Wilder Podcast

Helen Meech is Executive Director of the Climate Coalition, the UK's largest group of organisations dedicated to action on people, climate and nature. Over 130 member organisations, from the National Trust to Oxfam to Save the Children, plus a network of around 3,500 community organisers across the UK. And yet most people have never heard of them. As Helen explains, that's deliberate.We talk about Great Big Green Week, the Coalition's flagship campaign, running this year from 6 to 14 June. It has more than doubled in size every year for three years: 250,000 people, then 600,000, then 1.2 million last year, with around 2 million expected this year. The stat that matters most: over a third of attendees had never engaged with climate or nature before. They came because someone they knew organised something, or because it was free to do with the kids on a Saturday.We also dig into where power actually sits. Helen's framing, "creating the space for politics to move into," challenges the idea that change is something politicians do to us. And we compare notes on the People's Emergency Briefing, which we recently screened at the Grange Hub, and the tension every communicator in this space wrestles with: realism versus hope.The post-interview chat gets into Tom's view that the era of being polite about the emergency is over, Chloe's case for hope grounded in community rather than technology, and why we still don't have a Help for Heroes equivalent for the climate movement.About the guestHelen Meech is Executive Director of the Climate Coalition. She has spent 25 years in environmental campaigning and movement-building, including roles at the National Trust and the RSPB, where she was Head of Movement Building and led the development of the People's Plan for Nature. Her work is built on a single belief: people are powerful, especially when they come together.The Climate Coalition: theclimatecoalition.org Great Big Green Week: greatbiggreenweek.comChapters00:00 - Welcome and intros 01:30 - Grange update: screening the People's Emergency Briefing at the Hub 04:30 - Watching hard truths in community, and why that changes the experience 06:55 - Tom's case: the days of being polite about the emergency are over 07:30 - Wilder Connections summer programme: co-design with young people 10:57 - Who is the Climate Coalition? 14:59 - Why most people haven't heard of the Climate Coalition (on purpose) 17:24 - "Creating the space for politics to move into" 20:05 - Everyone has power: protest, community organising, media, culture 22:18 - Great Big Green Week: nightclubs, litter picks, fetes and school assemblies 23:59 - The infrastructure behind 6,000 local events 29:54 - Flooded pitches: why grassroots sport is organising 30:30 - The unexpected challenge: keeping the big NGOs on board 32:43 - Greenwashing and a brand with a life of its own 34:15 - The Coalition's three policy asks 36:50 - The five million target, and matching Children in Need for awareness 39:43 - Helen's reaction to the People's Emergency Briefing 42:28 - Rebecca Solnit and hope as an action 44:35 - How to get involved in Great Big Green Week 46:03 - Tom and Chloe debrief: community action vs direct action 48:27 - The 3.5% rule, and whether the research still holds 50:45 - The school drop-off apology problem: why we need a safe movement to belong to 53:40 - Hope vs fear: did the briefing get the balance right? Key takeawaysOver a third of Great Big Green Week attendees have never engaged with climate or nature before. They come because the event is organised by someone they know, connected to a community they're already part of, or simply free to do with the kids. Over 80% of those newcomers wanted to do more afterwards.Great Big Green Week has more than doubled in size every year for three years, and reached a media audience of over 60 million last year. Around 11% of the UK population recognises it when prompted, on a par with campaigns that have run for decades.Helen's core argument about power: if we say politicians are the only ones with power, we're handing ours to them. The Coalition's job is to make the public mandate visible so politicians have space to move into.The Coalition's three policy asks: climate finance flowing where it's most needed, fairness at the heart of climate action (bills, jobs, just transition), and the urgent protection and restoration of nature.Fear needs to be combined with agency. Helen cites the Branding Biodiversity report: hard-hitting information without a path to action paralyses people. Twenty-five years into her career, the People's Emergency Briefing still made her cry. Her response was to write a to-do list.Hope is an action, not a mood. Rebecca Solnit's framing: pessimists and optimists both excuse themselves from doing anything.Resources and links mentionedOrganisations and campaignsThe Climate Coalition: theclimatecoalition.orgGreat Big Green Week (6-14 June 2026): greatbiggreenweek.comNational Emergency Briefing / People's Emergency Briefing, including the screening map and how to host one: nebriefing.orgWilder Connections, Chloe's charity growing a movement for nature connection in young people: wilderconnections.charityClimate Psychology Alliance (facilitation training Chloe mentioned): climatepsychologyalliance.orgMore in Common (audience segmentation partner): moreincommon.org.ukBristol Stepping SistersNational Trust, RSPB, Oxfam, Save the Children, Co-op (Coalition members referenced)Ideas and referencesRebecca Solnit, Hope in the DarkJoanna Macy, Active Hope: activehope.infoBranding Biodiversity report (Futerra): fear combined with agencyThe 3.5% rule (Erica Chenoweth's research on nonviolent resistance)The People's Plan for Nature: peoplesplanfornature.orgCome and stay with usIf this conversation has you craving time somewhere slower, our off-grid cabins sit in a quiet corner of Monmouthshire surrounded by 80 acres of recovering nature. Visit grangeproject.co.uk and click "Stay with us" in the top right corner.

