Rewilding the World with Ben Goldsmith

"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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“We’re already starting to see dramatic habitat and water quality improvement across that Kissimmee valley.”

The Everglades, North America’s largest and most vital wetland, is a place of extraordinary beauty but is facing enormous problems. The immense ‘river of grass’ has been desperately disfigured, principally by ill-considered hydrological engineering and heavily subsidised industrial sugar production.

In this episode Ben Goldsmith is joined by Steve Davies, lead scientist of The Everglades Foundation, which is leading efforts to restore the Everglades to health. Now the vast sheet of water is beginning to flow south once again, in the way that it should, and wildlife is resurgent.

Floridians have come to understand that the Everglades underpin everything they have and everything they do, from fresh water to flood defence to the sandy beaches on which Florida’s tourism industry depends. Finally, under the guidance of Steve and his colleagues, the state is stepping up and restoration is underway.

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 episode is sponsored by Vivobarefoot. All Vivobarefoot footwear is designed to bring you closer to nature by enabling you to be as close to barefoot as possible. They promote your foot's natural strength and movement, allowing you to feel the ground beneath your feet.

You can enjoy 15% off all Vivobarefoot products using the code VIVOREWILDING15, valid until 30 April 2024.

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“Feral cats are the primary driver of the decline of small mammals. We’ve lost more than 30 mammal species in Australia over the last couple of hundred years and the primary driver of that is cats.”

Australia has a mammoth problem with invasive species brought by European settlers to the country which had been isolated from the rest of the world for millennia. Now, major efforts are underway to restore vast tracts of wild land and the wildlife that once inhabited it.

In this episode Ben Goldsmith is joined by Tim Allard who leads the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. The organisation is working to restore millions of hectares of wilderness in Australia.

One of the keys to AWC’s success are the partnerships he and his team have developed with cattle ranchers, indigenous communities and other rural stakeholders, who all have a hand in bringing the landscapes they love 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 episode is sponsored by Vivobarefoot. All Vivobarefoot footwear is designed to bring you closer to nature by enabling you to be as close to barefoot as possible. They promote your foot's natural strength and movement, allowing you to feel the ground beneath your feet.

You can enjoy 15% off all Vivobarefoot products using the code VIVOREWILDING15, valid until 30 April 2024.

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“Think globally, but act locally. We need to start putting some of that stuff back locally otherwise we don’t pass on anything great to our future generations.”

The Scottish Highlands is one of Britain’s most beautiful and ecologically degraded landscapes. Change is in the air, however, as long lost keystone species such as wild boar, wildcats, white-tailed eagles and beavers are returning.

In this episode Ben Goldsmith speaks with Highlander David Balharry, who leads the John Muir Trust, an organisation which is leading efforts to restore the great mosaic of woodlands and wetlands that once made the Highlands one of Europe’s wildest landscapes.

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 episode is sponsored by Vivobarefoot. All Vivobarefoot footwear is designed to bring you closer to nature by enabling you as close to barefoot as possible. They promote your foot's natural strength and movement, allowing you to feel the ground beneath your feet.

You can enjoy 15% off all Vivobarefoot products by clicking this link and using the code VIVOREWILDING15, valid until 30 April 2024.

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“With abundance comes resilience and with abundance these animals and the wildlife populations can thrive and can survive these climatic changes.”

Andreia Pawel is from ORKCA, the Orange River-Karoo Conservation Area, based in the south of Namibia. The country is made up primarily of desert but once was a the place where springbok migrations dwarfed those of modern day zebra and wildebeest.

Andriea and her team have partnered with local landowners to secure areas surrounding the Orange River with the plan to create a 2.5 million acre reserve. They are working to reintroduce the wildlife that one lived there, restoring the landscape to its full vibrancy for the benefit of local communities and nature.

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 episode is sponsored by Vivobarefoot. All Vivobarefoot footwear is designed to bring you closer to nature by enabling you as close to barefoot as possible. They promote your foot's natural strength and movement, allowing you to feel the ground beneath your feet.

You can enjoy 15% off all Vivobarefoot products by clicking this link and using the code VIVOREWILDING15, valid until 30 April 2024.

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“What we are doing is to create the conditions, ecological and sociological, for the return of these two large predators that are present… but we need to find conditions for them to settle and to grow.”

Drive through Portugal and you will see vast plantations of non-native species like eucalyptus and pine. But with these plants comes the demise of the ecosystem and a huge risk of fire; in 2017 more than 100 people died in forest fires that were able to cross huge swathes of land and even dams.

Pedro Prata is helping to restore great swathes of Portugal and provide spaces for native species to thrive, including lynx and wolves. Through buying patches of land Rewilding Portugal is creating a mosaic of areas to reintroduce native animals and plant species with the hope they will spill out to the surrounding areas.

Join rewilding enthusiast and financier Ben Goldsmith as he speaks to environmental trail blazers from all corners of the globe.

Recent climate science seems to paint a picture of despair with irreparable damage being done to our natural world. But there are rays of hope. Across the planet people are carrying out astonishing work, returning large areas of land and oceans back to their former glory.

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“Our hallmark is the reintroduction of the Scimitar-horned Oryx… It’s a beautiful, beautiful beast and it was a tragedy that it was allowed to go extinct in the first place.”

The Scimitar-horned Oryx, the animal symbol of Sahara Conservation, was driven to extinction in the wild in the 1990s due to a lethal combination of overhunting, drought and habitat loss.

In this episode Ben Goldsmith is joined by John Watkin, the outgoing Chief Executive of Sahara Conservation. John and his team were charged with restoring a truly immense landscape in Africa’s Sahel region, including the reintroduction of species that have almost disappeared or have been lost from the region entirely.

Join rewilding enthusiast and financier Ben Goldsmith as he speaks to environmental trail blazers from all corners of the globe.

Recent climate science seems to paint a picture of despair with irreparable damage being done to our natural world. But there are rays of hope. Across the planet people are carrying out astonishing work, returning large areas of land and oceans back to their former glory.

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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. 

“The river is not only valuable for its biodiversity but also for the culture and spiritual significance that it has for communities.”

The Amazon of Europe stretches across five countries and is one of the places where there are still wild, pristine rivers. Dragana Mileusnic from The Nature Conservancy is part of the United for Rivers project helping to protect these precious freshwater gems for future generations.

It’s an area which encompasses a treasure trove of nature and culture. However, Southeast Europe is now in the grips of a hydropower development boom. The Nature Conservancy is working to help countries achieve their green energy potential whilst conserving natural beauty and diversity.

Join rewilding enthusiast and financier Ben Goldsmith as he speaks to environmental trail blazers from all corners of the globe.

Recent climate science seems to paint a picture of despair with irreparable damage being done to our natural world. But there are rays of hope. Across the planet people are carrying out astonishing work, returning large areas of land and oceans back to their former glory.

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.

The Devon Environment Foundation (DEF) is on a mission to accelerate nature restoration across Devon.

Devon’s beautiful natural landscapes are under growing pressure from farming, housing development, and sewage, plastic, and other pollution.

Grassroots nature restoration offers an inspiring, cost-effective response.

We raise money from people and businesses who love Devon, directing it where it delivers the greatest benefit for local nature.

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.