Today we speak to two different scientists about getting involved politically either by choice or circumstances. Dr. Kasia Nowak works at  Białowieża Forest in Poland and speaks out about the border fence between Belarus and Poland, how border fences prevent animal migration but also how nature is leveraged as an argument by the far-right when it's suitable. Dr. Charlie Gardner became active in the scienstist rebellion in 2019 and thinks that scientists are trusted messengers who often have privilege to engage in civil disobedience actions to draw attention to the climate and ecological crisis.

Dr. Katarzyna Nowak
Conservation scientist at Białowieża Geobotanical Station
conservationkat.com
Twitter @katzyna

Dr. Charlie Gardner
Conservation scientist and scientist rebellion activist
Twitter @CharlieJGardner

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Please send any feedback or questions to
[email protected]
twitter @CaroRackete
www.carolarackete.info for free access to bestseller "the time to act is now"

Music & Postproduction: Louisa Beck www.louisabeck.com
Artwork: Céline Keller celinekeller.com

Money is one way big conservation NGOs hold power over local communities but also at international level the financialisation of nature conservation is being pushed by big NGOs. Frederic Hache from the Green Finance observatory will help us understand how offsetting works within conservation and why he opposes frameworks that use financial mechanisms instead of environmental regulations. 

Our second guest is Amalia Souza who is the executive director of the Brazilian based fund CASA that aims to make money available to local communities across Latin America. She will tell us how the funding approach and strategy of CASA differs from conventional top-down philanthropy. 

Frederic Hache

Green Finance Observatory

@greenfinanceobs

https://greenfinanceobservatory.org/

Maria Amália Souza 

founder and executive director of CASA Socio-Environmental Fund, based in Brazil 

https://casa.org.br/en/

@mariamaliasouza

--
Please send any feedback or questions to
[email protected]
twitter @CaroRackete
www.carolarackete.info for free access to bestseller "the time to act is now"

Music & Postproduction: Louisa Beck www.louisabeck.com
Artwork: Céline Keller celinekeller.com

In this episode we speak about Indigenous land governance and autonomy in contrast to expansion of the nation state and international corporations. Our first guest Dr. Jessica Hernandez just published her book 'fresh banana leaves' and talks about recognising Indigenous ecological knowledge and about living in the U.S. As a displaced member of an Indigenous community. Biodiversity is effectively protected by self-governance of Indigenous communities who prevent involvement of international corporations and capitalist business expansion. In Southern Mexico the project of the Mayan train threatens the autonomy of Indigenous communities and links local and global resistance. Victor from the Ya Basta Network explains why this train project is so problematic and what international activists can do in support of Mayan communities.

GUESTS

Dr. Jessica Hernandez

Maya Ch’orti’ & Binnizá - Indigenous Scientist 

https://twitter.com/doctora_nature

https://www.jessicabhernandez.com/

Victor

Ya Basta Network

https://www.ya-basta-netz.org
https://deinebahn.com/

further reading in Spanish:
https://www.animalpolitico.com/la-lucha-cotidiana-de-los-derechos-humanos/abusar-de-la-seguridad-nacional-un-riesgo-para-los-derechos-humanos/

https://avispa.org/pueblos-denuncian-despojo-y-militarizacion-con-tren-maya/

--
Please send any feedback or questions to
[email protected]
twitter @CaroRackete
www.carolarackete.info for free access to bestseller "the time to act is now"

Music & Postproduction: Louisa Beck www.louisabeck.com
Artwork: Céline Keller celinekeller.com

How can communities govern their lands in the present and preserve it for future generations? We will hear about two entirely different examples of community-led protected areas. One is the Salween Peace Park created by the Karen Indigenous people who live in an autonomous area within the national state of Myanmar, the other the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in Scotland.

Guests:

Paul Sein Twa (Salween Peace Park)

winner of the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia 

KESAN Karen Environmental and Social Action Network 

https://twitter.com/KESAN_KAREN

https://kesan.asia/

Angela Williams

Langholm Initiative – Tarras Valley Nature Reserve

https://twitter.com/TarrasValleyNR

https://www.langholminitiative.org.uk/tarrasvalleynaturereserve

--
Please send any feedback or questions to
[email protected]
twitter @CaroRackete
www.carolarackete.info for free access to bestseller "the time to act is now"

Music & Postproduction: Louisa Beck www.louisabeck.com
Artwork: Céline Keller celinekeller.com

In this episode we focus on land grabs and dispossession by the conservation sector in the present day and hear how local people and those from far away confront this injustice. 

Our first guest is Yannick Ndoinyo, a Maasai community leader from Tanzania, who is also a conservation biologist. He speaks about the current threat of land dispossession in the areas of Loliondo and Ngorongoro which affects 150.000 Maasai. 

Next, we will learn how a group of young people based in the UK built a solidarity campaign from afar to support Indigenous communities against land grabs and human rights abuses, particularly by WWF. This interview will focus on building trust and creating a strong solidarity campaign. 

Yannick Ndoinyo

https://twitter.com/ndoinyo

https://www.nyanda.org/yannick

Maria Elena (WTFWWF)

https://www.wtfwwf.org

--
Please send any feedback or questions to
[email protected]
twitter @CaroRackete
www.carolarackete.info for free access to bestseller "the time to act is now"

Music & Postproduction: Louisa Beck www.louisabeck.com
Artwork: Céline Keller celinekeller.com

In this episode we talk about the colonial and racist origins of the nature conservation movement in the US and how Indigenous people were dispossessed of their lands for the creation of national parks and protected areas across the globe. This concept of land-grabs and forceful evictions for biodiversity conservation, often referred to as "fortress conservation", continues until the present day. 
In the second part of this episode we focus on racism and right-wing narratives in present day environmental groups and hear some practical advice how ecological initiatives can prevent far-right take over and oppose far-right narratives and ideology in their groups.

Guests 

Dr. Prakash Kashwan (University of Connecticut)
https://twitter.com/PKashwan
https://kashwan.net
https://humanrights.uconn.edu/person/prakash-kashwan/
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Sophia (NGO Nature Friends - department radicalisation prevention and engagement in conservation)
https://twitter.com/NF_FARN (German)
www.nf-farn.de (German)

--
Please send any feedback or questions to
[email protected]
twitter @CaroRackete
www.carolarackete.info for free access to bestseller "the time to act is now"

Music & Postproduction: Louisa Beck www.louisabeck.com
Artwork: Céline Keller celinekeller.com

Climate justice is on everyone's lips but what about justice in nature conservation and protection of the living world?

This trailer explains why everyone who cares about the living planet should focus on justice as a strong root of the conservation movement. The trailer will also lay out what we will learn from people around the globe in the next episodes about a new conservation movement.

--
Please send any feedback or questions to
[email protected]
twitter @CaroRackete
www.carolarackete.info for free access to bestseller "the time to act is now"

Music & Postproduction: Louisa Beck www.louisabeck.com
Artwork: Céline Keller celinekeller.com