Episode summaryWe see Pete Cairns as rewilding royalty. Thirty years in the conservation conversation, co-founder and former CEO of SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, and now host of the new podcast At the Edge. In this episode Tom and Chloe sit down with Pete to dig into the one thing every species reintroduction in the UK has in common, and it is not the species.Wildcats, sea eagles, red kites, beavers, lynx. The practical side of bringing animals back is largely solved. What is not solved is the human side. The consultation, the fear, the bureaucracy, the politics, and the deep emotional and economic stakes for the rural communities living on the front line.We talk about the 11 million domestic cats in the UK and the 100 million wild animals they kill each year. The mysterious lynx release in the Cairngorms in January 2025. Whether "beaver bombers" should be celebrated or condemned. And what Pete would do if he had a magic wand to fix the system.The post-interview chat between Tom and Chloe gets properly unpacked on the moral case for reintroductions, the sheep farmer's perspective, and whether logic or culture should lead.About the guestPete Cairns has spent thirty years working on rewilding communications and engagement, with a particular focus on the human-wildlife fault line. He co-founded SCOTLAND: The Big Picture and served as its CEO until 2025. He now works independently and hosts the podcast At the Edge, a deep dive into our relationship with wild nature and each other.Find Pete on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/petercairnsphoto Listen to At the Edge: attheedge.org.ukChapters00:00 - Welcome and what is the Wilder Podcast01:55 - Project update: the community day04:22 - Thanks to Katya and Hannah in the market garden05:09 - Pigs escaping again06:38 - Why we're talking to Pete07:10 - Pete's introduction and 30 years in the rewilding conversation10:07 - What is a wildcat, and how did Scotland nearly lose them12:22 - Why the wildcat decline went unnoticed for so long15:00 - The elephant in the room: 11 million domestic cats and 100 million wild animals18:05 - Cats are hardwired, not killing for fun 22:02 - The principles of species reintroduction, from sea eagles to today24:16 - Beavers, wolves and the feeling that reintroductions are "done to" rural communities26:00 - Lynx to Scotland vs The Missing Lynx Project: two regulatory bodies, two processes28:35 - Selling the benefits, hearing the concerns, and the sheep predation reality31:30 - "Just pay the farmer" is a dangerous narrative 32:20 - What does success even look like35:14 - The shortage of skilled navigators in conservation35:54 - The illegal lynx release in the Cairngorms, January 202538:15 - Beaver bombers and the guerrilla rewilding question40:16 - If Pete could redesign the system, what would it look like43:04 - What one listener can actually do: voice, vote, money45:04 - Is wildcat reintroduction a success48:07 - Pete's sign-off and where to find At the Edge48:42 - Tom and Chloe debrief: cats, sheep farmers, and the moral argument59:24 - The ripple effect of wild landscapes on cultureKey takeawaysSpecies reintroduction is no longer a practical problem. The science and the techniques exist. The challenge now is social, cultural and political: how do we live alongside species we have not shared the landscape with for generations.The UK is one of the only countries in Europe with no large carnivores, and one of the only countries anywhere. The question is not whether it is ecologically possible. It is whether we will.The "just pay the farmer" line misses the point. Farmers are motivated by financial considerations, but also by tradition, family history, animal welfare and a sense of place. None of those things have a price tag.Lynx to Scotland is the most comprehensive consultation a reintroduction has ever had in this country. Whether it ultimately leads to a release or not, the process itself has reset the standard.The illegal lynx release in the Cairngorms in January 2025 was, in Pete's words, "plain stupid". But it advanced the conversation. There is a sweet spot somewhere between an illicit release and a process that takes 15 years.Mediating these conversations is a specialist skill, and there is a real shortage of people who can do it well. Most conservation organisations cannot mediate their own debates because they wear a badge.Domestic cats kill an estimated 100 million wild animals in the UK every year. Not a judgement on cat ownership, but a call for informed choice.Resources and links mentionedOrganisationsSCOTLAND: The Big Picture: scotlandbigpicture.comRoyal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS): rzss.org.ukSaving Wildcats project: savingwildcats.co.ukHighland Wildlife Park: highlandwildlifepark.org.ukLynx to Scotland: lynxtoscotland.orgTrees for Life: treesforlife.org.ukThe Lifescape Project: lifescapeproject.orgNatureScot: nature.scotNatural England: gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-englandRSPB: rspb.org.ukBuglife: buglife.org.ukRewilding Britain: rewildingbritain.org.ukReferenced in the episodePete's new podcast, At the Edge: attheedge.org.ukThe Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations: nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/translocationIberian Lynx programme (the model Saving Wildcats is based on)Come and stay with usOur off-grid cabins are open and our guests this weekend told us the same thing many listeners do when they arrive: the photos do not do it justice. If you have been following the podcast and want to experience the Grange Project in person, the cabins are bookable now.Visit grangeproject.co.uk and click "Stay with us" in the top right corner.