The healing powers of Nepal's orchids and yew trees have always been prized by local communities but global demand is stripping the forests of its healers. Step in Reshu Bashyal who's not only raising awareness of illegal harvesting of what she calls "the tigers of the plant world" but has a plan to protect these natural resources. Reshu tells Kate and Edward that she grew up understanding that plants are special but they did not appear to be recognized in wildlife conservation. She’s changing that. Reshu and her colleagues at NGO Greenhood Nepal want to empower forest groups, clear invasive species, plant thousands of new yews and rehabilitate fallen orchids. She’s also - crucially - working with government and forest officials to formalise a sustainable harvest and trade.

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup

Find out more and watch Reshu’s film here: https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Bashyal

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ and https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more stories on Nepal, listen to our episode with Nepal’s “Owl Sir” https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Acharya

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Argentina’s Somuncura Plateau in the Patagonian steppe resembles a vast rocky lunar landscape. It’s where a volcanic stream allowed for the evolution of a tiny amphibian, the El Rincón stream frog which has found its biggest champion in Dr Federico Kacoliris.

"Unlike most people, I was drawn to those often seen as ugly or feared – frogs, snakes, lizards, but also many insects. I like them. I don’t know why..." he tells Kate and Edward. The frog was one of the most endangered amphibians in the world. In this episode, Federico explains to Kate and Edward how his team at his NGO Fundación Somuncura brought the frog back from the brink of extinction through captive breeding and finding solutions for people living in this remote landscape whose livestock were a threat. Federico is now scaling up and creating a nature reserve to share his enthusiasm for the extreme landscape that he loves with tourism on the agenda to see his favourite frog and other fauna....

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup 

Find out more and watch Federico’s short film https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Kacoliris

Photo credit: Hernán Povedano

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ and https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more on the discovery of new species, listen to our episode with Leroy Ignacio in Guyana https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Ignacio 

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Lower Kinabatangan in Malaysian Borneo is a tropical mix of lush forests, mangroves and oxbow lakes and home to the Bornean elephant, the world's smallest as well as roundest and cutest elephant, in the opinion of Dr Farina Othman. She and her team are building a protected corridor in partnership with oil palm plantations for the 250 elephants that remain locally. Ninety percent of their original habitat has been converted to oil palm, now the main source of income for local people who feel the elephant “belongs to the scientists, the NGOs, the government…" and not them, she tells Kate and Edward. Her nonprofit Seratu Aatai is helping build the skills to coexist with elephants and to "walk this journey with them,” Farina explains. Her plan is to put Kinabatangan on the map as a conservation model that can be replicated across other landscapes. 

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup 

Find out more and watch Farina’s film https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Othman 

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ and https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more on the elephant’s closest relative, the manatee, listen to our episode with Dr Aristide Kamla from Cameroon https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Kamla 

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Photo credit: Cede Prudente

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Shy, incredibly powerful, they are the biggest cat in America…." and jaguars are free to roam Iguaçu National Park in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, home to one of the world's biggest waterfalls and 185,000 hectares of lush and diverse sub-tropical broadleaf forest. They are also critically endangered locally.

"If you remove your fear glasses and you really look at them, you see that they just want to be jaguars," Dr Yara Barros tells Kate and Edward. "They don't want to kill you. They don't want to harm. They just want to hunt, raise their cubs, live in peace in the forest."

Yara is executive coordinator of Project Jaguars of Iguaçu and arguably the species biggest champion. Her team is on call around the clock to ensure the survival of the apex predator, taking action to both defuse and prevent conflict with the inhabitants of the ten cities surrounding the park. Jaguar numbers more than doubled to 25 individuals in the park thanks to the work of Yara's small team to continuously monitor the species and raise awareness with local communities.

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup 

Find out more and see Yara’s short film  https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Barros

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ andhttps://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more on another of Brazil's iconic species, listen to our episode with Dr Pati Medici, a world leading expert on tapirs. https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Medici_Maldonado 

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Photo credit: Emilio White

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rwanda’s Grey Crowned Cranes were in trouble before a vet and former gorilla doctor stepped in with an innovative plan to save the leggy bird, known for its striking plumage and elaborate courtship dance. Dr Olivier Nsengimana tells Kate and Edward how his campaign won support from both Rwandans and the government, boosting the crane's fragile population by 1,000 individuals. 

When you fall in love with nature, you can’t let your childhood superhero disappear, Olivier says. It's not just about saving the cranes, he says, but preserving the life-giving wetlands they inhabit for wildlife - and humanity. Olivier and his team at Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, the NGO he founded, are now leading an ambitious plan to reverse declines in the crane across East Africa, with partners in Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup 

Find out more and watch Olivier's short film https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Nsengimana 

Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/ and https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature

For more on birds and preserving wetlands, listen to our episode on Dr Purnima Devi Barman whose pioneering work has saved the Greater Adjutant Stork in Assam. https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Barman 

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Photo credit: Lynn Von Gagen, Denver Zoo

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us for new stories of hope and agency from conservationists around the world in Season 2 of How to Save It with Kate Humble and Edward Whitley.

