the Black Rhinos have adapted to live here thanks to a tolerance for an extremely toxic plant that even White Rhinos cannot stomach - but what they have not adapted to survive, is the increasing threat of human poachers. Direct from the mouths of the Rangers and Trackers who spend 22 days at at time trekking the desert to monitor it’s rhino population, hear how community involvement is at the heart of a true, and ongoing, conservation success story. In this episode you will hear the voices of Andrew Malherbe (Chief Operating Officer - SRT), Lesley Karutjaiva (Director of Field Operations - SRT), Denzo Tjiraso and Ngaujake "Cesse" Kututa (Trackers at SRT), Tommy Hall (Wildlife Intelligence Officer) and Piet Beytell (Chief Conservation Scientist at the Namibian Government's Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    56 min
  12. Sweet Chestnut: Legendarily tasty, but as prickly and trustworthy as a Borgia

    09/14/2021

    Sweet Chestnut: Legendarily tasty, but as prickly and trustworthy as a Borgia

    Our thirty-eighth tree, the Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa). A mighty tree, but actually a non-native archeophyte; one whose fruit has both fattened us and inspired us. We soak the chestnuts in sugar, we sing christmas songs about them, and they’ve inspired histories greatest fable-fabricators to have a LOT of fun! So, whether you want stories of 4000 year old trees growing in the shadow of a volcano and sheltering 100 horsemen, or myths about a horny Roman god wanting to make illegitimate love-tadpoles with a water nymph, or simply the tried and tested Renaissance tale of Alexander the chestnut-depraved Borgia Pope and the joy of sharing his nuts with his cardinals... this tree has it all! (Special thanks to Francois Arnaud for adding his voice to this episode.) More from David Oakes as he uproots the secrets and stories beneath the 56(ish) Native Trees of the British Isles can be found at: https://www.treesacrowd.fm/56Trees/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    17 min
  13. Polly Morgan: Form and colour rather than life and death

    03/07/2019

    Polly Morgan: Form and colour rather than life and death

    Polly Morgan is a modern artist known for her sculptural taxidermy. Growing up in pastoral Oxfordshire, she’s been surrounded by animals from an early age. After moving to London to read English literature at university, she took a one-day course in avian taxidermy in a bid to decorate her new home. Polly’s interest accelerated from hobby to career when one of her pieces - “Rest a Little on the Lap of Life”, a white rat curled up inside a champagne glass - was sold to Vanessa Branson. Since then, her work has featured in an abundance of galleries including Banksy’s Santa Ghetto exhibition. In this in-depth interview, Polly talks us through her artistic techniques from observing and washing animal skins to forming casts, describes the feeling of creative loneliness that inspired her latest collaborative exhibition, and explains how her work is reinventing traditional victorian taxidermy - by creating abstract art that focuses on “form and colour rather than life and death.” N.B. We apologise for the reduced sound quality of this episode due to circumstances outside our control. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    44 min
  14. Rob Stoneman: Resurrecting Rainforests, Protecting Peat and Constructing Conservation Kingdoms along our Coastlines

    05/14/2024

    Rob Stoneman: Resurrecting Rainforests, Protecting Peat and Constructing Conservation Kingdoms along our Coastlines

    Rob Stoneman wanted to make lots of money in the oil industry… and then he found peat! This episode is a deep dive into that blancmange-like substance that should be our saviour. Also, the Wildlife Trusts’ plans to grow a new rain forest in North Wales and Rob’s dream of having a mile deep nature reserve that circumnavigates the entirety of the British Isles coastline. A geologist at source, Rob has grown into a leading expert on the pragmatism required for landscape reform on the British Isle. Before becoming the inaugural Director of Landscape Recovery at the Wildlife Trusts, Rob managed vast areas of burgeoning biodiversity across the European continent for Rewilding Europe. Prior to that, he ran the Sheffield, then Hampshire and then the Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts. Rob and David tackle some genuinely daunting subjects: green finance and carbon credits, the feasibility and required timescale for achieving carbon neutrality, the post-Brexit opportunities for reformed agro-subsidy schemes, the potential symbiosis between nature tourism and food production, how conservation NGOs collaborate without becoming an enviro-cartel, and there’s even time to squeeze in a compliment to none other than Michael Gove(?!) And if that doesn’t float your boat, then stick around for the bison, the elk, and the pumas that prey upon guinea pigs! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 1m
  15. Tan Twan Eng: The Master of the Nature Metaphor with his roots deep in the Concrete Jungle

