Podcasts about wild voices project

Aidan Gallagher is a world-renowned actor and singer and also a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and one of the youngest ever Goodwill Ambassadors. You can find him at https://www.aidanrgallagher.com and http://www.twitter.com/aidanrgallagher. This episode and interview are brought to you (with our huge gratitude) by Kate on Conservation (http://www.twitter.comKateonConsrvation and http://www.kateonconservation.com), and was recorded at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London in 2018. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at http://www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

This episode is a conversation with James Glancy (https://www.jamesglancy.com/biography and https://twitter.com/jaglancy) who is a host of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, a conservationist who works with Veterans For Wildlife supporting the work of wildlife rangers in many African countries, and a former marine. In this conversation we talk about a childhood where he felt a passion for nature and picked up a love of diving, how his military expertise has translated into helping rangers defend some of the planet’s most endangered species, and what rewilding means to him. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Welcome to another episode of the Wild Voices Project podcast with me, Matt Williams. It has been quite some time since I’ve published an episode - a new house, a new girlfriend, a new dog and a new baby mean that life has been somewhat busy in the past year. So I put the podcast on pause for a while. But we’re back - and to begin with it’s with some episodes recorded around a year ago. So in listening to this episode and some of the upcoming ones please bear in mind that they are around 12 months old and were recorded prior to the coronavirus epidemic. But I believe there’s still huge, timeless value in these conversations. I hope you and your loved ones are well during this strange and concerning time. Many of us are very privileged by having access to nature and the outdoors right now. And I recognise that both I, and many of my guests, fall into that category. I hope that hearing about wildlife and nature might also provide some solace during this time. This episode is a cracker - it’s with the so-called ‘godfather of biodiversity’ Professor Thomas Lovejoy. Thomas Lovejoy is a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, an expert on climate and biological dynamics in the Amazon, he was previously the biodiversity advisor to the World Bank, and is known for being the first person to coin the word ‘biodiversity’. In this episode, we discuss using high mist nets to catch spine-tailed swifts in the Amazon rainforest, the tipping points caused by fragmentation that could lead to irreversible dieback, and how he keeps his energy levels up for office work and advising decision-makers and achieves an emotional or professional reset at the start of each day. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

When the opening line of a story mentions an Aldi bag-for-life full of human poo, you know it’s gonna be worth reading on, right? That story was the winning entry in the Wildlife Blogger of the Year competition and written by Gianluca Cerullo. He’s a conservation scientist and writer with a passion for adventure, wildlife and wild places. Gianluca has been involved in expeditions and research around the tropics from Borneo and Madagascar to the Colombian Andes and he shares his experiences on his blog. In this podcast you’ll hear from a young conservation scientist who’s really going places. He’s travelled the globe studying dung beetles and is soon starting a PhD at Cambridge University looking at rainforest restoration. On the podcast we talk about his career to date, his passion for communicating science and some great tips and advice for people seeking to follow in his footsteps. We also discuss some of the big conservation issues of the day like climate change, plastic pollution and much more. Joining me on the podcast today is co-host, Matt Adam Williams from the Wild Voices Project podcast.

This episode of Wild Voices Project is a special one because I’m talking to Dr David Bullock, who is the National Trust’s Head of Habitat and Species Conservation. On 18 May 2019 David is retiring after over two decades at the Trust. During my first year at the National Trust he has been one of the amazing people who work for the Trust who has made it so enjoyable. He has taught me so much about ecology and wildlife during that time - he’s one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve ever met. He has been so supportive of me as a new person in the Trust and become a true friend. I’m sure I’m not alone within the Trust in saying that I will truly miss David - a person who is full of joy, passion and generosity and always willing to spend some time having a conversation over a coffee. So publishing this episode is a tribute to David. It’s my way of saying thank you. At the time of recording I didn’t know that David was going to be retiring. We open with David’s first encounter with “wildlife” - an unforgettable childhood tussle with a goat. We talk about kickstarting natural processes and how important the ‘climate of fear’ created by predators and carnivores can be for the wider ecosystems and landscapes. We talk about how the National Trust’s approach to looking after nature has changed, and we cover trendy beavers and the Lundy cabbage, and the cabbage’s endemic invertebrate, too. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

