Category: Books
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197: Living with Lynx – Conversation with Jonny Hanson
Is it possible for humans and large carnivores to share landscapes without conflict? What happens when predators like wolves, bears, and lynx return to areas where they’ve been absent for centuries? How do we balance the ecological benefits of apex predators with the real concerns of rural communities and farmers? We’re trying to answer these questions with our returning guest Dr Jonny Hanson, author of ‘Living with Lynx: Sharing Landscapes with Big Cats, Wolves and Bears’. Drawing on his unique…
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191: Rewilding Myths and Misconceptions with Ian Parsons
What exactly is rewilding? Does it simply mean bringing back wolves, lynx and bears, or is there more to it? Can we balance food production and rural community needs with land left to natural processes and wildlife conservation? To answer these questions, I talk with Ian Parsons, editor of “Great Misconceptions: Rewilding Myths and Misunderstandings”, a new book that explores common assumptions and misconceptions about rewilding. In our discussion, we address aspects of rewilding that are often misunderstood or misinterpreted,…
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189: Climate Anxiety and Presence Activism with Lynne Sedgmore
Do you feel climate anxiety? Is it overwhelming you? How do we find peace while being bombarded with dire environmental predictions? In an attempt to answer these questions, I talk with Lynne Sedgmore, a well-known educator, leadership coach, activist and the author of the book “Presence Activism: A Profound Antidote to Climate Anxiety”. To set the scene, we start with a discussion about peaceful but disruptive climate protests. We discuss their effectiveness, the reception by the wider public, and the…
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178: Why Biodiversity Matters with Nigel Dudley
“Why Biodiversity Matters” is fundamentally a philosophy book. However, the author and our guest, Nigel Dudley, is not a philosopher but an accomplished conservation biologist who has accumulated an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience working on conservation projects across the world. He has worked as a consultant ecologist with international organisations like WWF International, IUCN and UNESCO. He is a co-founder of Equilibrium Research and Industry Fellow in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of…
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165: Flicker in the Water with Bob Gonzalez
A Flicker in the Water is a book about fishing I wish someone had written a long time ago. I gotta admit that due to its small size, I initially underestimated it. However, as I started reading it, I was immediately drawn to the series of fishing stories and captivated by original, real-life photos. In fact, reading this book was so pleasurable that I ended up reading it twice over, back to back. I’m not kidding you! During my conversation…
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164: Shotgun Conservationist with Brant MacDuff
The story of Brant MacDuff, the author of the book under the title “The Shotgun Conservationist: Why Environmentalists Should Love Hunting” is in many ways similar to mine. We were both born and raised in the city without any contact or access to hunting. We overcame not insignificant obstacles to get into hunting later in life and both of us decided to share this experience with others who might want to do the same but don’t know where to start.…
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Mark Avery’s Reflections – A Book Review
Mark Avery, a prolific author, senior UK conservationist, and independent campaigner, is well-known for writing book reviews on his blog. Those, like me, who read his reviews in search of their next book might be saddened by the fact that it would be awkward for Mark to write a review of his own work. So, someone else had to do it. You’re welcome. From what I can tell, about half of my audience are big fans of Mark and his…
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158: Wildlife In The Balance with Simon Mustoe
This is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read. Although I don’t agree with everything in the book, I can overlook my disagreements because of how brilliant some parts that I do agree with are. So I couldn’t wait to sit down with the author, expert ecologist, Simon Mustoe for a chat about his views and, of course, about the book. In his book, “Wildlife in The Balance”, Simon lays out the case for animals being the most…
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146: Multi-Generational Outdoors Teaching with Emanuel Rose
Once again we are coming back to the subject of getting the young generation educated about nature and involved in experiences they might otherwise miss. It’s a theme that has been discussed on my podcast several times. It also comes back time and time again during my conversations about the state of nature and outdoor pursuits. Young people are just not getting outside that much anymore. There is a multitude of reasons for this. Today we touch on almost all…
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143: Emergent with Miriam Kate McDonald
In conversations about nature and wildlife, we often observe an ideological divide between two groups: farmers and rewilders. This divide can be seen in their different approaches to conservation and land management. Farmers tend to prioritise the production of food and other resources, while rewilders focus on restoring natural habitats and ecosystems, with a focus on ecological processes. We often ask the question of whether farming and rewilding can coexist. Today we are going a step further and asking if…