    05/16/2023

    Tan Twan Eng: The Master of the Nature Metaphor with his roots deep in the Concrete Jungle

    Tan Twan Eng was the first Malay writer to win a number of key literary prizes including the Man Asia Prize and the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. David Oakes and Twan Eng first met whilst in Malaysia shooting the film adaptation of his Booker prize nominated “The Garden of Evening Mists”, and on the eve of publication for Twan Eng’s new novel, “The House of Doors”, David seeks to find the secret behind the novelist’s skill at crafting pitch-perfect nature metaphors - despite the truth of Twan wanting “…nature to be ordered”. Here we hear how Twan Eng met the Emperor of Japan’s Gardener, how one should be weary of jungle spirits and tigers should one be 'caught short' in the Malay Rainforest, and how Twan Eng’s heart, despite being born in Malaysia, is actually imbedded into the tow-paths of Richmond upon Thames; “I Dream in English” he says, as he shakes his gin martini... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min
  16. Dr William C. Tweed: The secret histories of John Muir’s Giant Redwoods

    07/06/2020

    Dr William C. Tweed: The secret histories of John Muir’s Giant Redwoods

    Dr William C. Tweed is a lover of Big Trees - the Giant Redwoods of California to be precise. An historian and naturalist, he has a career spanning over 30 years working for the US national park service, and after holding several roles at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, spent a decade as its Chief Naturalist. Whether it’s describing what a Giant Redwood is through a comparison to the miniscule mosquito, or a deep dive into numerous secret histories of mankind's fascinations with these trees, William will have you captivated, falling in love with, and longing to hug, the giant sequoia. In exploring the tree’s many wonderful evolutionary features, and the serene images he paints of the Sierra Nevada, William explains that our passion for sequoias starts with our love of that which is “big, and old, and rare”, and then continues to grow tall. William explores the history of the “Father of the National Parks” himself, John Muir - how his religious upbringing inspired his writing (his works serving as a “secular Bible” for those devoted to nature) - and how the Sierra Club is still following firmly in Muir’s footsteps today. Among William’s teachings are plenty of digressions and distractions - charming moments of a mind as fascinated by nature today as he has ever been. For further information on this and other episodes, visit: http://www.treesacrowd.fm/dr-william-tweed/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 3m
  17. M G Leonard: Storytelling and the power of Beetles! “Elytra Literature” from Shakespeare to Starship Troopers.

    09/10/2024

    M G Leonard: Storytelling and the power of Beetles! “Elytra Literature” from Shakespeare to Starship Troopers.

    A writer concerned with wondrous beetles and beautiful birds, M G Leonard and her award-winning books, for the past decade, have been inspiring the entomologists and ornithologists of tomorrow. Here, Leonard joins Oakes on the banks of the river that inspired Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" for an episode about how Nature and Storytelling are vitally important in inspiring young (and old) minds. In an interview that spans the arts - everything from Shakespeare to "Starship Troopers" - David and Maya discuss why badgers walk like an actor called Michael Bryant, how Ladybirds are actually Transformers, why Entomologists hate "The Hungry Caterpillar", and why beetles deserve a co-credit for authoring Darwin's "The Origin of the Species". Most importantly, hear how Maya’s journey into our natural world was far from guaranteed; in reality, it was a wild journey forged through stories, storytelling and one or two lies. Initially just a "Bug Tourist", Maya is now the Vice President for the insect charity BugLife, and manifested the world's first Masters Degree in Entomology. All that, and how to survive if you were ever to find yourself in a battle against a human-sized beetle! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr
  18. Dr Hannah Trayford & Rachel Bigsby: The State of the Badger, with the Badger Trust