In May 2018 I was lucky enough to be able to join the Treshnish Isles Auk Ringing Group (http://tiarg.org/) on their trip to Lunga. This small, uninhabited island is part of the Treshnish Isles off the west coast of Scotland. But while no people live there, it’s full of thousands and thousands of seabirds. We were there to survey one seabird in particular: the Manx shearwater. The UK is home to 90% of the world population of ‘manxies’, as they’re also known. This episode is a bit different to normal. It captures some of the sounds of the island, and through conversations with the friends and teammates I worked with also gives an insight into the fieldwork we undertook. I’d like to say a huge thank you to Turus Mara (https://www.turusmara.com/ and https://twitter.com/Turus_Mara)), the boat company who got us to the islands. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee receive and analyse the data, as do Scottish Natural Heritage, who also cover some of the costs of the trip. And the Hebridean Trust own the islands and grant us access to them. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Jo Roberts is Chief Executive of the Wilderness Foundation (https://www.wildernessfoundation.org.uk). She has served as its CEO since 2004. The Foundation works to transform the lives of young people from challenged and challenging backgrounds through wilderness experiences and thereby to demonstrate the value of wilderness. Jo and the Foundation run workshops, mentoring and expeditions at their base in Essex, in Scotland and in South Africa. Disclaimer: since I recorded this conversation with Jo I’ve become one of the Trustees of the Foundation. Jo grew up in South Africa and trained there as an anthropologist during the period of apartheid. We discuss her upbringing and her early love of wildlife and the outdoors. We talk about the skills she has developed through her experiences in the wilderness. And we talk about some of the questions and techniques she uses to support and challenge the young people she works with, in order to help to change or even radically transform their life paths. Jo is one of the most thoughtful and inspiring people I’ve had the chance to work with (and we have had the chance to work together on a number of projects over the past couple of years) and I’m looking forward to doing more with her and the Foundation in the years to come. I’m hoping, next year, to volunteer to help on one of the expeditions and combine my love of camping and Scotland with helping some of the young people and getting to know the organisation better. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Dove Step - the podcast 010 Feat. @mattadamw @birdbrainuk @sconebirding @YoloBirder and Dr Tony Morris and Mr @Guy_QA_Anderson of the RSPB. The sober one - pure podcast fire with some of your favourite guests from episodes 001 - 009. Contains swears - skip to around the one hour mark if you just came for the RSPB interviews (and less swears). Check out: Wild Voices Project: https://wildvoicesproject.org RSPB Hope Farm: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-and-sustainability/farming/hope-farm Operation Turtle Dove: https://www.operationturtledove.org Don’t forget Turtle Doves and please don’t forget Dove Step.

Emily Mott (http://www.emilymott.com) is a photographer and environmental activist. She was educated at The Putney School, Dartmouth College and Art Center College of Design. In New York City she worked as a pastry chef and book reviewer before turning to photography. Among her clients have been Rolling Stone magazine, the New Yorker, the Telegraph, Waitrose, Ikea, British Airways and many others. In 2013 Complex.com named her as one of the 25 best travel photographers in the world. She does pro bono photography work for Friends without Borders, Portsmouth Bangali Community Association and the Rural Refugee Network among others. She lives on a farm in West Sussex with her husband, two children, eight chickens and a cat. Emily has also been an instrumental figure in the local activist movement to save Markwells Wood from fossil fuel exploration (https://www.markwellswoodwatch.org/). In this conversation we cover her photography work and her approach to documenting beautiful landscapes and environmental destruction, including in Borneo. We also go into some detail about the risks that fracking poses to our countryside and environment, the planning regulations that apply to it and the tactics that Emily and her fellow activists have used in their local campaign. You can contact Emily at emily@emilymott.com. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Ben teams up with presenter of The Wild Voices Project podcast, Matt Williams, to speak to Teleri Fielden, aka The Snowdonia Shepherdess in Wales.

