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Fields, Forests and a Fun Guy: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Tom Holland
Fields, Forests & a Fun Guy is a podcast about Britain’s countryside, the people who live in it, work it, protect it and sometimes argue about it.Hosted by Tom Holland, each episode goes beyond the headlines to have honest, long-form conversations with farmers, conservationists, landowners, scientists, wildlife experts, beekeepers, hunters, campaigners and the people making decisions about our natural world.From wildlife and farming to rewilding, habitat loss, rivers, hedgerows, biodiversity and the future of the British countryside, we ask the questions that matter.
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- 1 weeks ago1h 8m
Koalas Have Chlamydia, But That's Not Their Biggest Problem | Ep 5
On an Australian island, koalas are being protected from extinction. But some locals still regard them as pests.Tom Holland is joined by Dr Julian Beaman, a researcher at Flinders University and Director of Research and Operations at The Koala Sanctuary on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.Julian explains how koalas were moved between Australian islands to protect them from the fur trade, only to become so abundant that they began damaging the trees they depended on.Then came the devastating Black Summer bushfires of 2019–2020, which Julian says reduced Kangaroo Island's koala population from around 50,000 to 10,000.Today, the island holds something potentially invaluable: a large koala population free from chlamydial disease.But with poor genetic diversity, habitat fragmentation and increasing pressure from development, could this population hold the key to saving koalas elsewhere in Australia?IN THIS EPISODE🐨 Why koalas are stronger, faster and considerably less cuddly than they appear🌏 How koalas were introduced to Kangaroo Island to protect them from extinction, and the genetic consequences🔥 The Black Summer bushfires, destroyed plantations and the impact on koala populations🎯 Why some island residents regard koalas as pests, and the controversial history of culling and sterilisation🦠 How chlamydia affects koalas, causing blindness, infertility and population decline🧬 Why Kangaroo Island's disease-free population could be vital for genetic rescue🌳 How habitat fragmentation, housing development and biodiversity offsets affect wildlife📉 Why hundreds of thousands of koalas nationally does not mean the species is secure everywhere🌿 Why conservation needs long-term landscape planning rather than waiting until species face extinctionCHAPTERS00:00 Welcome and meeting Julian01:07 Are koalas really cuddly?02:42 Catching wild koalas for research05:12 Julian's journey into science10:01 Development and disappearing habitats15:29 From cockroaches to koala conservation17:22 Kangaroo Island and its wildlife20:47 The Black Summer bushfires23:35 Why koalas were introduced to the island24:35 Inbreeding and genetic diversity26:47 When koalas became a problem27:59 Culling, sterilisation and relocation28:40 The collapse in koala numbers30:44 Why some locals dislike koalas32:33 Why the island's koalas matter33:35 Habitat loss, climate change and disease35:03 What chlamydia does to koalas37:07 How disease spreads37:38 The importance of disease-free koalas38:21 Genetic rescue39:48 Can koalas be vaccinated?43:35 Reconnecting fragmented habitats44:23 Biodiversity net gain and wildlife corridors46:27 How many koalas are left?49:12 Protecting species before it's too late52:18 What would Julian change?53:19 Long-term conservation planning57:01 Who is responsible for protecting nature?1:00:48 Why individual conservation matters1:03:08 Finding nature in everyday life1:06:21 The sanctuary's futureTHE GUESTDr Julian Beaman is a researcher at Flinders University and Director of Research and Operations at The Koala Sanctuary on Kangaroo Island.His work focuses on koala health, genetics, conservation and the potential for genetic rescue to protect populations across Australia.Discover The Koala Sanctuary:https://koalasanctuary.org/SOURCES AND FURTHER READINGThe Koala Sanctuary:https://koalasanctuary.org/CSIRO, Australia's national science agency:https://www.csiro.au/Australian Government Environment Department:https://www.dcceew.gov.au/Flinders University:https://www.flinders.edu.au/FIELDS, FORESTS & A FUN GUYReal conversations about nature, wildlife, conservation and the people working behind the scenes to protect our natural world.No scripts. No preaching. Just honest conversations.🌿 Conservation | 🦉 Wildlife | 🚜 Farming | 🍄 ForagingNature Uncensored.#Koalas #KangarooIsland #WildlifeConservation #HabitatLoss #Australia #NaturePodcast #FieldsForestsAndAFunGuy
- Sep 25, 202631 min
I Bought A Buzzard From Boys At The Roadside In Kenya | Ep 4
