Rewilding the World with Ben Goldsmith

"Over a period of 10 years we were able to rear in captivity 331 Kestrels that we released back into nature."

In the latest episode of Rewilding the World Ben Goldsmith speaks with legendary conservationist Carl Jones about the island of Mauritius. Carl famously led efforts to save a variety of species. These included the Mauritius kestrel which was on the brink of going the way of the dodo, as well as a bunch of landscape-scale rewilding projects in Mauritius and its surrounding islets.

Carl describes Mauritius as it must have been when Europeans first arrived on the island; forests of ebony, palm savannas grazed by herds of giant tortoises, dodos ambling down the beach to greet the new arrivals, and a cacophony of strange and marvellous bird and reptile species. Now, inspired by Carl, Mauritius seems set to begin rebuilding these natural treasures.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

"El Carmen Nature Reserve is a very good example of a success of conservation, with the interaction of several actors from the private sector and government agencies from both sides of the border."

In this episode Ben Goldsmith is joined by Alejandro Espinosa Treviño who - on behalf of Cemex - is overseeing restoration of a great swathe of grassland, forest and mountain on Mexico’s northern border with the US.

Alejandro and his team have recently reintroduced bison to the El Carmen Nature Reserve, a species extinct in Mexico for more than a century.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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 have started to get a few things right, why can't we just watch the things we have done right and do more of them?"

In the latest episode of Rewilding the World Ben Goldsmith speaks with legendary author and oceans campaigner Charles Clover who also co-founded the Blue Marine Foundation.

Charles' seminal book, The End of the Line, marked a turning point in our understanding of the collapse of marine wildlife when it was released two decades ago. Finally now, meaningful efforts are underway across the world to restore sanity and the health of our oceans.

Charles' new book, Rewilding the Sea, describes how and where these things are happening. You might be surprised to learn that the UK is an oceans conservation leader!

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

"Our dream is quite simple and that is to achieve co-existence between people and nature."

This episode focuses on one of the grandest, most vast rewilding efforts anywhere on the planet.

Join Ben Goldsmith as he speaks with Werner Myburgh of Peace Parks, an organisation dedicated to establishing immense trans frontier protected areas across southern Africa. The rehabilitation of these vast landscapes, liberated from fencing, species restored, poaching driven out, is dramatic and uplifting.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

"It's now been seven years since we removed the rats and goats and I just walk around with my mouth open, it is beautiful. There are so many trees on the island - when we started there was only two - now I can't count them."

The Caribbean is a magical place; but it’s also one of the most ecologically degraded regions in the world. In this episode Ben Goldsmith speaks with Jenny Daltry who is leading rewilding efforts in Antigua and across the Caribbean.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

"Engaging with nature in that urban space can be so beneficial and if we scale those micro actions up to a macro level, imagine the change that would seed."

More and more urban rewilding projects are engaging growing numbers of citizens in local nature restoration.

In this episode of Rewilding the World Ben Goldsmith is joined by Elliot Newton of Citizen Zoo – an organisation which is bringing people together across London to restore habitats and reintroduce missing species such as water voles and beavers.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

"All of us involved in the project are driven by the opportunity to make a real difference for this special part of the planet."

Eradicating giant mice from South Africa's Marion Island, a vital haven for seabirds. The vast, wild Southern Ocean is home to albatrosses, petrels and other remarkable seabirds which wander for years on end in search of food.

Only to breed do the seabirds of the Southern Ocean need land, of which there are just a handful of tiny specs. One of these is South Africa's distant Marion Island, which has become overrun by invasive mice, introduced inadvertently by sailors at least two centuries ago. The mice eat the eggs, young and even the adult seabirds.

Now Anton Wolfaardt of BirdLife South Africa and his team have a wild plan to eradicate the mice, with the hope that it will allow seabirds to surge back to their historic abundance.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

"A lot of Costa Rica's success on forest cover hasn't been emulated in terms of active rewilding. That's what I'm trying to start the wheels turning in Costa Rica; when do we need to use more of an active approach?"

In this episode Ben Goldsmith is joined by Andy Whitworth of Osa Conservation, an organisation which is busy rewilding Costa Rica's ever wilder Osa Peninsula.

Liberated from low productivity, highly damaging cattle ranching, much of western Costa Rica is returning to forest. On the Osa Peninsula, a place of verdant green hills and white beaches, Andy and his team are focused on plans to reintroduce white-lipped peccaries, giant anteaters, harpy eagles and various other vital missing species.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

“I would be very excited if I found a grasshopper on the balcony and my parents would put it in a jar for me to observe.”

In this episode Melpo Apostolidou from BirdLife Cyprus tells Ben Goldsmith about the remarkable ongoing effort to return the vital, majestic Griffon vulture to the skies of Cyprus, in the eastern Mediterranean.

Melpo and her team have achieved this extraordinary feat against a backdrop of poisoning, ill-considered and unsustainable development and, worst of all, rampant illegal hunting of migrating birds. The BirdLife team is doing an amazing job reducing each of these things year on year, and the beautiful island of Cyprus is steadily coming back to life.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.

This episode’s release coincides with World Rewilding Day 2024, with this year’s theme being Hope Into Action. A great example of this in practice is the work being carried out by Jonathan Thomson who has created the twenty-two acre wild paradise Underhill Nature Reserve on the border of Wiltshire and Dorset in southern England.

A lot of people wonder how to go about rewilding smaller patches of land. The answer can be found in playing the role of the keystone species yourself! In this episode Ben Goldsmith speaks to Jonathan about how he has become a guru for those rewilding smaller patches of land, from a small garden up to fifty acres.

According to Jonathan, the key is for you to play the role of beaver, bison, wild boar and even wolf. Hordes of school children and people keen to learn from his experiences now pass through his plot of land to see how he does it, as well as to experience the beauty and natural vibrancy he has created there. Hear Jonathan give his advice on how to create your own small wildwood.

Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to environmentalists from all over the world who are working to help restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.

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.