This conversation is with Teleri Fielden (@TeleriFielden), the National Trust and Welsh Young Farmers scholar at Llyndy Isaf farm in Snowdonia. Teleri was recently featured on the BBC’s Snowdonia Shepherdess programme. She looks after a farm on the slopes of the Welsh mountains in Snowdonia. And in this conversation tells us about her experience in this landscape and how farming cattle and sheep can be beneficial for wildlife and conservation. Teleri’s interest in farming and the outdoors comes from spending time as a child on her grandfather’s farm. She tells us how that turned into her opportunity to take on the scholarship at Llyndy for three years. She also talks about some of her encounters with wildlife in the landscape. And she tells us how skills from marketing roles have helped her in her farming career to date. This is a very special episode of the Wild Voices Project podcast in collaboration with the Meet the Farmers podcast (http://thinkingcountry.com/meet-the-farmers-podcast) presented by Ben Eagle (@benjy_eagle). The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Lizzie Daly (http://www.lizziedalywildlife.com/) is a wildlife filmmaker and presenter. You can find her on twitter @_LizzieDaly and her youtube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC20DGpTHgqDlgctp6jDkmZg. Lizzie is a biologist and broadcaster, a wildlife filmmaker both in front of and behind the camera for BBC Earth Unplugged, CBeebies and NatGeo Kids. She’s also the founder of the “Do You Suck” plastic waste campaign in five UK cities. I met Lizzie at BBC Countryfile Live over the summer and her passion and energy shone through during her talk on stage. I was really lucky to have the chance to speak to her earlier this year at Cardiff public library. In this conversation we discuss how her early persistence to succeed academically translated into determination to succeed in wildlife filmmaking. We cover the role that technology has played in helping her to develop films for herself and build her career from scratch. We talk about her passion for African elephants and for British wildlife, and share our respective views on puffins and other seabirds. And Lizzie also describes how a past mistake (or what seemed like a mistake at the time during an audition) set her up for future success. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

This is a conversation recorded by Kate Snowdon (https://kateonconservation.com/ and https://twitter.com/KateConsrvation ). Tania Esteban (https://www.treproductions.co.uk/ is a bilingual wildlife filmmaker and researcher who has worked with the BBC on various films, including Big Cats, which was her first break into the BBC. She has worked as a researcher on big titles such as Wild Cities and on digital projects for Our Planet, Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II. Kate talks to Tania about this experience so far, and her own film A Lion’s Tale, which is about the Born Free Foundation, and how this ties in with wider issues of the illegal wildlife trade. We hear Tania’s tips for making it as a wildlife filmmaker, who to find a niche in terms of style and technology – she shares her story of why she focussed on drones and their applications for both conservation research and wildlife filmmaking. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitchr. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

