Season 5, Ep 2 – Biodiversity: Can local conservation efforts grow into global impact?

What do vultures in India and beavers in West London have to do with protecting our ecosystems? What’s the link between biodiversity loss and human-driven climate change? Why does Simon love beavers so much? And what exactly is “COP16”? This episode explores some of the key issues at play – focusing on global ecosystems and local conservation efforts, and coincides with the Sixteenth Convention on Biological Diversity in Cali, Columbia. Hosts Mark and Simon are joined in the studio by Elliot Newton of The Ealing Beaver Project: a collaboration between the Ealing Wildlife Group, Citizen Zoo, The Friends of Horsenden & Ealing Council. And UCL expert Dr Alex Pigot, whose work on evolutionary biodiversity helps predict how ecosystems are responding to climate change. While at the conference in Cali, Simon also catches up with freshwater systems expert: UCL’s Dr Izzy Bishop, to discuss the work she took to COP16. Citizen Zoo: https://www.citizenzoo.org/ The Ealing Beaver Project https://theealingbeaverproject.com/ UCL Faculty of Life Sciences biodiversity campaign https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lifesciences-faculty/biodiversity-ucl-priority Find out more about UCL at COP16 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-change/ucl-cop/ucl-and-cop16 Access the transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-change/podcasts-videos/ucl-generation-one-climate-podcast Date of episode recording: Friday 18th October 2024 Duration: 45 mins Language of episode: English  Presenter: Professor Mark Maslin and Dr Simon Chin-Yee  Guests: Elliot Newton, Head of Conservation at Citizen Zoo and Creative Director at A Focus On Nature Dr Alex Pigot, Professorial Research Fellow in the UCL Division of Biosciences Dr Izzy Bishop, Lecturer in Ecology, UCL’s People and Nature Lab Producers: Adam Batstone Caitlin Mullin Jane Yelloly