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Episode 47: Land Ownership, Traditional Conservation and Declining Biodiversity

Guest: Nadia Shaikh

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Marina Robb

Hosted by: Marina Robb

Photo of Nadia Shaikh

Nadia Shaikh

Nadia Shaikh is a naturalist, conservationist and land justice activist working with Right to Roam. She has worked in Land Policy for the RSPB and has worked for a decade in urban areas delivering environmental education and community engagement.

She is a Trustee for the Wildlife and Countryside Link and works with BPOC in conservation addressing issues of decolonising the sector.

What I really appreciated throughout this conversation is how our history, what we are taught, our policies and legal framework really impact our current ability to live in ways that don’t harm the natural world, and look after human health at the same time.

So here we are in a society where it's really hard for the everyday person to know what they can do – but we can make steps together and do what we can, with the knowledge that a change in policy and legal enforcement, with a budget to investigate crimes is ultimately necessary.

I particularly loved Nadia’s comparison between the NHS and the natural world and how we as the people could defend the natural world with the same fierceness that we do for our National Health System.

It’s incredible that most of the population of England fits into 8% of the land, and that access to land is such an important issue for so many of the population to consider having a meaningful relationship with the natural world – and so again, issues that seem unrelated are indeed entirely interwoven.

In this episode, we dive into:

  • The importance of valuing and protecting nature with the same passion we have for our National Health System.
  • The Right to Roam and the disheartening truth that merely 8% of England's land is available to the public.
  • How limited access to nature contributes to decreasing biodiversity.
  • The State of Nature: https://stateofnature.org.uk/
  • The persistent threat of pesticides that harm insects and contaminate our land.
  • The need to decolonize the nature conservation sector.
  • Embracing injustice as a catalyst for reflecting on our own grief.

Music by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com 

Links


Nadia @buteblackbird

Right to Roam: https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/

The majority of the English countryside is out of bounds for most of its population. 92% of the countryside has no right to roam and 97% of rivers have no uncontested rights of navigation: meaning some bankside owners feel entitled to shout at people just for going for a paddle, or a swim.

In all but one tenth of the English landscape, to wander off the footpath, to swim in a river, to explore and educate ourselves about our countryside, can leave us branded a trespasser and expelled from the land. This is neither fair nor reasonable, and in a time where the need to reconnect with nature is more urgent than ever, it is not sustainable. The law must be changed.

Landworkers’s Alliance - Grassroots Union of Farmers, Foresters and Land-based Workers: https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/

State of Nature Report 2023:

https://stateofnature.org.uk/

Wildlife and Countryside Link is the largest environment and wildlife coalition in England, bringing together 86 organisations to use their strong joint voice for the protection of nature. Our members campaign to conserve and protect landscapes, wild animals, plants, habitats, rivers and seas. 
https://www.wcl.org.uk/ 

Dr D Goulson (2013): An overview of the environmental risks posed by neonicotinoid insecticides https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=goulson-2013-jae.pdf&site=411

Books:


Buhner.  S (2023) Earth Grief: The journey into and through ecological loss.

Shrubsole G. (2020) Who Owns England? A revealing investigation into the history and politics of land ownership.

Anderson R (2010) Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: How Interface Proved That You Can Build a Successful Business without Destroying the Planet.

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Transcript

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(transcribed by AI so there maybe some small errors!)

Marina Robb: Hello, and welcome to the Wild Minds Podcast for people interested in health, nature based therapy and learning. We explore cutting edge approaches that help us improve our relationship with ourselves, others and the natural world. My name is Marina Robb, I'm an author, entrepreneur, Forest School outdoor learning and nature based trainer and consultant, and pioneer in developing green programs for the health service in the UK.




Thank you for listening to this episode of The Wild Minds Podcast. If you enjoyed it and want to help support this podcast, please subscribe, share and leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts. Your review will help others find the show. To stay updated with the wild mines podcast and get all the behind the scenes content. You can visit theoutdoorteacher.com or follow me on Facebook at the outdoor teacher UK and LinkedIn. Marina Robb,

The music was written and performed by Geoff Robb.

See you next week. Same time, same place


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