Trees A Crowd

Fiona Mathews, a professor of Environmental Biology and chair of Mammal Conservation Europe, teams up with Tim Kendall, a professor of English Literature, to uncover the wild world of British mammals. They share amusing stories about their trained labrador, Charlie Brown, who finds bats affected by wind turbines. Delve into the locals of the elusive Wild Boar, the surprising journey of a Scottish Pine Marten to Georgia, and the impact of culture on wildlife conservation. Their wit shines as they blend science with storytelling!

Rob Stoneman wanted to make lots of money in the oil industry… and then he found peat! This episode is a deep dive into that blancmange-like substance that should be our saviour. Also, the Wildlife Trusts’ plans to grow a new rain forest in North Wales and Rob’s dream of having a mile deep nature reserve that circumnavigates the entirety of the British Isles coastline.A geologist at source, Rob has grown into a leading expert on the pragmatism required for landscape reform on the British Isle. Before becoming the inaugural Director of Landscape Recovery at the Wildlife Trusts, Rob managed vast areas of burgeoning biodiversity across the European continent for Rewilding Europe. Prior to that, he ran the Sheffield, then Hampshire and then the Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts.Rob and David tackle some genuinely daunting subjects: green finance and carbon credits, the feasibility and required timescale for achieving carbon neutrality, the post-Brexit opportunities for reformed agro-subsidy schemes, the potential symbiosis between nature tourism and food production, how conservation NGOs collaborate without becoming an enviro-cartel, and there’s even time to squeeze in a compliment to none other than Michael Gove(?!)And if that doesn’t float your boat, then stick around for the bison, the elk, and the pumas that prey upon guinea pigs! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Horstmann Trust is a brand new charity primarily focused upon breeding and ultimately releasing back into the wild four species of endangered vultures: the Bearded, Egyptian and Hooded Vultures, as well as the Andean Condor. But what makes the Horstmann Trust particularly interesting, is that these birds are Welsh Vultures! In this episode, David heads to Wales to meet Holly Cale & Adam Bloch, the custodians of around 70 birds which were previously the private collection of a brilliantly eccentric Carmarthenshire-based German Hotelier called Manfred Horstmann. This is a meaty discussion. As well as dissecting the realities underpinning a successful breeding programme, it is one that explores the Vulture’s complicated relationship with Humans. From Vultures being worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians, and enabling Sky Burials in India (where our dead are not buried or cremated, rather taken, bite by bite, back into the air), to wiping out 99.9% of Southern Asian vultures though the veterinary use of anti-inflammatory drugs, or through ritualistic superstitions that require the dismemberment and smoking of Vulture brains in order to see into the future. And if that isn’t enough, this is a podcast about birds vomiting and pissing on their legs - what’s not to love?! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the launch of his latest video installation at the Tate St Ives, artist Andy Holden meets with David Oakes to discuss the creativity present within the bird world. But, whilst exploring avian aesthetics, Andy's artwork - "A Natural History of Nest Building" - also explores the roles of nature versus nurture at an additional level. This exhibition, one exploring how and why Birds learn to create nest structures, is created by a father and son team; the son an artist, and the father a famous ornithologist. Which begs question: was this film, one about creating homes, nurturing eggs, and fledging one’s young, really just about birds? In this ornithological deep dive, Andy and Peter Holden discuss approaching a shared passion from opposite directions. You'll hear about the super-stimulus associated with the gaping beak of the infanticide-committing cuckoo, the individual spin that different birds of the same species place upon their own personal nests, and the complicated legacy of the mysterious egg-stealing Jordain Society. Andy Holden is a multi-faceted artist who has exhibited at the Tate Britain, has had music aired on BBC 6 Music, and has created everything from human-sized bower-bird bowers, to enormous knitted rocks based upon a piece of pyramid which he stole as a boy. His father, Peter Holden MBE, worked for the RSPB for almost 40 years to boost their youth engagement. He was most notably instrumental in developing their “Big Garden Birdwatch” - the UK’s first 'citizen science' project, which has been running now for 45 years, and counted around 190 million birds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr David Hetherington is an expert on the Eurasian Lynx and the beneficial links Lynx (Lynx lynx lynx) can manifest within our complicated British ecosystems. What he doesn’t know about the Lynx’s rich history across Europe is not worth knowing: Hear why Hildegard von Bingen thought drinking Lynx urine was highly beneficial; when exactly(ish) Lynx were wiped from British shores leaving only one town name with any form of association to a once indigenous species, and; how the Nazis could be considered the twentieth century’s first big-mammal “re-wilders”. But, most importantly, David answers the big question: does Britain have enough well connected forest habitat to safely support a large mobile forest-dependent species? Specialising in species reintroduction programmes, David managed the Cairngorms Wildcat Project and actively encouraged a positive relationship with gamekeepers to help all parties work for nature conservation without getting “sucked into the vortex of raptor politics”. He also sits on the board of Trees for Life - an award-winning charity that works to enhance the native woodland ecology of the Scottish Highlands. To that end, expect wildcats, red squirrels, pine martens, capercaillies, as well as the animal so cool they named it thrice, Lynx lynx lynx, in this immersive and informative wildlife deep dive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Ruth Tingay is a passionate conservationist dedicated to raptor protection. She shares her inspiring journey, from reintroducing the Red Kite to tackling wildlife crime through her Raptor Persecution blog and Wild Justice initiative. Ruth discusses the delicate balance between raptors and grouse shooting, her transformative field experiences, and the significant conservation efforts for the Mauritius Kestrel. She emphasizes the need for public engagement in wildlife activism and reflects on recent victories in environmental justice.