We live in a era of disconnection from our direct experiences of life - from ourselves, from each other and from the natural world we're all integrally part of. Why? Because in the Western world in particular, we've chosen to 'develop our minds' so much that our habitual mode of being ("autopilot mode") is lost in the individual and collective thoughts and narratives of our conscious minds -without even being aware of it. This had led us to become significantly disconnected from our bodies and senses, from our direct experience and ultimately from nature within us and around us. We have forgotten how to pay attention and listen to nature - which we all have an innate bond with. According to Claire Thompson, author and explorer of mindfulness and nature (http://mindfulness-of-nature.com/ and https://twitter.com/NatureMindful, this disconnection is the root cause of most of the unnecessary suffering and problems which we face in the world today. Mindfulness is about becoming aware of all the different aspects of our experience of aliveness in an open, compassionate and non-judgmental way. This awareness gives us the choice as to which parts of our experience we tune into. Claire believes that a world that is more mindful of nature will be happier, more peaceful and on the road to sustainability - it's time to bring our awareness back to nature! In this conversation, Claire covers how simple practices like finding a ‘sit spot’ can help us to develop a mindful approach to the natural world and in turn to the rest of our lives. Taking this more mindful approach to life can help us to deal with challenging situations and become more aware of our emotional reactions and where they come from. We are part of nature and nature is part of us, so Claire sees it as common sense for us to undertake mindfulness in a natural setting since it heightens our senses and perception. Practising mindfulness can also be a great way to see wildlife and to enter a state of stillness that encourages it to become more confiding and come closer. Claire also describes how she fell in love with Central and South America, and explains how she has left her day job in order to move there this winter to lead workshops and retreats where she hopes to inspire many more to reconnect with the natural world - through mindfulness meditations, discussions, games, hikes and shared experiences of the wilderness in beautiful places. And she explains the linkages between mindful experiences of nature and our motivation to protect things that we love. In turn, she explains that mindful experiences of nature might be able to help us conserve and restore it. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitchr. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Diogo Veríssimo (https://www.diogoverissimo.com and @verissimodiogo) is a social scientist focussing on how marketing and insights into human behaviour can help us to tackle conservation issues, particularly human-wildlife conflict and the illegal trade in wildlife. He’s an Oxford Martin Fellow, part of the Oxford Martin programme on the illegal wildlife trade. In 2016 he was given the Young Professional Award by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Commission of Education and Communication and in 2017 he received the Early Career Conservationist Award from the Society for Conservation Biology. In this conversation he tells us how tripping over a fossil was how he stumbled into an interest in the natural world. And he tells us how he realised that nature conservation is fundamentally dependent on human actions and interactions with the natural world. And then Diogo explains how social marketing and influencing human behaviour can help us to protect wildlife, creating incentives rather than imposing rules and regulations. This marketing can take the form of focusing on charismatic umbrella species that are particularly appealing but which are connected to others. Diogo also tells us about the Lost and Found project he founded, about species previously thought to have gone extinct that have been rediscovered. And he also tells us about setting up ‘I Fucking Love Biodiversity’ (https://www.facebook.com/Ilovebiodiversity/ and The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitchr. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Dr Sharon Blackie (@sharonblackie and www.sharonblackie.net) is a psychologist and mythologist and presenter of The Hedge School podcast (www.thehedgeschool.org/) on the theme of a new folk culture. She’s also an award-winning writer of several books including ‘The Enchanted Life’, ‘If Women Rose Rooted’ and ‘The Long Delirious Burning Blue’. We talk about Sharon’s realisation that she was unhappy in a corporate role working in London that was affecting her mental wellbeing. Her mother’s move to a tiny cottage in rural Wales spurred her to uphaul her life and reconnect with nature. We explore the impacts on our natural world of the unhappiness and disconnection that so many of us, including Sharon, have felt. The conversation also touches on how a rootedness in place, tradition, nature and the feminine can help to heal both ourselves and the natural world. In Sharon’s view, western philosophy has played a significant role in the ‘disenchantment’ with the natural world that we suffer from today. Sharon shares the beautiful story of the mythical selkies, half-woman half-seal, that she explains can help us to understand the importance of female intuition and wisdom. And I think Sharon’s explanation of this story is emblematic of her wider ability in this episode to tell beautiful and allegorical stories and anecdotes that contain powerful lessons about our connection to the natural world. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. You can find us online at www.wildvoicesproject.org and @WildVoicesProj on twitter. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitchr. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Episode 004 - the Peoples Walk for Wildlife special. Note; this was recorded after the pub. Whilst drinking. So, any offence whilst completely intended was due to alcohol. I interview @mattadamw about his experience of the walk and we of course go off on many tangents. Your weather is by the man legend @YoloBirder and our correspondent in the field is @birdbrainuk Learn more about Wild Voices Project here; https://wildvoicesproject.org Don’t forget Turtle Doves and please don’t forget Dove Step!

