Talk on the Wild Side

Join Rob Smith as he walks around Scotney Castle and Gardens learning about how the team here are managing the land for nature whilst welcoming 180,000 visitors a year. Rob meets Rebecca Rees, General Manager, Senior Gardener, Andrea Bennet and Richard Newman, Head Ranger to focus on different areas of the estate and learn how they're managed with nature in mind. Scotney manages 788 acres of land with 30 acres just dedicated to formal gardens and 300 acres designated as a SSSI! Well worth a visit if you haven't already been.Rob also joins a hedgerow laying workshop in Moat Farm, Shadoxhurst as he learns more about the importance of hedgerows for wildlife from Megan Gimber, Key Habitats Officer at People's Trust for Endangered Species and the self-proclaimed Hedgerow Geek! He also talks to many farmers who took part in the workshop to find out why they're changing the way they manage hedgerows on their farms.Finally, Rob speaks to Amy Fitzmaurice, Kent Wildlife Trust's Human Co-Existence Officer, Matt Phelps, Species Recovery Officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust and others, who introduce the South East Pine Marten Restoration Project. A multi-organisational partnership which is laying the ground-work to the potential reintroduction of Pine Marten in the South East of England. There's a lot that goes into a reintroduction project like this so if you're interested in finding out about pine martens and whether or not you think they will cope in a highly populated region such as a the South East, make sure to have a listen!

The Government has made legally-binding commitments to end nature declines and they've mandated local councils to propose actions and priorities for their areas through a Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Rob Smith speaks to Liz Milne who is developing the LNRS in Kent (called 'Making Space for Nature') and Emma Loder-Symonds of Nonnington Farms who is already Making Space for Nature on her 3000 acre farm.Rob also escapes Kent to travel to Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire and speak to James Clarke about the oldest continually operating agricultural research station in the world founded as far back as 1843. Learn about some of the research that is helping farmers work with nature using some of the longest scientific field experiments in the world.Finally, Rob heads to Westminster to meet Sir Roger Gale, MP of North Thanet who is another voice in opposition of the Sea Link cable that National Grid wants to run through Sandwich and Pegwell Bay with a converter station in Minster Marshes. Save these internationally important sites by having your voice heard in our Rethink Sea Link campaign!Making Space for Nature website: https://www.makingspacefornaturekent.org.uk/Nonnington Farms: https://www.noningtonfarms.co.uk/LEAF Farming: https://leaf.eco/Rothamsted Research: https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Sir Roger Gale: https://members.parliament.uk/member/87/contactRethink Sea Link Campaign: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/campaigns/rethink-sea-linkSave Minster Marshes: https://www.minstermarshes.com/

🦭The 7th episode of Talk on the Wild Side touches on a very important topic. The Sea Link cable National Grid are proposing will run through Sandwich and Pegwell Bay with a converter set to take up 13ha of Minster Marshes. Rob talks to the Kent Wildlife Trust team about what the risks are and what we can do about it.🏘️Also in this episode, Rob talks to Sustainability Director of Thakeham Group about sustainable development. Is it all it's cracked up to be? You can really hear the passion in Josie Cadwallader-Hughes as she talks about how she is fighting to make development as sustainable as possible.🚸Finally Rob is at Goat Lees Primary School talking to the teachers and children about some of the ways that the kids are making the school more sustainable. Rob even interviews a few of the kids and all I'm saying is get ready to have tears in your eyes. The next generation is so amazing!Show Links:Rethink Sea Link campaign page: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/campaigns/rethink-sea-linkJose Cadwallader-Hughes LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcthornewill/Thakeham Sustainability: https://thakeham.com/sustainability/Goat Lees Primary School: https://www.goatlees.kent.sch.uk/

We're choughed to bring you our 6th episode of Talk on the Wild Side, featuring the reintroduction of the red-billed chough to the Kent countryside thanks to a partnership with Kent Wildlife Trust, Wildwood Trust and English Heritage. We speak to Liz Corry, Chough Release Supervisor at Wildwood Trust who knows the first chough to be reintroduced very well and treats Rob to the spectacle of watching them fly over Dover castle. Rob also joins James Smith from Loddington Farms in Kent. This 5th generation fruit farmer talks about his work transforming the soil underneath the farm and improving the quality and quantity of his harvest by transforming the soil underneath his feat. Join Rob as he tours the farm and sees it for himself. Finally, Rob meets Emily Mason, Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Kent who recently won a Kent Wildlife Trust, Wilder Kent Award gold medal. Emily gives Rob a tour of the campus and explains how a busy diverse campus life can co-exist with wildlife and work with nature to reduce its carbon impact. Episode links:Chough Reintroduction ProjectLiz Corry LinkedInLoddington Farms WebsiteJames Smith LinkedInSustainability Strategy at University of KentEmily Mason LinkedIn