Listen to their sometimes unlikely paths to protecting wildlife species from Javan gibbons to jaguars in Brazil and learn how a small frog in remote Patagonia found its biggest champion.

Tune in for a dose of inspiration and optimism as we hear from an emerging army of advocates who are protecting, restoring and redefining our relationship with the natural world.

Backed by Sir David Attenborough, and founded by Edward Whitley, the Whitley Fund for Nature is a London-based environmental NGO that accelerates the work of grassroots conservationists.

How to Save It is a podcast by the Whitley Fund for Nature: bit.ly/WhitleyFundForNature

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations: Emily Faccini

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tapirs and night monkeys are two of the estimated three million species of the Amazon rainforest which plays a vital role in stabilising the world’s climate. Dr Pati Medici from Brazil and Dr Angela Maldonado from Colombia are on a mission to ensure these species stick around and play their role in preserving the world’s largest tropical rainforest. Danger abounds as they must share habitat with armed militias, mining, palm oil companies, and more. Ahead of Brazil hosting world leaders for COP30 in Belem this year, Pati and Angela discuss how to save the Amazon. They talk coexistence and coalitions, “tapir heaven” and monkey selfies, with broadcasters and Whitley Fund for Nature Ambassadors, Kate Humble and Tom Heap. The podcast was recorded at a live event at London's Royal Institution.

Special thanks to Edward Whitley

Watch Pati Medici’s Gold Award film, narrated by Sir David Attenborough—a must-see story of conservation in action! Watch now.

Discover Angela Maldonado’s Gold Award-winning journey in this film from 2010. Watch now!

Edited and produced by Sarah Treanor

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s top conservationists. The 2025 Whitley Awards shortlist is here! Meet the inspiring conservationists making a difference.

Click here to donate: bit.ly/WhitleyAwards_Donate

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is known for its pristine forests, prioritising wellbeing over economic growth, and being the world's first carbon negative country. In this episode, Kate Humble and Edward Whitley hear from wildlife biologist Kuenzang Dorji on how Buddhism is the cornerstone to conservation in Bhutan. He's restoring harmony between two populations in Bhutan's forests: Gee's Golden Langur monkeys and farmers, many of whom live below the national poverty index and whose crops of oranges, guava and even chilli, the primates have started to raid. Using an arsenal of natural deterrents as well as citizen science, Kuenzang is determined to restore the good fortune once associated with the leaping langur and the harmonious coexistence between people and primates.

See Kuenzang’s short film narrated by Sir David Attenborough here: bit.ly/GoldenLangurMonkeys

Edited and produced by Sarah Treanor

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. Applications for the Whitley Awards are open! If you are leading a grassroots conservation project in the Global South that we should know about, please apply here: bit.ly/WhitleyAward_ApplyNow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the savannah grasslands and forests of Guyana's South Rupununi, the scientific discovery of a little songbird catalysed the creation of the country's first Indigenous-led conservation NGO. Leroy Ignacio was determined to chart a new destiny for the Red Siskin when it was first identified in Guyana in 2000. The finch had been hunted almost to extinction in nearby Venezuela - for the pet trade, historically for its feathers to make hats, and for experiments to produce a red canary. In this episode, Kate Humble and Edward Whitley hear from Leroy, who is Indigenous Makushi, and president and founding member of the South Rupununi Conservation Society. Amid an unprecedented economic boom, Leroy is leading an expansion of the community-managed conservation zone for the Red Siskin and defining a new vision, powered by Indigenous people, for environmental protection.

See Leroy’s short film narrated by Sir David Attenborough here: https://bit.ly/GuyanaRedSiskins

Edited and produced by Sarah Treanor

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. Applications for the Whitley Awards are open! If you are leading a grassroots conservation project in the Global South that we should know about, please apply here: bit.ly/WhitleyAward_ApplyNow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The African manatee is an elusive marine mammal inhabiting the Atlantic coastal waters of 21 African countries from Mauritania to Angola and whose population is unknown. Cameroon's foremost manatee expert, Dr Aristide Kamla, had never heard of what's considered the elephant's closest relative when he started university; he couldn't swim and he wanted to be a doctor. In this episode, Kate Humble and Edward Whitley hear from the Fulbright scholar about how local fishing communities became Aristide's teachers in how to find the mysterious species which is now his life's passion. And in a masterclass in how to restore harmony between people and wildlife, he persuaded them to become chief advocates for the manatee; from fighting invasive species with him on Lake Ossa to recording thousands of sightings of marine species on Siren, Aristide's citizen science app which is rapidly expanding across Africa.

See Aristide’s short film narrated by Sir David Attenborough here: https://bit.ly/AfricanManatees

Edited and produced by Sarah Treanor

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. Applications for the Whitley Awards are open! If you are leading a grassroots conservation project in the Global South that we should know about, please apply here: bit.ly/WhitleyAward_ApplyNow

Click here to donate: bit.ly/WhitleyAwards_Donate

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.