Gary Buckles was hauled up a tree in a car tyre behind a Mini, aged 12, to rescue a trapped kestrel.Gary Buckles runs Stockley Birds of Prey at Arley Hall in Cheshire and has flown birds of prey since he was a boy. He brings Twiggy, an imprinted tawny owl, and Twiggy makes her feelings known before the first question is asked.What follows is falconry told as it actually happened. A kestrel stuck at the top of a tree with its leather jesses wrapped round a branch. An augur buzzard bought from boys at the roadside in Kenya and reared on lizards in an army camp. A peregrine rebuilt after frounce. A goshawk that went for Gary's face over a squirrel. And, at the end, the one thing he would change, which is not what you would expect.*IN THIS EPISODE*🦉 Why an imprinted owl will sit calmly on a sofa when a parent reared bird never would🪶 What has happened to the little owl in Britain, and what the BTO figures actually say🚗 A catapult, a tow rope, a car tyre and a Mini, to get one kestrel out of one tree🌍 The augur buzzard bought at the roadside in Kenya and reared on trapped lizards🦅 Being attacked in the face by a goshawk that would not give up its squirrel🌾 Why filling in a farm pond takes the dragonflies, then the frogs, then the birds of prey*THE GUEST*Gary Buckles, falconer, Stockley Birds of Prey, Arley Hall, CheshireStockley Birds of Prey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stockleybirdsofpreycentre/Book a hawk walk or owl experience: https://stockleybirdsofprey.zappii.com*WHAT YOU CAN DO*Gary's answer to what he would change was habitat loss, and his example was a filled in pond. A new pond is one of the fastest wins in British conservation, and you can dig one in a garden.Free pond creation hub, Freshwater Habitats Trust: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resources/pond-creation-hub/Injured or sick bird of prey, and raptor conservation advice, Raptor Aid: https://www.raptoraid.com*SOURCES AND FURTHER READING*We check the numbers our guests use, and say so when we cannot.Five owl species in Britain. PART RIGHT. Five are regularly seen here, but the little owl is not native. It was introduced from Europe in the late 1800s. BTO: https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/little-owlLittle owls declining. VERIFIED, and worse than stated on air. BTO: down 88 percent between 1967 and 2024, roughly 3,600 pairs.Buzzards driving that decline. NOT VERIFIED. The BTO points instead to juvenile survival, farming change and climate. Buzzard predation is not among the causes it names.Frounce. VERIFIED. Trichomonosis, caught from feral pigeons, a well documented risk to British raptors.Augur buzzard. VERIFIED. A real east African buzzard of the Kenyan highlands, around Nanyuki: https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/hawks/augur-buzzardFalcons killing with a notch in the beak. VERIFIED. It is called the tomial tooth: https://peregrinefund.org/curved-beaksLosing an eye to a tawny owl. VERIFIED. The photographer Eric Hosking lost his left eye to a tawny owl on 12 May 1937.Filled in ponds. CONTEXT FOR THE POINT. WWT reports almost half of UK farm ponds lost in the last 50 years: https://www.wwt.org.uk/our-work/projects/restoring-lost-farmland-pondsThe kestrel 60 feet up, and Gary's age at the time. NOT VERIFIED. It is a first hand memory. He says both 12 and 14 on air, and both beech and birch.*ABOUT THE SHOW*Fields, Forests and a Fun Guy is a UK conservation podcast hosted by Tom Holland.Nature Uncensored. An unhurried hour with the people actually doing the work.*FOLLOW*Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fieldsforestsandafunguy/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FieldsForestsandaFunGuyTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fieldsforestsandafunguyX: https://x.com/FieldsforestsFGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FieldsForestsandaFunGuyRestore Habitat UK, charity 1209108: https://www.restorehabitat.uk
- Sep 18, 202641 min
Tree Kangaroos Have A Smell… | Ep 3
A tree kangaroo that smells so distinctive you'll never forget it, logging deals worth millions, and a conservationist who has spent more than 20 years trying to stop one of the world's rarest animals disappearing.Jim Thomas is CEO of the Tenkile Conservation Alliance and has worked in Papua New Guinea's Torricelli Mountains since 2003. The Tenkile, or Scott's tree kangaroo, was down to an estimated 100 animals when the project began. Today, TCA says that figure has risen to around 300, after communities across the mountains agreed to stop hunting the species.IN THIS EPISODE🦘 How the Tenkile fell to an estimated 100 animals, and how communities helped bring it back👃 Why Tenkile have a smell that Jim can only describe as "like a tree kangaroo"🌳 What happens when conservation comes up against logging, money and outside interests🚰 How water, health, livelihoods and conservation became part of the same projectTHE GUESTJim Thomas, CEO, Tenkile Conservation Alliance.Jim is a zoologist and conservationist who previously worked at Zoos Victoria before moving into conservation in Papua New Guinea. He has led TCA's work since 2003, working with communities across the Torricelli Mountain Range to protect tree kangaroos, rainforest and local livelihoods.Tenkile Conservation Alliance - https://tenkile.com/THE TENKILEThe Tenkile, Dendrolagus scottae, is a critically endangered tree kangaroo found only in Papua New Guinea's Torricelli Mountain Range. Its habitat is thought to cover only around 125 square