Rewilding the World with Ben Goldsmith

"Predator-free 2050 is this hugely ambitious goal. And I think one the world's a little bit envious of, because imagine if we could do it!? It just shows that when you remove the pressure of introduced predators, that our nature knows what to do, and our native species can bounce back pretty quickly."
New Zealand has no native land mammals apart from two bats, so its birds never evolved defences against rats, stoats, possums and cats. In this episode of Rewilding the World, Ben Goldsmith talks to Jessi Morgan, who runs the Predator Free New Zealand Trust, about the country’s goal of removing the worst invasive predators by 2050.

They discuss why over 4,000 native species are threatened, and how fenced sanctuaries like Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne in Wellington are bringing birdlife back to the city. Jessi explains which predators are easiest to eradicate and why stoats are so hard, and describes the technology now being deployed, from self-resetting traps to AI cameras and species-specific toxins. 
They also discuss the funding gap, with around NZ$30 million spent so far against an estimated NZ$8 billion needed, and why public support - currently around 79% - is the key to success.
Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him for each new episode as he speaks to people from all over the world who champion nature and are helping to 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.
The money we raise is is used to deliver the greatest benefit for local nature in Devon.
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 very much if you've already done so, it's much appreciated.

"We are facing a catastrophe. We are about to face the largest clearance of small family farms from the English landscape that has ever been experienced, and it is driven directly by the incentives connected to these environmental schemes."
"I have no problem at all with people saying, 'We really want to do this; we believe in more trees, we believe in the biodiversity, we believe in the nature benefits'. But you will have driven up Loch Lomond, past the Cameron House Hotel which is hundred of bedrooms, thousands of visitors, on the side of a Loch Lomond that would not have met any of your requirements, and it's unbelievably popular and it brings a lot of money in to the economy."
"Is the response to me, or to the Cumbrian farmer, 'Well, I'm afraid you're the victim of this, suck it up because it's much better for the whole world that beavers exist and Rory, you can just spend a couple of days in your septic tank'?"
On this special extended episode of Rewilding the World, Ben Goldsmith is joined by Rory Stewart, academic, former politician and diplomat, and a host of The Rest is Politics podcast. 
Rory has been a rewilding sceptic for some time, especially when it comes to the uplands where he argues farming is facing a crisis due to certain rewilding initiatives. 
This conversation - where the two mostly disagree agreeably - covers wildcats, beavers, government subsidies, and whether we should have sheep or native cattle in our uplands.  
Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him for each new episode as he speaks to people from all over the world who champion nature and are helping to 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 very much if you've already done so, it's much appreciated.

"While people consider deer, wild boars, macaque as crop raiding pests, wolves were considered as good animals, benign animals, because they were considered to protect agricultural fields from such crop raiding pests. In fact, in many parts of Japan wolves were worshipped as gods."
Japan's last wolves disappeared more than a century ago, and today its forests are overrun with deer. Might the wolf one day return? 
In this episode of Rewilding the World Ben Goldsmith speaks to Ryo Sakurai, who has spent years studying how Japanese people feel about that idea. The answers are surprising.
Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to people from all over the world who champion nature and are helping to 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.
The money we raise is is used to deliver the greatest benefit for local nature in Devon.
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 very much if you've already done so, it's much appreciated.

"Eighty percent of the world’s population lives underneath a light polluted sky of some kind. 

When you look specifically at Europe and North America that statistic rises to ninety nine percent. So basically almost nobody can see the Milky Way, or can see a truly dark night’s sky." 
Most of us in Britain can no longer see the Milky Way from our homes, and we have barely noticed the loss. My guest on this edition of the Rewilding the World podcast is Megan Eaves-Egenes, author of the wonderful new book Nightfaring: In Search of the Disappearing Darkness.
Megan explains why darkness matters so much to wildlife and to us, and how easily we could bring it back.
Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to people from all over the world who champion nature and are helping to 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 very much if you've already done so, it's much appreciated.

"Come to Africa, find who should be responsible to carry out conservation and support that. Don’t take away the responsibility of Africans, because that hasn’t given us the results we need, and it’s very expensive. 
Find those government institutions, community institutions, those households that must carry out this work, and support them to do that."
For too long the story of conservation in Africa has been told by outsiders. In the latest episode of the Rewilding the World podcast Ben Goldsmith talks to Kaddu Sebunya of the African Wildlife Foundation. Kaddu argues brilliantly that the future of Africa's magnificent wildlife depends on Africans leading the way. 
Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to people from all over the world who champion nature and are helping to 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'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 very much if you've already done so, it's much appreciated.