    08/13/2024

    Dr Hannah Trayford & Rachel Bigsby: The State of the Badger, with the Badger Trust

    Britain and its rural communities have been obsessed with Badgers for centuries. Sometimes cast as hero, sometimes as villain, tales of their behaviour can be found woven into the fabric of our nation's folk stories. They have since been immortalised in literature by the likes of Beatrix Potter and Kenneth Grahame. Their prominence in rural life continues into our modern Britain, where Badgers find themselves in the crosshairs of an ongoing cull. But are Badgers the villain of this new tale - persecuting farmers trying to make ends meet within our complicated food chain - or are they the unfortunate scapegoat in a politically-motivated act of extreme animal cruelty? David meets up with Dr Hannah Trayford, the Badger Trust Campaigns and Research Manager, and award-winning photographer Rachel Bigsby, the Badger Trust Youth Ambassador, to understand a little more about the realities of the ongoing cull, and the (lack of) science backing it up. Is it justifiable to cull 50% of the national Badger population, when it is 800 times more likely for cattle to spread Bovine Tuberculosis to Badgers, than the other way around? And if that all sounds too dour, then fear not, for the first 20 minutes of this podcast is actually about Orang-utans and the joy of photographing sea birds! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min
  19. Dr Bhaskar Choudhury: The Floodplain Guardians and the Elephants of Kaziranga

    11/18/2025

    Dr Bhaskar Choudhury: The Floodplain Guardians and the Elephants of Kaziranga

    David travels to the floodplains of Assam to meet the Wildlife Trust of India’s Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, veterinarian and project head of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in the heart of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve. From one-horned rhinos and swamp deer to clouded leopards and king cobras, Kaziranga’s UNESCO-protected grasslands host a breathtaking array of life – yet each monsoon, the mighty Brahmaputra River rises, displacing animals into the paths of highways, villages, and tea estates. Dr Choudhury’s team rescues the injured, the orphaned, and the lost – from palm squirrels to Asian elephants – nursing them back to the wild in what can be a ten-year journey of care, acclimatisation, and eventual release. Together, they discuss the delicate science of wildlife rehabilitation, the changing flood patterns of a climate-altered landscape, and the deep reverence with which Assam’s people greet the elephants they call gods. Along the way, Dr Choudhury reveals the quiet triumphs and heartbreaks of rewilding India’s giants — and why, after decades of work, the moment an elephant calf rejoins a wild herd still feels like a prayer answered. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    30 min
  20. Matthew Oates: A Paean to the Purple Emperor. One Man’s Passion-filled Past Devoted to Great British Butterflies

    07/09/2024

    Matthew Oates: A Paean to the Purple Emperor. One Man’s Passion-filled Past Devoted to Great British Butterflies

    Matthew Oates is a naturalist, nature writer, and poet with a lifelong passion for butterflies. In the short sward of the Cotswolds, Matthew takes David Oakes on a journey through his fluttery past. They discuss the writers who have inspired him, from Tolkien to Wordsworth and W.H. Hudson, and share stories of other notable butterfly enthusiasts, such as Sir Winston Churchill. Matthew explains his belief that true conservation is a blend of science and love. They also delve into the realities of developing a love for nature in the boarding schools of the Swinging Sixties - a time when his generation transitioned "from Molesworth to Jimi Hendrix in just three years," leaving little room for butterflies or a life-defining obsession with the intoxicating Purple Emperor. Their conversation also addresses modern concerns for butterfly conservation, including pathogens and parasites, the risks of unsanctioned releases, and the importance of single-species ecologists - “insects shout loudest and first.” Ultimately, this is a discussion about the metamorphoses of both the past and the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    52 min
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