Human societies and their use of land have transformed ecology across this planet for thousands of years. As a result, the global patterns of life on Earth, the biomes, can no longer be understood without considering how humans have altered them. Anthromes, or anthropogenic biomes, characterise the globally significant ecological patterns created by sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems, including agriculture, urbanisation, and other land uses. Anthromes now cover more than three quarters of Earth’s ice-free land surface, including dense settlements, villages, croplands, rangelands, and semi natural lands; wildlands untransformed by agriculture and settlements cover the remaining area

In this podcast we discuss the relationship of humans and nature with Professor Erle Ellis. We look at how since the dawn of humanity we've been impacting the land. Now as these impacts gather pace and lead to undesirable outcomes we discuss how we can reframe the role of the human species as being an intrinsic part of nature and possessing the power to shape the world to more desirable outcomes.

Professor Erle C Ellis is Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) where he directs the Anthroecology Laboratory.

His research investigates the ecology of human landscapes at local to global scales to inform sustainable stewardship of the biosphere in the Anthropocene.

https://anthroecology.org/anthromes

The Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery is interested in promoting a wide variety of views and opinions on nature recovery from researchers and practitioners.

The views, opinions and positions expressed within this podcast are those of the speakers alone, they do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, or its researchers.

The work of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery is made possible thanks to the support of the Leverhulme Trust.

What role does the state have to play in nature recovery?

If we are serious about halting the decline in biodiversity do we need to lay out a more ambitious agenda that can unify the currently fragmented aspects of private nature finance, state intervention and the role of public sector institutions. This is part of the argument raised buy Dr. Sophus zu Ermgassen and a team of experts in a recent pre-print: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/td4qj

We talk to him about this mission-driven approach and what types of changes need addressing if we are to see fair and inclusive nature recovery that can actual deliver a restoration of our natural environments and not just the creation of functioning biodiversity markets.

Find out more here

The Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery is interested in promoting a wide variety of views and opinions on nature recovery from researchers and practitioners.

The views, opinions and positions expressed within this podcast are those of the speakers alone, they do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, or its researchers.

The work of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery is made possible thanks to the support of the Leverhulme Trust.

This week we look at Rewilding from the social perspective. Most of the challenges currently facing nature can be linked to human activity and more specific human prioritizations of one type of land use over another. So when we come to look at solutions to biodiversity loss (Rewilding being one of the most well known) its essential that we understand the role of people in making these solutions work.. It's hoped that Nature Recovery projects supported by local communities are likely to be more durable, inclusive and ultimately more sustainable. We explore this fascinating topic with three experts:

Dr. Calum Brown is a land system scientist interested in how land management affects ecosystems and societies. He uses a range of methods to investigate how people’s use of land might change in the future, and the potential for nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. Calum has worked in research and conservation in Scotland, the US, Slovakia and Germany, most recently as a Senior Researcher in Land Use Change & Climate at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. He was raised and educated in the Highlands and holds a Masters from the University of the Highlands and Islands and a PhD (funded by a Microsoft Research Scholarship) from the University of St Andrews.

Josh Davis is a researcher at the Countryside and Community Research Institute. His research focuses on shifts in skills and behaviour in the transition from agriculture to nature-based recovery across England. H examines the underlying motivations, incentives, and barriers to local practitioners (farmers, land managers and agricultural advisers) involved in promoting landscape-scale, nature-based recovery.

Dr. Caitlin Hafferty is a researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at the University of Oxford. Caitlin is an expert in participatory, democratic and inclusive decision-making, particularly in planning and environmental decision-making. She campions the contributions of the social sciences to understanding sustainability transformations, and currently work on the social dimensions of nature recovery and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) initiatives in the UK.

Links for further reading

• Short brief on Recipes for Engagement
• https://www.naturerecovery.ox.ac.uk/events/event/unlocking-the-power-of-engagement-for-nature-recovery-and-nature-based-solutions-join-our-webinar/
• https://www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/community
• https://www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/s/Highlands-Rewilding-Engagement-Roadmap.pdf
• https://www.nattergal.co.uk/boothby-wildland

The Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery is interested in promoting a wide variety of views and opinions on nature recovery from researchers and practitioners.

The views, opinions and positions expressed within this podcast are those of the speakers alone, they do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, or its researchers.

The work of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery is made possible thanks to the support of the Leverhulme Trust.