What if you just leave it?
by Sam Rose
This podcast is about rewilding and is part of a photography project - go to: www.whatifyoujustleaveit.info for more info. I am a Masters student in photography with 25 years of work in nature conservation behind me. For my major project I am looking at rewilding from behind the lens and with a microphone in hand. I have talked to many people - farmers, landowners, experts, thought leaders, NGO leaders, academics, ecologists and a stocksman - and I have recorded many of these into interviews for the podcasts and made blogs with the photos.
Episodes
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Season 2, Episode 7: Rewilding Chile Part 2: Carolyn and Guillermo.
This is the second of two epidodes with Rewilding Chile, on a trip I made to the country in Jan 2024. This episode is with Carolyn McCarthy, Global Comms lead for Tomkins Conservation (strategic partners of Rewilding Chile), and Guillermo Sapaj, Director of Strategy for Rewilding Chile. This...
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Season 2, Episode 6: Rewilding Chile - In Patagonia with Cristian and Alejandra
This is the first of two epidodes with staff from Rewilding Chile, on a trip I made there in Jan 2024. This episode is with operational staff - Cristian first, and then Alejandra - and was made mainly in the field where I went to look at projects involving the critically endangered huemul deer…
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Season 2, Episode 5: Purbeck special with David, Mark and then David again!
This episode combines audio from November 2021 and January 2023, made in the Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve in Dorset. Back in 2021 I interviewed David Brown and Mark Singleton about the natural process-led solutions that the National Trust and partners were adopting on the vast area of...
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Season 2, Episode 4: Ben Goldsmith @ his Somerset farm - rewilding nature and the soul
This episode was recorded on a very wet day at Ben Goldsmith's estate near Frome in Somerset. A financier by profession, Ben has been involved in rewilding for some time, and this interview goes some way towards explaining why this is and what has driven his passion for nature. He talks very…
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Season 2, Episode 3: Julia Davies @ Wild Woodbury - philanthropic loans and much much more
This episode was recorded on a wet Spring day at Wild Woodbury, Dorset Wildlife Trust's rewilding site near Bere Regis. Having sold her stake in a high performing company, Julia is using her wealth to help bring about projects through philanthropic loans - reusing and 'recycling' the funds for...
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Season 2, Episode 2: Urban rewilding @ Plymouth
This episode was recorded in September 2022 in Plymouth's Central Park. It is an interview with two employees of the City Council who are part of the ground-breaking urban rewilding project - Green Minds Plymouth https://greenmindsplymouth.com. Whatever your preconceptions about the idea of urban...
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Season 2, Episode 1: Alasdair Cameron @ Somerset Wildlands
This is the first in my second season of podcasts about rewilding, and is an interview with Alasdair Cameron. Alasdair is the founder and Executive Director of Somerset Wildlands (somersetwildlands.org), a small charity dedicated to rewilding in the Somerset levels, and it all started when he...
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Episode 8: Penny Green and Ivan De Klee @ Knepp Wildlands
This is the long awaited Part 2 of my interviews from Knepp. In this one I talk to Penny Green, their Principal Ecologist, and Ivan De Klee, who does, er, everything else! It was recorded outdoors (the best way) in the scrublands at Knepp on a windy November day in late 2020, between lockdowns…
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Episode 7: Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell @ Knepp Wildlands
In this episode I am delighted to bring you an interview with the people who inspired me to get involved in rewilding, Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell from the fantastic Knepp Estate in West Sussex. There is not a lot to say that has not already been said or written about this project, but this...
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Episode 6: The Undercliffs @ East Devon. The 'original rewilded landscape'?
In this episode I visit the Axmouth to Lyme Regis National Nature Reserve - commonly known as the Undercliffs. It is an incredible seven mile long strip of coastal land dominated by vegetated landslips, cliffs, hidden pinnacles, self-seeded Ash woodland, ponds, springs, patches of chalk…
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Episode 5, Pt 2: Alastair Driver @ Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve
This is the second half of my interview with Professor Alastair Driver, environmental powerhouse and Director at Rewilding Britain. If you haven't heard Part 1 yet then I recommend it, and in Part 2 Ali carries on from where he left off, looking at the importance and benefits of Rewilding. I end...
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Episode 5, Pt 1: Alastair Driver @ Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve
In this episode I talk to Professor Alastair Driver, environmental powerhouse and Director at Rewilding Britain. The interview was so long that I had to split it into two parts, so Part 1 covers the basics of rewilding and a lot more besides. Ali is a very engaging and passionate speaker, so this...
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Episode 4: Tom Munro @ Black Down, Dorset AONB
In this episode I visit Black Down, primarily a heathland restoration project in the heart of the Dorset AONB. You can see the photos and read more at whatifyoujustleaveit.info and this podcast is an interview with Tom Munro, who heads up the AONB Team. Tom covers a wide range of subjects related...
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Episode 3: Ferrers Vyvyan @ Trelowarren, Cornwall
In this episode I talk to Sir Ferrers Vyvyan, landowner, agronomist and environmentalist. Ferrers' family has been on the Lizard for more than 600 years and they are now looking at major changes to how they manage the land in their care. He has been undertaking a small scale wilding project in a...
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Episode 2: James Fuller @ Northay Farm, Dorset
This episode is the first of my conservations with James Fuller, a businessman / farmer who is looking to farm much more sensitively with nature that those he bought the farm off. It is very much a starting point and I will be back to see James as his project progresses. I have developed a full...
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Episode 1: Tim Smit @ Eden Project, Cornwall
This was the first interview I did about my rewilding project. As you will hear, I spoke to Tim first as he is a friend, and someone who could inspire me with ideas and put me in touch with people - which he did admirably. It is fascinating to hear Tim talk about, and around the subject, and I…
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About this show
This podcast is about rewilding and is part of a photography project - go to: www.whatifyoujustleaveit.info for more info. I am a Masters student in photography with 25 years of work in nature conservation behind me. For my major project I am looking at rewilding from behind the lens and with a microphone in hand. I have talked to many people - farmers, landowners, experts, thought leaders, NGO leaders, academics, ecologists and a stocksman - and I have recorded many of these into interviews for the podcasts and made blogs with the photos.
Hosted by
Sam Rose