Benedict Allen (benedictallen.com) is one of the world’s foremost explorers. You can follow him on twitter @benedictallen. He’s the writer of a plethora of books, including ‘Into the Crocodile Nest: A Journey Inside New Guinea’, ‘Hunting the Gugu’, ‘Into the Abyss’, ‘Edge of Blue Heaven: A Journey Through Mongolia’, ‘The Skeleton Coast: Journey Through the Namib Desert’, ‘Mad White Giant’, and presenter of six BBC television series. He’s the only person to have crossed the full width of the Gobi desert alone except for camels. He’s well known for his technique of immersing himself with indigenous communities and avoiding taking technology with him on expedition. He has survived many near-death experiences, including sewing up his own chest-wound with his boot-mending kit after being abandoned by his guides in Sumatra. In this episode we discuss his inspiration from his air pilot father, how he developed the mental and physical resilience to go on months-long solo expeditions in his 20s. He describes enduring brutal initiation ceremonies in Papua New Guinea with the crocodile cult, that involved being beaten every day five times a day with bamboo blades, a ceremony that no outsider had before experienced; encountering snakes in the Mongolian desert. And we talk about how exploration can help us understand the current mass extinction of wildlife we are experiencing and causing. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Mercy Kariuki is Local Engagement and Empowerment Coordinator for BirdLife Africa. She tells the story of how she fell in love with the birds of her home country, Kenya and how she developed her leadership skills through setting up an environmental group at her school. Mercy also explains the community projects that she helps to coordinate in order to create habitat for bird species in a range of African countries. And she discusses why she thinks conservation needs more women leaders, and the lessons she has drawn from the women who have inspired her. Mercy also tells us about Njabini Wool Crafters (NWC) which is a youth-led, conservation focused co-op that aims at building an economically viable organisation while at the same time driving conservation of the Kinangop Plateau Grasslands, home to the critically endangered Sharpe's Longclaw bird species. NWC provides training and skills development in the areas of wool product design, spinning and weaving to young people in the Kinangop area and works closely with farmers to enhance their income from sheep farming. You can find out more about the projects here https://www.rufford.org/projects/mercy_kariuki and here http://www.nwc.co.ke/index.php. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Louie Psihoyos is a Greek-American filmmaker, photographer and director. He began his career as one of the first new photographers that National Geographic had hired in several years. He is perhaps best known as the Director of The Cove, about the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, which won an Oscar in 2010. He has also made the film Racing Extinction, about the sixth global mass extinction. And he’s currently working on The Gamechangers with James Cameron, a film about vegan super athletes due out later this year. He’s also the Founder and Chief Executive of the Oceanic Preservation Society which works to bring together artists and activists to protect the oceans and the planet. In the course of this conversation we talk about how Louie pioneered a new form of environmental journalism when he was at National Geographic, how a chance meeting with Stephen Spielberg, and a passion for dinosaurs, ignited an interest in extinction, and why he believes that a plant-based diet is the best for our health, our wallets and the planet. This is a fascinating conversation with one of the world’s leading environmental filmmakers and advocates. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Dr James Borrell (@James_Borrell) is a conservationist, explorer, scientist and communicator. He describes himself as a conservation biologist who has been involved in expeditions and fieldwork around the world. His main interests are the impacts of habitat fragmentation and of climate change on species. He’s known for his uncompromising and challenging attitude towards conservation orthodoxies and practices. You can read many of his opinions on conservation on the blog on his website (http://www.jamesborrell.com/). And you can watch his brilliant TEDx talk on optimism in conservation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lJg4GEjj6M. During this episode we cover why optimism plays such an important role in his conservation outlook, why James thinks we shouldn’t be spending our money and time trying to protect wildlife in the UK. He reminisces about his early expeditions to Madagascar and talks about the important role expeditions and exploring can play in forming new conservationists and he explains why he thinks more healthy disagreement is what’s needed to help secure environmental progress. James is one of the most well-rounded guests I’ve had the pleasure to interview and this is a really good conversation. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

