The Knepp Wilding Podcast

Knepp.co.uk
  • 5.0 (20)
  • NATURE
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

Join Knepp co-owner Isabella Tree and experience some of the wildlife wonders encountered, the secrets uncovered and the remarkable people who are part of the Knepp Wilding project.

  1. 4D AGO

    Is England Beaver Ready?

    Not according to Mark Elliot, beaver expert and Isabella Tree’s latest podcast guest. Licensed beaver pens – designed by Government as the first stage to wider release over three years ago – are beginning to fail. Beavers, including those installed in a six-acre pen at Knepp, have begun burrowing out of their watery prisons. As Isabella leads Mark through the incredible new wetlands created by Knepp’s AWOL beavers, he describes the importance of beavers in flood defence, neutralising water pollution, storing carbon and restoring biodiversity. But with the Government reluctant to come up with a workable Beaver Management Plan, some farmers and land managers are nervous about the prospect of these furry water engineers turning up on their land. Meanwhile, frustrated by government inaction, ‘beaver bombers’ have been illegally releasing beavers into rivers up and down the country. The beavers are already colonising England after an absence of over 400 years – but can we learn to live with them again? Where will the funding for troubleshooting beaver-human conflicts come from? Mark shares his experience leading the landmark River Otter trial and gives some fascinating insights into how communities – including farmers – can find solutions and enjoy a world where these incredible creatures once again live free. Isabella Tree co-founded the Knepp rewilding project with her husband, Charlie Burrell. She is an award-winning author, including of the best-selling book, Wilding: the return of nature to a British farm, which was made into a major motion picture in 2024. This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Send us a message or leave a comment The Knepp Wilding Podcast is kindly sponsored by Ecosia, a green search engine that gives 100% of it's profits to the planet. Ecosia has planted 225 million trees to date.  Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    40 min

  2. 12/02/2025

    Headwinds and hope: Tony Juniper on Why Nature Restoration is a Path to Economic Growth

    This time we are absolutely delighted to welcome Tony Juniper to the Knepp Wilding Podcast. Tony is well-known to us here at Knepp. A massive supporter of rewilding and an important figure in the conservation world, Tony is currently serving as the Chair of Natural England.  In this stimulating conversation, Tony tackles the deepest issues behind our inability to act with the pace and scale needed to address the emergencies of climate change and nature decline. He confronts the idea that economic growth and nature recovery are opposing forces - stressing that if we want a resilient economy into the future, we must restore nature. We also discuss his profound new book, Just Earth, which argues that environmental recovery is inextricably linked with achieving human happiness, economic fairness and social cohesion.  Tony says that to achieve this long-term change, we need to heal the massive disconnection between people and the natural world. He sees Knepp as a "real beacon of hope" and a practical demonstration of what can be done. Isabella Tree co-founded the Knepp rewilding project with her husband, Charlie Burrell. She is an award-winning author, including of the best-selling book, Wilding: the return of nature to a British farm, which was made into a major motion picture in 2024. This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Send us a message or leave a comment The Knepp Wilding Podcast is kindly sponsored by Ecosia, a green search engine that gives 100% of it's profits to the planet. Ecosia has planted 225 million trees to date.  Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    35 min

  3. 11/04/2025

    Rebelling with Integrity: Geetie & Guy Singh-Watson on Food, Farming, and Fairness

    Geetie and Guy Singh-Watson are powerhouses of the organic and regenerative food and farming movement. They’re the inspiration behind the Knepp Wilding Kitchen and Market Garden.  In this month’s podcast with Isabella Tree, Geetie and Guy vent their frustration with supermarkets, industrial farming, restaurant supply chains and lack of accountability. They explain the thinking behind Riverford Organic Farmers and Geetie’s rigorously ethical pub, The Bull Inn in Totnes - where Isabella’s son Ned Burrell, Executive Chef at the Knepp Wilding Kitchen, began his restaurant career.  They may not agree with the landownership of Knepp or want to dive into rewilding themselves but they admit a little bit of Knepp’s magic has rubbed off on them. Isabella Tree co-founded the Knepp rewilding project with her husband, Charlie Burrell. She is an award-winning author, including of the best-selling book, Wilding: the return of nature to a British farm, which was made into a major motion picture in 2024. This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Send us a message or leave a comment The Knepp Wilding Podcast is kindly sponsored by Ecosia, a green search engine that gives 100% of it's profits to the planet. Ecosia has planted 225 million trees to date.  Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    33 min