Rob Smith heads to Brightlingsea Marina in Essex to talk oysters with Matt Uttley, Restoration Project Manager at Blue Marine Foundation. He discovers the difference between our native oyster and the Pacific oyster and why Matt is on a mission to boost the population numbers of our native oyster, the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) with a number of partners forming a group known as ENORI. He also visits the Wilder Blean project in Canterbury for another safari, this tracking Exmoor pony footprints through the forest led by bison ranger Tom Gibbs. Find out the Blean forest is being managed naturally by bison and grazing animals.Finally, Rob heads to RSPB's Dungeoness Nature Reserve to meet Reserve Warden, Craig Edwards. The site is set near an airport and nuclear power station, a bleak desert landscape and yet home to an incredible array of life! Learn more about the great conservation work happening on the site. Links:Oyster Reintroduction Project - Blue Marine FoundationBison Ranger Experiences - Kent Wildlife TrustRSPB Dungeoness

As the Autumnal months set in, we return for the 4th instalment of Kent Wildlife Trust's podcast; Talk on the Wild Side. In this episode, we head to RSPB Northward Hill Nature Reserve on the Hoo Peninsula to hear from Area Manager Alan Johnson about the site's incredible journey of transformation and its value for wading birds such as lapwings and redshanks.Rob talks to Paul Hadaway, Director of Conservation at Kent Wildlife Trust about river pollution and the State of Nature Report. And finally, Rob joins the team at National Trust's Emmett's Garden for their fungi festival where they discuss the role that fungi play in our ecosystem and why they should be celebrated!Northward Hill Nature Reserve: https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/northward-hill/Save Our Stour: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/save-our-stourState of Nature Report: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/campaigns/election-manifestoEmmetts Garden: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/emmetts-garden

Join us as we head deep into the Natural History Museum to private access areas where scientists are lurking. We meet Piotr Cuber, Senior Molecular Microbiologist at the Natural Museum to discuss soil science, in particular at West Blean and Thornden Woods, where Piotr and his team are looking to find out how the soil there will change as a result of the bison presence. In this episode, we also speak to Ellen Wilson, Farmer Cluster Officer at Kent Wildlife Trust about how she works with farmers in the Upper Beult and we also speak to Elizabeth Watts at her wildlife-friendly garden in Bearsted to discuss tips and tricks for welcoming wildlife to your garden.Links:Natural History Museum Molecular Lab Team: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/core-research-labs/molecular-laboratories/molecular-lab-team.htmlPiotr Cuber on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piotr-peter-cuber-816279a2/Nature friendly farming, Kent Wildlife Trust: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/our-work/farmingWild About Gardening, Kent Wildlife Trust: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/wilder-gardensNote: This scientific effort from the Molecular Labs at the Natural History Museum still needs support so if you can help fund the research, please get in touch with Piotr!

As part of our second installment of Talk on the Wild Side, Rob visits GrowUp Farms in Sandwich; an unassuming building where the future of farming is being successfully implemented. Rob will be talking with GrowUp's impact director, Gillon Dobie, discussing this cutting edge of agriculture.Nearer the start of the programme, Rob visits our private Ham Fen reserve to learn about its beaver population, their reintroduction and give us all an update on how the project is progressing. And, linking in with the site's importance as a store of carbon, he then talks to our Director of Development, Sarah Brownlie, about our Wilder Carbon initiative, education and just how should we work with large businesses to protect and restore the environment.So, please, join us as we take another... Talk on the Wild Side!Links:Sarah Brownlie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-brownlie-nee-thienel-acipd-855a774b/Gillon Dobie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillondobie/?originalSubdomain=ukKent Wildlife Trust's Safaris: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/safarisWilder Carbon: https://www.wildercarbon.com/GrowUp Farms: https://growupfarms.co.uk/Kent Wildlife Trust's Beaver Project: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/beaver-project