87 episodes
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature Steve Zwick
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- Science
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5.0 • 53 Ratings
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We've entered a new epoch: the Anthropocene, and nothing is as it was. Not the trees, not the seas – not the forests, farms, or fields – and not the global economy that depends on all of these. What does this mean for your investments, your family's future, and the future of man? Each week, we dive into these issues to help you Navigate the New Reality.
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087 | How REDD+ Revived a Major River, Slowed Climate Change, and Saved Lives
Evans Maneno is Makueni County Ecosystem Conservator for the Kenya Forestry Service. He walks us through a tree nursery in the Chyulu Hills and explains how the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project has reversed deforestation by helping people develop sustainable livelihoods -- reviving in the process a threatened river that provides water for people hundreds of miles away.
Second in a series -
86 | The Race to Save the Cloud Forests of Kenya's Chyulu Hills
A decade ago, the cloud forests of Kenya's Chyulu Hills were on the brink of collapse, threatening water supplies for the Tsavo and Amboseli Plains — and for the coastal City of Mombasa, 250 kilometers away.
Then the Kenya Forestry and Wildlife Services teamed up with the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, the Big Life Foundation, the Sheldrake Wildlife Trust, Conservation International, and, most importantly, grazing collectives, called “community group ranches” to launch the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project — a thirty-year private-public partnership designed to save the hills by overhauling the rural economy.
First in a series focused on ecological restoration in southern and central Kenya. -
Can Ghana Leverage REDD+ to Save its Cocoa Farmers? A conversation with Roselyn Fosuah Adjei of Ghana's Forestry Commission
Ghana's cocoa economy is second only to Côte d'Ivoire's, but climate change threatens to decimate it. Today's guest, Roselyn Fosuah Adjei of the Ghana Forestry Commission, is charged with leveraging carbon finance -- and specifically REDD+ -- to avert that disaster.
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084 | Treeless Neighborhoods and Poverty: the Deadly Link and How to Address it
A 2021 study of trees in America showed that poor neighborhoods had far fewer trees than wealthier ones, and that translates into higher temperatures, poorer air, and more deaths. Jad Daley of American Forests explains the Tree Equity Score, what it means, and his organization's effort to plant -- and, more importantly, grow -- 522 million trees across American cities.
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What to Make of COP27, with Jos Cozijnsen of Climate Neutral Group
Jos Cozijnsen has been working the climate puzzle for decades -- first by helping to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and then by helping NGOs like the Environmental Defense Fund craft legal policies with teeth.
Today, he offers his take on the year-end climate talks (COP27), which took place last month in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
We discuss the Bridgetown Initiative, the African Carbon Markets Initiative, and the new Loss and Damage Fund -- as well as the bad-faith arguments of those seeking to undermine carbon markets by pretending to make them perfect. -
Every Tree on the Planet Mapped, with Sassan Saatchi of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.
Under the Paris Climate Agreement, countries must document all of their greenhouse gas emissions and sinks, and that means measuring changes in tree cover. NASA Senior Scientist Sassan Saatchi has spent 30 years helping the world’s space agencies and foresters do just that by blending the newest science of the space age with centuries-old practices from ship-building and forestry. Thanks, to him, countries will soon be able track the growth and decay of every tree within their borders.
Customer Reviews
What a great discovery
Fantastic podcast. Does a great job of synthesizing complex subjects for the non-scientist. Very relevant and current.
Great podcast!
Incredibly informative and timely.
Great podcast to stay in front of the carbon tidal wave
Great episode, Steve! Thank you for providing this handy onramp for understanding voluntary carbon markets, and the urgency behind this massive effort to scale — so we can save our beautiful, beleaguered (bionic) planet.