  4. 10/07/2025

    Penny’s farewell - fond memories of runaway beavers and sloe carpets

    In this very special episode Penny Green officially hands the host’s mic to Isabella Tree. Penny has been behind the Knepp podcast since it launched in 2020 and has been Knepp’s ecologist for a decade. She's moving on for pastures new (in fact, just down the road to the Wiston Estate).  In this warm and poignant episode, Isabella asks Penny to take her to the corners of Knepp’s Wildland which meant the most to her over the years. Together they recall the peaks and troughs of her time at Knepp, including capturing fugitive beavers and how nightingale song in lockdown – ringing out without anyone to hear it - inspired the very first episode of the podcast. Isabella Tree co-founded the Knepp rewilding project with her husband, Charlie Burrell. She is an award-winning author, including of the best-selling book, Wilding: the return of nature to a British farm, which was made into a major motion picture in 2024. This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Send us a message or leave a comment The Knepp Wilding Podcast is kindly sponsored by Ecosia, a green search engine that gives 100% of it's profits to the planet. Ecosia has planted 225 million trees to date.  Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    30 min

  5. 09/23/2025

    Owl Quiet on the Nesting Front

    In Owl Quiet on the Nesting Front, Penny Green interviews Matt Phelps, Knepp’s lead ecologist. They’re out on the Wildland checking 22 owl boxes. In this episode, they discuss barn owls’ silent grace and striking beauty… as well as how much people love to investigate their pellets to discover what the owls have had for breakfast! It’s a quiet year for owl breeding. Last autumn’s poor acorn yield spelled tough times for the small mammals who feed on them. That’s translated into a challenging year for owls. But this resilient species will bounce back. Send us a message or leave a comment Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    29 min

  6. 08/22/2025

    The Plant People Love to Hate

    It’s been a bumper summer for ragwort, the plant folks love to hate. In this month’s Knepp Wilding Podcast, Isabella Tree unearths the truth about this spectacular native wildflower with ragwort specialist, Mick Crawley.  Is it a toxic killer or a bountiful source of life? And what happens when you pull it up? Could trying to eradicate it actually be helping the plant to proliferate? The Knepp Wilding Podcast is generously supported by Ecosia – the search engine that plants trees and restores nature. All of us at Knepp are now changing our default search engine to Ecosia – and I do recommend you do too. You can help restore the planet from your desk! Find out more at www.ecosia.org Send us a message or leave a comment The Knepp Wilding Podcast is kindly sponsored by Ecosia, a green search engine that gives 100% of it's profits to the planet. Ecosia has planted 225 million trees to date.  Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    27 min

  7. 07/23/2025

    A Bonanza Year for Purple Emperors

    Join Knepp’s Isabella Tree and an over-excited Matthew Oates, the purple emperor’s No 1 devotee, to celebrate a bonanza year for this rare, beautiful and thuggish butterfly. Numbers at Knepp have broken all records and Matthew takes us to three of the emperor’s favourite haunts in the hope of catching a last glimpse of His Imperial Highness as the flight season draws to a close. Matthew explains why this has been the butterfly year of his life and his hopes for the future as habitat for the purple emperor and others begins to improve in Britain. Send us a message or leave a comment Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    26 min

  8. 07/23/2025

    A Wild Way to Grow

    It’s an early morning start for episode 38, as we meet with wonderful grower Rosanna before the heat of the day kicks in, and before she and the rest of the team get to work on the day’s harvest.  We talk about the incredible transformation of a three-acre pony paddock to a bountiful market garden, producing delicious seasonal veg for the Knepp Wilding Kitchen and Shop. We consider their regenerative approaches to growing, everything from encouraging good soil health to keeping living roots in the soil and attracting pollinators through to natural predators. We touch on the importance of watching and learning from the nature around us, and we hear about some of the grower team’s aspirations for the future. We marvel at Rosanna’s carrots (a proud moment) and take in the beauty and scale of the tomato tunnel. Rosanna’s enthusiasm and love for growing is so infectious you’ll be inspired to get growing yourself. Send us a message or leave a comment Find out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

    40 min
See All (45)

5
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

Join Knepp co-owner Isabella Tree and experience some of the wildlife wonders encountered, the secrets uncovered and the remarkable people who are part of the Knepp Wilding project.

Information

  • Creator
    Knepp.co.uk
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    45
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Knepp Wilding Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Knepp Wilding Podcast

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