This conversation was recorded by Kate Snowdon (https://kateonconservation.com/ and @KateConsrvation) and kindly shared with the Wild Voices Project podcast. It’s a conversation with the renowned international conservationist Dr Jane Goodall. Jane is best known for her work studying chimps in Gombi which she did predominantly with National Geographic in the 1960s. She was the first person to observe chimps in the wild using tools which redefined the way we saw chimps, and humans in relation to them. Kate was lucky enough to talk to Jane about her time in Gombi, as well as about Roots & Shoots (https://www.rootsnshoots.org.uk/), which is a major part of Jane Goodall’s life today. She works with education groups across the globe in over 100 countries to put together projects and programmes related to the environment, people and wildlife. This conversation was recorded at the 2017 global Roots & Shoots summit. A huge thanks to Kate for sharing this audio with us, and it’s likely that Kate will be bringing us a few more interviews in the future. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to ‘curate the BBC’s Tweet of the Week’ archive. This meant I was given the chance to introduce the Tweet of the Day (daily birdsong) on BBC Radio 4 for two weeks. This was an incredible opportunity and I’d like to say a big thank you to Andrew Dawes, the Tweet of the Week producer, who invited me. This episode is a little behind the scenes glance at my day at BBC Radio Bristol. I managed to record a conversation with Andrew, a seasoned natural history producer, as well as with Emily Knight (@EmilyPKnight) and Becky Ripley (@Becky_Ripley), the presenters of the amazing Blue Planet II podcast. The Blue Planet II podcast is incredibly informative and fun and well worth having a listen to. You can hear the podcasts of my Tweet of the Week here (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p068w3tf) and here (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p069jt4n) on the BBC website. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

In this conversation I talk to Ashley Bell (@AshMichaelBell), actress and director of a new film about the plight of the Asian elephant. We discuss the little-known story of the threats to Asian elephants, whose numbers are far fewer than those of the African elephant. Ashley talks about the process of producing the film and working with renowned Asian conservationist Lek Chailert, and she also explains what lessons and techniques she took from her work in horror movies into producing an environmental documentary. Ashley Bell is a film, television and theatre actress. She won an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in The Last Exorcism as well as an MTV Movie Award. Ashley wrote, directed and produced the feature-length documentary Love and Bananas: An Elephant Story (http://loveandbananas.com/ or @LoveandBananas), and she’s a US Ambassador for Cruelty Free International. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

This conversation is with scientist and primate expert Erin Kane (@Diana_monkey). In the course of this podcast we talk about Erin’s work on Diana monkeys in Côte d’Ivoire and her work on orangutans in Borneo. We discuss her research findings on monkeys, collecting poo samples and how dancing helped her build up confidence for fieldwork. We also cover the cognitive load and impact of sexual harassment faced by many women in the scientific setting and in fieldwork settings. Erin Kane (https://erinelizkane.net/) is a postdoctoral research associate at Boston University, working with Dr. Cheryl Knott on a project examining life history influences on orangutan feeding ecology in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, with an emphasis on nutritional and endocrine analysis. She completed her PhD at Ohio State University in 2017. Her dissertation examined the social, ecological, and reproductive consequences of seasonal changes in food availability for Diana monkeys living in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. She is broadly interested in understanding primate responses to fluctuating food availability, particularly from socioecological, endocrine, and morphological perspectives. She also aims to make anthropology and primatology more inclusive and accessible sciences for a diverse group of scientists. When Erin isn't in a rain forest chasing primates and collecting their urine and feces, she loves taking ballet and spending time with her fantastic cat, Triceratops. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Dr Richard Benwell (@RSBenwell) is a policy advisor at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He’s former Head of Government Affairs for the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (which is the role he was in at the time of this interview). In this conversation we discuss how we can restore our waterways to good health, why regulation, policy and legislation are so important for our wildlife, how Brexit can be an opportunity to increase environmental protection and his advice on the skills that are needed for a career in environmental politics. Richard is a good friend and we’ve worked together over a number of years, particularly when we were both working at the RSPB. So it was really good fun to interview him for the podcast. He’s one of the most eloquent, well-informed and friendly people I know in the environmental movement. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

In the second week of wildlife photographer, naturalist and presenter of the Wild Voices Project podcast, Matt Williams continues his quest to unearth the best and most uplifting episodes from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue. Producer Andrew Dawes.