kilometres of mid-montane rainforest.TCA says the population may have fallen to roughly 100 animals when the organisation was established. Hunting moratoriums agreed with local communities have been in place since 1999, and TCA now estimates the population at around 300.TWHAT YOU CAN DOThis episode makes one thing particularly clear: conservation cannot always be separated from the people living alongside wildlife.TCA works with communities on everything from protecting tree kangaroos to water supplies, village lighting and sustainable livelihoods. You can learn about its projects, support a ranger or tree kangaroo, or contribute directly through:Tenkile Conservation AllianceSOURCES AND FURTHER READINGWe check the numbers our guests use, and say so when we cannot.VERIFIED. The Tenkile is Dendrolagus scottae, is restricted to the Torricelli Mountain Range and is listed as critically endangered. TCA gives its habitat as approximately 125 square kilometres.SUPPORTED BY TCA DATA. TCA says the Tenkile population was once estimated at approximately 100 animals and has subsequently increased to around 300 following hunting moratoriums and conservation work. These are TCA's estimates rather than a complete census of every animal.GUEST ACCOUNT. Discussion in this episode concerning particular logging companies, alleged corruption, payments, political influence or individual conduct represents Jim's account and experiences. Where those claims cannot be independently established from reliable public evidence, we have not presented them as independently verified facts.ABOUT THE SHOWFields, Forests and a Fun Guy is a UK conservation podcast hosted by Tom Holland.Nature Uncensored.FOLLOWInstagram: @fieldsforestsandafunguyFacebook: @FieldsForestsandaFunGuyTikTok: @fieldsforestsandafunguyX: @FieldsforestsFGYouTube: @fieldsforestsandafunguyA NOTE ON BALANCEThis show hosts people who disagree with each other. Views expressed by guests are their own. Where guests make factual claims, we check what we reasonably can and distinguish between independently supported information and personal accounts. If we have got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
- Sep 11, 20261h 19m
I Delayed Princess Anne's Helicopter Talking About Bees | Ep 2
A Cheshire barber kept Princess Anne's helicopter waiting because he would not stop talking about bees.Dave Curbishley has cut hair in Northwich for 57 years and kept honeybees for about 30, and was one of the first in Cheshire to sit the British Beekeepers Association basic assessment.Tom Holland gives him an unhurried hour: how a haircut turned into a beehive inside a week, why a thousand pound weekend course does not make you a beekeeper, what happened when a Wirral beekeeper was accused of smuggling Australian honey, and the winter that killed six of his eight colonies. We check every number afterwards, including the ones the host got wrong.*IN THIS EPISODE*👑 The Royal Cheshire County Show chat that put a royal helicopter behind schedule💷 A thousand pounds for two days, against Dave's three years of Sunday afternoons🍯 Why more manuka honey is sold here than New Zealand actually produces🔬 The eucalyptus honey that got a beekeeper investigated, and the garden that explained it🐝 Six hives out of eight lost in one winter, and the mite outliving its own treatments*CHAPTERS*00:00 One of the first qualified beekeepers in Cheshire01:49 Fifty seven years as a barber in Northwich03:25 How a haircut turned into a beehive in the garden04:59 Learning beekeeping properly, three years with a mentor08:58 The two day beekeeping course that cost a thousand pounds14:03 Bee stings, anaphylaxis and venom immunotherapy19:55 Queen cells, swarming and how to prevent it23:05 Delaying Princess Anne's helicopter at the Royal Cheshire Show28:15 Local honey, hay fever and the manuka problem29:35 Pound a jar supermarket honey that never saw a hive40:31 Losing hives over winter and the varroa mite47:44 Importing queens and Britain's native black bee52:47 Honey in the pyramids and the eucalyptus investigation1:10:50 What you can do this weekend for bees*THE GUEST*Dave Curbishley, barber and beekeeper, Rudheath, NorthwichRestore Habitat UK, charity 1209108: https://www.restorehabitat.uk*WHAT YOU CAN DO*Dave's answer was the cheapest in the episode. Plant flowers, any flowers, and leave a shallow dish of water out with pebbles so bees can drink without drowning. And find a mentor before you buy a hive.Cheshire Beekeepers Association: https://www.cheshirebka.co.ukBritish Beekeepers Association: https://www.bbka.org.uk*SOURCES AND FURTHER READING*We check the numbers our guests use, and say so when we cannot.VERIFIED. More manuka is sold than made. UK sales alone have been reported as exceeding global manuka production: https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2013/08/26/Fake-honey-UK-manuka-sales-alone-outstrip-entire-global-production/CORRECTION. Dave's hunch on resistance was right, and bigger than he knew. Researchers traced the worst bee die off in US history to miticide resistant varroa carrying deformed wing virus: https://www.dvm360.com/view/usda-pinpoints-cause-of-recent-mass-honeybee-collapsePART RIGHT. Sealed honey keeps almost indefinitely, but the still edible 3,000 year old tomb honey story is folklore, not a documented test. A hive centre runs about 34 to 35 degrees celsius, and only while there is brood to warm, not all year round.