Unearthed - Nature needs us
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Recent Episodes
Seeds are the beginnings of life. From the food we can grow today, to the wondrous habitats they can create. They offer us a chance to capture, store and even design the landscapes of the future.
In this episode of Unearthed: Nature needs us from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew find out how scientists around the globe are working against the clock to protect species on the brink of extinction.
From the Millennium Seed Bank - the world’s largest global seed bank for wild plant species - to intrepid collection trips in harsh conditions, Dr Mya-Rose Craig explores the breadth of current research about seeds.
Dr Katie Field from the University of Sheffield tells us the story of how plants and fungi colonised and shaped the planet we know today.
Then Joycelyn Longdon @climateincolour meets with Kew’s Charlotte Couch and The Natural History Museum’s Ben Town at Kew’s Community Allotment to discuss how everyone can benefit from biodiversity research that includes and values communities.
Subscribe to this podcast to catch up on earlier episodes of Unearthed and enjoy a new episode every fortnight.
You can find out more about Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and support their cutting-edge conservation research and training at Kew.org.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
There is still so much to learn about the mysterious realm of soil.
From the microscopic organisms essential to life on Earth, to the complex and wonderful associations between plants and fungi, the ground beneath your feet is teeming with life. Dr Mya-Rose Craig explores soil in this episode of Unearthed: Nature needs us from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Find out how our world’s health is impacted by forces we may not even be able to see, and how this plays out on the scale of crop health, biodiversity in environments and the nutritional wealth of landscapes.
We head to Kew’s world-class fungarium with Professor Irina Druzhinina, and into Wakehurst’s diverse woodlands where conservation research is going on to understand gas exchange between the earth, atmosphere and vegetation. Dr Gary Egan and Dr Phil Wilkes show us around this living laboratory in Sussex.
Mya also hears how conservation of Madagascan grasslands, which are important carbon sinks, goes hand-in-hand with providing value to local communities through livestock grazing. And hear from Dr Feng Cai, whose research into plastic-eating fungi on China’s saltmarshes is powering innovative research into cleaning up this global pollution problem and supporting important habitats.
Then it’s off to FarmED in Oxfordshire where “Rooted” author Sarah Langford meets with fellow farmers Ian Wilkinson and Andy Cato of Wildfarmed (and Clarkson’s Farm) to discuss how modern farming is transitioning to working with soil regeneration and longevity of our environments in mind. But it’s not just about changing hearts and minds, they chat about the social, economic and policy changes that are vital in supporting farmers to save our beloved landscapes.
Subscribe to this podcast to catch up on earlier episodes of Unearthed and enjoy a new episode every fortnight.
You can find out more about Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and support their cutting-edge conservation research and training at Kew.org.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nature needs us!
In series 3 of Unearthed, Dr Mya-Rose Craig begins the journey into what biodiversity loss means and why it matters to protect what we have left.
We find out what might happen if we continue to ignore the impacts of climate change and habitat destruction in terms of its impacts on our lives, along with future life on the planet. We also explore how human action has brought us to the current dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
But there is still plenty of hope that we can slow down or halt these destructive processes thanks to scientific research and action across different levels of society.
Kew’s Steven Bachman shares insights into the technology helping us map and prioritise conservation research and work across the planet and Dr Isabel Larridon explains how data from Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report is the wake-up call we need.
We hear from participants in the Global Biodiversity Standard: the world’s first international certification recognising and promoting the protection, restoration and enhancement of biodiversity.
And we travel to Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, to follow researches on a ‘bioblitz’ to identify species. Then Sonia Dhanda explains how ‘wildlife trade policy’ is an important part of balancing how we utilise and conserve species around the world and across borders.
Dominique Palmer is joined by guests Sophie Pavelle and Camila Duarte Ritter to discuss what it means to ‘act now’ and why a combined effort from governments to scientists, community organisations and individuals is necessary to create positive, systemic change for nature.
Subscribe to this podcast to catch up on earlier episodes of Unearthed and enjoy a new episode every fortnight.
You can find out more about Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and support their cutting-edge conservation research and training at Kew.org.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Wildlife is becoming extinct at an alarming rate and habitats are under strain. What can nature itself teach us about how to heal our planet and support biodiversity?
In Unearthed, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew invites you to explore how plant and fungal knowledge can be harnessed to change our world for the better.
“Unearthed: Nature needs us”, takes us on a journey from soil to sky, scaling the tangle of nature’s systems and interactions to help us tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
From Wednesday 22nd May, Dr Mya-Rose Craig (AKA “Birdgirl”) hears from Kew experts, as well as communities and organisations across the world who are combining learnings in science, wildlife, conservation and restoration to work within the bounds of nature and help halt the devastating impacts of unsustainable human activity.
From farming practises and food production to land use, pollinators, traditional techniques, tech and forestry to tackling poverty and inequality through environmental policy, join us as we untangle the secrets of nature and seek solutions to our world’s problems.
Subscribe to all episodes, and catch up on earlier series of Unearthed from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew here on this channel.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Wildlife is becoming extinct at an alarming rate and habitats are under strain. What can nature itself teach us about how to heal our planet and support biodiversity?
In Unearthed, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew invites you to explore how plant and fungal knowledge can be harnessed to change our world for the better.
Series 3 “Unearthed: Nature needs us”, takes us on a journey from soil to sky, scaling the tangle of nature’s systems and interactions to help us tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
Dr Mya-Rose Craig (AKA “Birdgirl”) hears from Kew experts, as well as communities and organisations across the world who are combining learnings in science, wildlife, conservation and restoration to work within the bounds of nature and help halt the devastating impacts of unsustainable human activity.
From farming practises and food production to land use, pollinators, traditional techniques, tech and forestry to tackling poverty and inequality through environmental policy, join us as we untangle the secrets of nature and seek solutions to our world’s problems.
Subscribe to all episodes, and catch up on earlier series of Unearthed from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.