At Abbotts Hall by the Blackwater Estuary, chief executive of Essex Wildlife Trust, Rich Yates, chats about the 67 years of county wildlife action. We sit in sunshine by a pond, and hear about the Trus’s many reserves and visitor centres. And how the focus on nature has shifted from protecting and conserving to improving. This puts people at the heart of it all. The Trust relies on a dense network of 2000 volunteers to manage their 100 reserves and engage with the public.

We talk of the timescales of conservation and nature recovery: 60+ years (so far) for Fingringhoe Wick, 24 years for saltings after coastal realignment, 15 years for Mucking waste tip to reserve, and 1-2 years for the ghost ponds of Essex to come back.

Rich says, “The story of conservation is the story of people.”

Rich recommends Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics.

Rich’s object is a guitar plectrum.

His heroes are local education leader Gary Horne and EA Festival organiser Joanne Ooi.

His recommended action: go on, join a Wildlife Trust local to you.

Website: https://www.essexwt.org.uk/

My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027 by Unbreaking/5m. It’s called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformation and Story for Climate and Nature Recovery."