The voice of the Wild Voices Project podcast, Matt Williams, shares an example of one of his birdwatching 'dips'. This omnibus edition contains the following repeated episodes; Red-Eyed Vireo - presented by Michael Palin CBE Hobby - presented by Brett Eastwood Guillemot - presented by Fyfe Dangerfield Shetland Starling - presented by Helen Moncrieff Sedge Warbler - presented by Sir David Attenborough

During his first week, wildlife photographer, naturalist and presenter of the Wild Voices Project podcast, Matt Williams continues his quest to unearth the best and most uplifting episodes from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue. Producer Andrew Dawes.

Joe Harkness (@birdtherapy) is a birdwatcher and blogger who focuses on the benefits of birdwatching for mental health. He runs the Bird Therapy blog (birdtherapy.blog) sharing these stories, and is currently fundraising to get his book on this topic published (unbound.com/books/bird-therapy). This is a hugely powerful and important conversation about a tough topic that doesn’t get enough coverage. And I’m so grateful that Joe is taking it on in such a public and bold way. I’ve had personal experience of mental health issues and so it was a huge privilege to speak to Joe, whose writing I’ve been following for a few years. I’m really proud to publish this conversation with him. In this conversation, which is gritty, raw and honest, we cover Joe’s battles with drugs and depression and he talks about his attempts to take his own life. And we also cover some amazing, beautiful and hilarious stories about birdwatching, and how rediscovering this passion helped him at one of his lowest moments. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Lucy Purdy (@loosepea) is editor of Positive News (@PositiveNewsUK), a magazine that publishes ‘constructive journalism’ – good journalism about good things. She is originally from Shropshire but has lived in London for more than 10 years. Previously, she was a freelance journalist, writing about nature connection and other topics for the likes of Guardian Sustainable Business, The Simple Things magazine, Oh Comely magazine, the New Statesman and various gardening titles. She is passionate about growing food and about composting, and loves spending time in nature, running and making things. If you visit the Positive News website you can read some of the articles, subscribe or donate. In this conversation we cover the power of positive journalism to change people’s media diets as well as to inspire them to take action. Lucy describes the lengths she will go to in order to achieve the perfect compost mix, and we discuss the important relationship between nature and the language we use to describe it. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Sean Conway (@Conway_Sean) is an endurance adventurer who, among other things, has cycled, swum and run the length of Great Britain in a triathlon of incredible feats. His books, Lands End to John O’Groats, Hell and High Water, and Running Britain, each tell the tale of these three journeys. Sean previously attempted to cycle around the world but was knocked off his bike. I managed to record this episode in a short few days between the publication of his latest book, Running Britain, and his departure to set a new record for cycling 8000 miles across Europe. You can follow this latest adventure at www.yellowjersey.co.uk. Sean is a truly inspirational human being who has helped me to push past some of my own self-imposed boundaries in my walking and particularly my running. As well as this, his books are infused with a genuine connection to the landscape and wildlife that make up the British countryside. He grew up in Zimbabwe where his father was a game ranger and experienced a childhood full of wildlife like rhinos. This appreciation for wilderness and wildlife has clearly stayed with him to this day, not just in his adventuring but also in his descriptions of encounters with pods of dolphins or being awoken in his tent by birdsong. In this conversation we discuss Sean’s appreciation for Britain’s countryside and landscapes, his refined skill for growing an amazing beard, and where he finds the strength to push through the most challenging parts of his adventures. And he shares his perspective on how anyone can make their life more adventurous through day to day decisions. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Shawn Heinrichs (@shawnheinrichs) is an Emmy-award winning cinematographer, photographer and underwater diver. Since transitioning out of a career in the finance industry he has become a champion for the oceans. He has been involved in notable conservation successes, not least of which the listing of manta rays as a scheduled species under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. His images and videos have featured in news and media outlets the world over. He has gone to extreme lengths, going undercover to document the illegal trade in marine species, and you can see this in the film Racing Extinction. while also creating incredibly beautiful underwater videos of dancers interacting with species like whale sharks that have gone viral. It really is worth checking out these videos here, here and here. Shawn is also the Founder of Blue Sphere Foundation (@bluespherefdn) which is working to safeguard the planet’s oceans. You can see more of his videos on his youtube channel. In this conversation we talk about his childhood in South Africa where he developed his passion for wildlife, that transition from finance to becoming an ocean champion, the role that diet plays in his physical and mental health, depression, his engagement with local communities, and he recounts the amazing story of an intimate encounter with a baby humpback whale. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

