Into The Wild

I live in London. A large, busy & packed city, but I still see so much wildlife & that's similar to this week's guest, birder Jeffrey Ward from NYC.

This show we are all about city wildlife ESPECIALLY birds. Jeffrey tells us all about how he got into birding, the types of animals you can find in NYC & the challenges that you face hunting for wildlife in a city.

We also touch on a social media movement aligned with #BlackLivesMatter called #BlackBirdersWeek. An amazing hashtag showing the HUGE amount of black birders around the world.

If you'd like to keep up to date with the projects, & shows that Jeffrey is working on, you can do so on Twitter & Instagram @JeffreyMWard. 

Don't forget to subscribe to us on iTunes, Podbean & Spotify . You can also get in touch on social media, @intothewildpod. Whether it's just to say hello, share some thoughts on an episode or even to let me know you'd like to hear about next! 

It's doesn't matter which animal or environment we discuss here on Into The Wild, what always comes up is the damage that deforestation & pollution has on nature, so this week I decided to dive a bit deeper into this topic with climate activist & sustainability writer Laura Young aka Less Waste Laura.

From what materials are the worst, how to avoid them & to does recycling work & what we can do in our own homes, Laura covers so much great detail in this short chat.

We also spoke about the recent Blackstone investments with the alternative milk company Oatly. Who are Blackstone? Why is they problematic & why is this bad? Again, it's covered here by Laura who spoke with Oatly themselves.

If you'd like to keep up to date with the projects & work Laura is working on, you can do so on Twitter & Instagram @Lesswastelaura & you can check out here website www.lesswastelaura.com. Don't forget You can get in touch with me at [email protected] or on social media @intothewildpod on Twitter & @intothewildpodcast on Instagram. Whether it's just to say hello, share some thoughts on an episode or even to let me know you'd like to hear about next!

This week's show is very exciting & important for so many reasons. So let's explain. This is a first for Into The Wild. This is our first ever panel show recorded with 3 guests over zoom. Not only a first for us though, it's a first for the UK & likely, many other western countries. As we are discussing the topic of trophy hunting...."But that's been done Ryan?" Yeah, I know, but to my knowledge, never has this chat taken place while purely chatting to the people it directly affects. 3 local, key wildlife & community workers of Namibia. These people are, Maxi Louis, who has over 22 years of experience working with communities in conservation. John Mwilima, a member & advisor of the Banumu conservancy. And finally, Lorna Dax manager of the Khaodi & Haos conservancy.

You may already have your opinions & views on trophy hunting, I did before I started the chat, however, I ask you to leave them here. This show is about talking to local people, whose lives & livelihoods depend on trophy hunting (or, since this interview, I now call, conservation hunting.) Maxi, Lorna & John don't just look at records or stats & bits of paper, they see the impacts of conservation hunting. From the benefit to the people & local communities, the animals & their survival & the habitat & environment.

It's easy for us in England, or America, or France, or Australia etc to criticise a method such as conservation hunting, however, we do not live in this country. We should be listening to the people that live in these areas & learn more about methods like this. As highlighted in this show, African people have harvested animals for hundreds of years, this isn't new. Also as pointed out, it is heavily regulated.

But, I don't want to give anything away. I also don't want you to think you have to leave here being pro conservation hunting. You don't. That's up to you. All you have to do is listen to these 3 voices that are too often, ignored when talking about this topic. For me, I've learnt so much more & understand it far greater. Could I hunt? No way. Do I understand why Americans or Britain's pay all this money to hunt? Not really. Do I think it's wrong, damaging & needs to stop? Not anymore.

If you'd like to get in touch regarding the topic of conservation hunting from today's show then I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]. I'll be recording another, short episode on this topic with Prof Adam Hart. So any questions you have. Chuck them over.

Don't forget to subscribe to us on iTunes, Podbean & Spotify . You can also get in touch on social media @intothewildpod on Twitter & @intothewildpodcast on Instagram. Whether it's just to say hello, share some thoughts on an episode or even to let me know you'd like to hear about next!