Hello, and welcome to a little festive bonus Trees A Crowd. Some of the eagle eared amongst you may have noticed that the regular “three final questions” were missing from this month’s interview with the artist and activist, Katie Holten. Well… …it’s because they’re here! So, before I hand you over to Katie for an additional stocking filler, I wish you all a glorious Christmas, and a new year tingling with positivity and promise.Merry Christmas! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie Holten is a visual artist and environmental activist who splits her time between Ireland and New York. She has exhibited at the Venice biennale and many galleries across the globe, with her work being described as “…an ongoing investigation of the inextricable relationship between man and the natural world in the age of the Anthropocene.” Recently she created the internationally best-selling book, “The Language of Trees”.Reclining in a mossy moot deep within the Woodland Trust’s Duncliffe Woods, Katie shares with David Oakes how her passion for nature stems from two roots: her mother – a gardener, teacher and floral artist – and her father – a man who led Katie to be enthralled by logic and physics and Feynman. Katie is now an artist who prides herself upon collecting the connected and noticing that from chaos sprouts equilibrium. It is perhaps not unsurprising then that she has devoted her artistic career to creating compendiums of things she feel necessary to share, and devoting her personal life to many of the goals of Extinction Rebellion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Senior Scientist at Bird Life International, previously the Principal Scientist at the RSPB, and before that at the BTO, Paul Donald is a world expert on things that fly. As such, it is perhaps somewhat surprising that he has focused this expertise into a groundbreaking book about roads, the things that travel upon them, and the damage they do to nature. This in depth discussion of two halves begins by showcasing how Paul helped re-establish the population of one of the world’s most endangered birds - the Raso Lark of the Cape Verde Islands, how birds living within the EU have greater life expectancy than those living outside it, and how Buddhist beliefs may be inadvertently bolstering the illegal trade in rare birds. From then it’s on to the “extinction driving, landscape splitting, wildlife slaughtering, soundscape shattering, pollution spewing, climate changing, health wrecking, global catastrophe” which Paul has labelled ‘Traffication’. Did you know that the area in a bird’s brain dedicated to song learning is smaller in a bird exposed to road noise? Did you know the first electric car dates from 1888? And did you know that there is a species of Nightjar known to exist purely because of a single piece of feathered roadkill scraped up from the tarmacadam?! But most importantly, if you drive a car, what single thing can you do today to help our wildlife? This and much more in November’s episode of Trees a Crowd. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This bonus episode was recorded live at the Global Bird Fair, and is a conversation with the Actor, Director, RSPB Ambassador and Trainspotter-turned-Birder, Samuel West. Samuel talks about his recent experiences shooting the Channel 5/PBS Masterpiece remake of “All Creatures Great and Small” in the Yorkshire Dales; how the rural connection to nature and community helped him and many of its viewers through the pressure of the COVID lockdowns, and how the production team had to wrestle with some unique anachronistic wildlife - Swifts appearing in the June-shot Christmas special, Collared Doves appearing in a drama set in 1940 (despite not reaching Yorkshire until 1958), and extinct Red Kites obsessed with photobombing! Samuel’s love of birds began upon a visit to his grandfather in Kenya, has taken him to film “Death in Paradise” in no small part because of the endemic Guadalupian avifauna on set, and helped him with the pressures of running the Sheffield Crucible Theatre. To Sam, nature is key to contentment: “No matter how nice the person is you might be in bed with, it’s worth getting up and getting out at first light, some of the time…” As an RSPB Ambassador, he takes particular relish in raising a placard board; speaking out against environmental concerns such as the construction of the Nuclear Plant, Sizewell C; but also believes British Wildlife easily competes with the impressive sights of the African savannah having seen 4,500 waders take to the air in one bound at RSPB Snettisham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.