The third Unearthed: Nature Needs Us podcast series from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has the aim of being a vital dialogue about the future of our planet.
Narrated by Dr Mya-Rose Craig, an environmentalist, ornithologist, and diversity activist known as Birdgirl, the new series of the award-winning podcast takes a deeper look into transformative and nature-based solutions of biodiversity.
The series explores the essential connections in nature’s web – from the microscopic life in our soils to the expansive forest canopies that sustain our world. Each episode highlights Kew’s pioneering research and showcases real-world conservation projects, such as seed banking, which are critical for preserving our planet’s biodiversity.
Dr Craig discusses the complex ecological networks that offer revolutionary approaches to conservation. The journey through unseen layers of nature, from the microbial to the canopy level, demonstrates how every element is vital for life on Earth.
Dr Craig says: “With a huge increase in critically endangered wildlife, extinction is rapidly increasing with many habitats under strain.
“In Unearthed, myself and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew invite you to explore how plant and fungal knowledge can be harnessed to change our planet for the better. In this new series, I take you on a journey from soil to sky, scaling the tangle of nature’s systems and interactions to help us tackle the biodiversity loss and climate change crises.”
Isabel Larridon, Head of Accelerated Taxonomy at RBG Kew says: “Facing the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and their partners around the globe are working tirelessly to better understand plant and fungal diversity to help deliver science-based data to policymakers that will help inform conservation efforts.
“In our own lives, there are many things we can do to relieve some of the pressure on nature, such as reducing our carbon footprint, advocating for nature, or even reducing our food waste and changing our diets to include less meat and dairy.
“Hopefully, listeners will pick up on some of these solutions to the challenges we face today through this podcast and realise that the environment is in peril, and nature needs us to save it.”
Episodes are released bi-weekly on all major podcast platforms, with the first available now.