#216 | Nature Happy Hour #4: Goodbye 2025, Sea Turtles, Wetlands & Ocean Protection

Join Brooke and Charles for their end-of-year Nature Coffee Hour as they reflect on 2025's biggest conservation moments! They swap their usual evening beers for morning caffeine and dive into the stories that shaped this year: green sea turtles downlisted from endangered to least concern, Florida's record-breaking leatherback nesting season, the troubling rollback of U.S. wetland protections, Ecuadorian fishing communities protecting mangroves from industrial shrimp farms, and the historic High Seas Treaty protecting two-thirds of our oceans. They also share personal updates—Rewildology's Project Patagonia series becoming a Jackson Wild finalist, Charles's health recovery and new PhD students, and some unexpected philosophical realizations about humanity and our shared planet. This conversation covers the conservation wins, losses, and everything in between as we close out 2025 and look ahead to what's next. TIMESTAMPS00:00 Introduction01:34 Morning Beverage Chat06:49 Project Patagonia Success20:05 Charles' Health and Lab Updates30:43 Top Headlines of 202540:49 State Policies and Their Impact on Wildlife41:40 Ecological Consequences of Removing Protections43:21 Private Land and Wetland Conservation43:54 The Importance of Wetlands and Potential Risks44:33 State-Level Actions and Public Responsibility46:57 Positive News: Green Sea Turtles' Recovery47:48 Sea Turtle Conservation Success Stories55:10 Community-Led Conservation in Ecuador01:02:42 Global Conservation Efforts and Personal Reflections01:12:55 High Seas Treaty and Ocean Conservation01:21:31 Closing Thoughts and Future Plans LEARN MORE ABOUT PROJECT PATAGONIAhttps://rewildology.com/projectpatagonia/ REWILDOLOGY FIELD EXPEDITIONSWhere The Wild Calls: Patagonia Puma Expedition & Torres Del Paine Adventure, March 31 - April 7, 2026: https://rewildology.com/patagoniaexpedition/ JOIN THE REWILDOLOGY BOOK CLUB. IT’S FREE!https://rewildology.com/rewildology-book-club/ SHOW NOTES & NEWSLETTERShow notes & subscribe to newsletter, https://rewildology.com/ SUPPORT REWILDOLOGYhttps://rewildology.com/support-the-show/ LISTEN TO THE REWILDOLOGY PODCASTApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3YXWSsFSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3oW6artLcvxX0QoW1TCcrq?si=ff3b5e2ec90542a2 FOLLOW REWILDOLOGYYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewildologyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rewildology/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rewildology/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rewildologyX: https://x.com/rewildology CONTACTSBrooke Mitchell, hello@rewildolgy.com SPONSORSHIPS & BRAND PARTNERSHIPSSend your ideas to Brooke at hello@rewildolgy.com