Joshua Styles is an incredible young man. Before he even graduated from university he had a job with an ecological consultancy firm. He has been taken on as a volunteer botanical recorder by several of the environmental NGOs in his local area. And he’s the founder of the North West Rare Plants Initiative (http://nwrpi.weebly.com/) which is his effort to recover and restore plants and flowers in the northwest of England. He does this primarily by identifying suitable sites and cultivating specimens at home for introduction. But he has been growing his own plants at home since around the age of seven or eight, and he developed incredible botanical expertise as a teenager. At his university he was awarded for designing the campus’s first ever biodiversity action plan. So, our conversation covers not only his favourite plants and landscapes for finding them, but we also discuss what he thinks drives him to be such an accomplished self-starter and expert botanist. You can find out more about Joshua by following him @Joshual951. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals. Find out more about us at wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

This conversation is with two close friends of mine, Peter Cooper and Ben Eagle. They're both members of the A Focus on Nature Committee, the youth nature network, which is how we became friends. They're also amazing young leaders in the conservation sector in their own right. Ben is a young farmer and conservationist whose blog thinkingcountry.com was shortlisted at last year's national blog awards. Ben also runs his own podcast called meet the farmer. Pete is a nature writer and conservationist, a specialist in mammals. And you can find his writing at petecooperwildlife.com and he's also recently begun his own podcast about rewilding. These two were staying with me a few nights ago and so we decided to try a new feature that I'm loosely calling beer and biodiversity. In our conversation we cover a huge range of topics including the need for young farmers and young conservationists to work together more, the recent news on the dramatic decline in insects and the joys of running your own podcast. We hope you enjoy this and apologies if the conversation gets slightly more random and slurred as the night and the beer draw on. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals.  Find out more about us at  wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org.

This conversation is with Dr Alan Rabinowitz, Chief Scientist of Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organisation. Dr Rabinowitz has been dubbed by Time magazine "the Indiana Jones of conservation", although as you’ll hear, that’s not how he’d like to be remembered. He has been instrumental in the creation of some of the world’s largest protected zones for big cats, as well as writing a dozen or so books documenting his work and adventures. We talk about his childhood love of big cats, he explains his views on the links between apex predators and diseases such as SARS and Ebola, and he talks about his new project, Journey of the Jaguar, travelling down the spine of the jaguar’s range across two continents and through 18 countries. He’s done all this and so much more whilst having overcome a severe stutter as a child and despite a diagnosis with leukaemia in 2002. He is one of the world’s leading conservationists and it was a huge privilege to speak to him. The Wild Voices Project podcast tells the stories of people saving nature. We are part of WILDVoices media, a global production team bridging emerging storytellers with aspiring environmental professionals.  Find out more about us at  wildvoicesproject.org. Learn more about the global community at wild-voices.org