The Knepp Wilding Podcast

In this discussion, Mick Crawley, an Emeritus Professor of Plant Ecology, tackles the notorious ragwort. With summer's bounty of this misunderstood wildflower, he reveals its true nature as a crucial player in ecosystems. The conversation dispels myths about its toxicity, emphasizing its benefits to insects and wildlife. Additionally, Crawley examines societal perceptions influenced by farming culture and offers insights on how attempts to eradicate ragwort might actually aid its spread. Ultimately, he advocates for a narrative shift to embrace ragwort's ecological importance.

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 commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

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 commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

Join us on a beautiful June evening for episode 36 of the Knepp Wildland Podcast. We’re joined by Knepp’s lead ecologist, Matt Phelps, deep in the scrubland to learn all about one of the jewels in Knepp’s crown…the rare and beautiful Turtle Dove.We talk about migration, how they’re doing in Europe following a recent hunting ban, what we’re learning about them at Knepp and the features they need in a landscape to successfully nest. We end this episode by touching on what the future holds for this pretty, shy bird and a moment to enjoy the soft purring song to send us on our way.Send us a message or leave a commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

Buckle yourselves in for episode 35 of the Knepp Wildland Podcast with the vivacious Erica McAlister, Principle Curator for Diptera and Siphonaptera (that's flies and fleas to you) at the London Natural History Museum. Erica has made it her life’s work to make flies cool - her enthusiasm has inspired so many people to love and value flies during her career. Erica teaches us a lot of new things about flies: we talk about twerking flies, egg-bombing flies, migratory flies, cheesey flies, desiccating flies, cryofreezing flies, and most importantly…how we wouldn’t have chocolate without flies. Fly sample collections being made by Erica at Knepp Wildland through malaise trapping are providing some fascinating data through genome sequencing.This episode may leave you with more questions that answers but you will certainly have some fun facts to share with your friends, and a new respect for flies.Send us a message or leave a commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

It’s episode 34 of the Knepp Wildland Podcast and we return to the White Stork Project, five years on, to hear the latest news with White Stork Project Manager, Laura Vaughan-Hirsch.We tune in to the live stork nest camera to check in on Ania and Bartek, a breeding pair bonded since 2020. We talk about this year’s nests and meet up with long-serving volunteer Silla to hear about what she does for the project and what the project means to her. We have a wander around the pen to visit some of the rehabilitated storks’ ingenious ground nests and Laura brings us up to speed on all the exciting news including the first successful return of a migrant bird and an announcement about the forthcoming inaugural Storrington White Stork and Nature Revival Festival, coming up in May 2025.Send us a message or leave a commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

In episode 33 of the Knepp Wildland Podcast we meet Knepp’s brilliant new Lead Ecologist, Matt Phelps. We chat about the exciting news, released just a few hours before, of wild release licencing for beavers and how this might affect the Knepp beaver family. We discuss the abundance of Hawfinch here over the winter and speculate what opportunities are made available to them by the habitat that's emerged from the rewilding here at Knepp. As spring approaches, we talk about ongoing and upcoming surveys and how this has got Matt eager and ready to leap into the season ahead.Send us a message or leave a commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

It's episode 32 and we’re joined by Tom Burns, Knepp’s marvellous ranger and woodsman.We learn what Tom gets up to in his daily work at the Knepp Rewilding Project - everything from managing the huge team of fab volunteers to managing the public rights of way across the estate. Not to mention collecting stork nesting materials from the coppice! We spend most of our time, however, discussing Tom's main passion and that is trees - ancient and veteran ones in particular, and why Knepp is so special for these old giants. Send us a message or leave a commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?

Matt Wainhouse, Natural England’s Fungi and Lichen Senior Specialist, dives into the fascinating world of oak fungi and biodiversity. He discusses his innovative tree-coring project and the intriguing new experiment involving wooden boxes inoculated with rot fungi to attract rare saproxylic insects. Alongside Tom Burns, Knepp’s ranger, they reveal the ecological significance of fungi in decomposing oak trees and how these habitats play a vital role in supporting insect diversity. Tune in for a colorful exploration of nature’s interconnectedness!

It's episode 30 so it's time for a beaver project update! We’re joined again by national beaver specialist, and all-round good egg, Mark Elliott.We talk about the progress of the Knepp beaver enclosure and its hard-working inhabitants, and what they've been up to since our last beaver podcast back in November 2022. Following a very wet winter and spring the robust beaver dams are holding up well and are helping to store a huge amount of water, slowing the flow in heavy rainfall events.We explore what's happening nationally and the big decisions that need to be made as enclosed beaver families across the country are expanding.Send us a message or leave a commentFind out more about Knepp on our website and why not follow us on Instagram?