Rewilding the desert with Dr Stephen Browne

“If you combine all of these reserves together they constitute an area of about 200,000 square kilometres... it’s probably one of the world’s largest terrestrial protected areas.” Saudi Arabia is huge - almost ten times the size of Britain - and is well known for its deserts. However, once upon a time it had savannahs akin to those in East Africa, where once lived ostriches and striped hyenas and large predators like leopards and cheaters. A lot of that habitat has now gone following the arrival of motorcars, guns and livestock. In this episode Ben Goldsmith talks to Dr Stephen Browne who is in charge of a huge programme of wildlife reintroduction and rehabilitation at the Royal Commission for AlUla. In 2023 it plans to release more than 1500 animals including oryx, gazelles and ibex into its reserves. Ben Goldsmith is a rewilding enthusiast and activist based in the UK. In this podcast he is joined by people behind some of the most exciting and ambitious rewilding projects around the world. Every year we hear stories about wildlife being destroyed. However, there are rays of hope as across the globe people are working to give nature a hand to recover and rejuvenate. This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Text Rewilding the World here. Let us know what you think of the podcast and if there are any rewilding projects you would love Ben to feature in future episodes. We'd love to know what you think of the podcast. Do you have suggestions for guests, stories or topics you'd like to hear more about? To help us develop the show please consider taking a couple of minutes to complete our listener survey. Thank you.