Merlin and Robin Hanbury-Tenison

Robin and his son Merlin Hanbury Tenison have dedicated their lives to rainforests and the people living amongst them, whether in South America and Borneo or on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall where they live.

Author Robin Hanbury Tennyson OBE is ‘an explorer with a conscience’ who has lead over 30 scientific expeditions and founded Survival International, campaigning for the rights of indigenous people and tropical rainforests. But it was in Cornwall after a severe covid attack forced him into an induced coma for five months that he discovered the true healing power of trees.

It was only when Merlin returned home with his wife Lizzie, to heal his PTSD after serving three tours in Afghanistan and an uncomfortable stint in the London corporate world, that they discovered in a full circle of serendipity, that they were living in a rainforest- albeit an Atlantic temperate one. The story of how and why Merlin created the Thousand Year Trust to protect these ancient forests is beautifully told in Our Oaken Bones, published on March 20^th 2025.

This podcast is bought to you by The Resurgence Trust.