*ABOUT THE SHOW*Fields, Forests and a Fun Guy is a UK conservation podcast hosted by Tom Holland. Nature Uncensored. An unhurried hour with the people doing the work.*FOLLOW*Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fieldsforestsandafunguy/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FieldsForestsandaFunGuyTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fieldsforestsandafunguyX: https://x.com/FieldsforestsFGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FieldsForestsandaFunGuy*A NOTE ON BALANCE*This show hosts people who disagree with each other. Views expressed by guests are their own. If we have got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
- Sep 4, 20261h 42m
This Is What Disappeared. 70 Years On One Patch. | Ep 1
A Cheshire birdkeeper who has watched the same fields for a lifetime explains what has gone.Tom Holland's first guest is his father, Mike Holland, a birdkeeper, falconer and former meat trade worker from Barnton in Cheshire who has bred Scottish crossbills since 1982.They walk through one patch of countryside: the orchards that became housing, the song thrushes that stopped singing in the village, the insects that stopped hitting the windscreen, and the forty acres of lime beds outside Northwich that now hold almost nothing. It ends with a target. Seven acres of gorse, three filled in ponds, two years to raise the money.IN THIS EPISODE🐦 Breeding Scottish crossbills from two pairs bought in 1982, and the year six pairs produced 44 young📺 The crossbills that ended up in a BBC series, filmed in a Cheshire garden and cut into a wild Scottish nest🦡 What the BTO nest camera data actually says about badgers, foxes and ground nesting birds📉 Why tree sparrows collapsed, and the one farm change that brought the linnets back🌿 What actually works in a garden, and why a plastic lawn does notTHE GUESTMike Holland, birdkeeper, falconer and lifelong naturalist, Barnton, Cheshire.WHAT YOU CAN DORecord what is in your own patch. BTO BirdTrack is free, takes minutes a week, and it proves what changed.https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/birdtrackSOURCES AND FURTHER READINGWe check the numbers our guests use, and say so when we cannot.PART RIGHT. Nest predation. The study is real: Barton et al, "Identity of predators of bird nests in the British Islands", Ibis 2025, BTO and University of East Anglia, 2,088 nests and 609 predation events. For waders it reports badgers, foxes and hedgehogs together at 53% of predation events, and ungulates, mainly sheep, at 6%. There is no separate badger figure, so the 42% and 23% stated on air are not supported, and 42 plus 23 will not fit inside 53. The sheep figure is right, and it is the surprising one. https://www.bto.org/our-work/science/publications/papers/identity-predators-bird-nests-british-islandsVERIFIED. Tree sparrows down about 93% between 1970 and 2008, with an 18% rise since 1995 from a very low base.https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/tree-sparrowVERIFIED. Squirrel pox is carried by greys, harms them not at all, and is usually fatal to reds.https://www.lancswt.org.uk/RedSquirrelFAQPART RIGHT. Badgers. About 480,000 is broadly right: 485,000 for England and Wales, 2011 to 2014. The 37,000 before protection is not supported; the published 1980s estimate for Great Britain is nearer 250,000.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00378-3PART RIGHT. The farm with the flower margins is almost certainly the Allerton Project at Loddington, Leicestershire, not Lincolnshire. A 97% rise in songbird numbers since 1992.https://www.allertontrust.org.uk/projects/long-term-wildlife-monitoring/ABOUT THE SHOWFields, Forests and a Fun Guy is a UK conservation podcast hosted by Tom Holland. Nature Uncensored. An unhurried hour with the people actually doing the work.FOLLOWInstagram: @fieldsforestsandafunguy/Facebook: @FieldsForestsandaFunGuyTikTok: @fieldsforestsandafunguyX: @FieldsforestsFGYouTube: @FieldsForestsandaFunGuyRestore Habitat UK, charity 1209108: https://www.restorehabitat.ukA NOTE ON BALANCEThis show hosts people who disagree with each other. Views expressed by guests are their own. If we have got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
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About Fields, Forests and a Fun Guy
Fields, Forests & a Fun Guy is a podcast about Britain’s countryside, the people who live in it, work it, protect it and sometimes argue about it.Hosted by Tom Holland, each episode goes beyond the headlines to have honest, long-form conversations with farmers, conservationists, landowners, scientists, wildlife experts, beekeepers, hunters, campaigners and the people making decisions about our natural world.From wildlife and farming to rewilding, habitat loss, rivers, hedgerows, biodiversity and the future of the British countryside, we ask the questions that matter.
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