Rare Earth19 Jan 2024

Is Nature Better Off Without Us?

Rare Earth is a new weekly podcast and radio show from BBC Radio Four which digs deeper into the biggest issues for our planet. Each week, environmental journalist Tom Heap and physicist Helen Czerski will tackle a major story about our environment and wildlife, work out how we got here and meet the brave and clever people with fresh ideas to help us- and nature- thrive.

Helen and Tom won’t shy away from the big stuff- temperatures rising while wildlife declines- but this won’t be a weekly dose of doom laden predictions and tortured hand-wringing. Rare Earth is here to celebrate the wonder of nature and meet the people determined to keep it wonderful.

In the first edition Tom and Helen ask how we can bring nature back from the brink. Should we simply abandon great swathes of countryside and let nature reclaim it on its own terms or must we balance the competing demands on our land and micro-manage species and habitats for the best outcomes? Tom meets the herd of bison helping to re-wild a woodland in Kent and visits the Holkham Estate in Norfolk where the government's Landscape Recovery pilot project is funding the transition of intensive farmland into wetlands and passageways for nature.

They're also joined by Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment and by Rebecca Wrigley, Chief Executive of Rewilding Britain.

Produced by Alasdair Cross for BBC Audio Bristol in conjunction with the Open University

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Episoder(71)

Can lawyers save the planet?

What can the legal system do to protect the environment? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski gather together a panel of legal and environmental experts to discuss their battles for the planet. How much protect...

18 Sep 53min

Tentacular: The Wonderful World of the Octopus

Cornish fishermen this summer have had their usual catch of lobster and crab replaced by voracious octopus. Restaurant menus have had to be wiped and rewritten across the south-west, but what else ha...

11 Sep 53min

All In This Together

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap ask if nature is really red in tooth and claw. Is life all about survival of the fittest or are we all working together on a changing planet? They're joined by Rowan Hoope...

4 Sep 52min

Andy's Green In-Tray

How will the environment be changed by an Andy Burnham government? As the new parliamentary session opens, Tom Heap and Helen Czerski leaf through the government in-tray to reveal the big decisions t...

28 Aug 52min

Volcano

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap investigate the environmental impact of volcanoes from prehistory to the present day, and find out about their cultural significance in art and literature. On today's panel:...

21 Aug 53min

Drawing Our Future Homes

Who's the hero that will protect us from the impact of extreme heat, rain and whatever else climate change might throw at us in future? Forget someone in a cape, maybe it's the person quietly sketchin...

14 Aug 52min

The Sound of Water

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap discover how new technology lets us listen in to the extraordinary sounds of the planet's waterways. From the deepest ocean to the tributaries, rivers and streams, this is ...

27 Jun 52min

Into the Wild

Is there any true wilderness left on our planet? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski consider the fear and fascination of the wild. They're joined by the writer Cal Flyn who has spent the last few years trav...

19 Jun 53min