A fish that can’t swim, the rarest fish in the world, needs a hand.

Our hosts James and Elysee are in south-east Tasmania, home to several species of handfish, a curious creature that ‘walks’ along the sea bed on fins modified to look like hands.

They chat to Dr Tyson Bessell who researches the Red handfish at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, and talk about the quirks of this little fish. Our hosts also speak to Prof Neville Barrett, a marine ecologist also at the University of Tasmania, who helped discover the decline of handfish several decades ago. Neville talks about how climate change is impacting this sedentary fish and Tyson discusses the Red handfish’s captive breeding program, affectionately nicknamed ‘Handfish School’.

James and Elysee also catch up with the Invasive Sea Star Clean Up group in Hobart, and join volunteers to dive and remove introduced sea star species from handfish habitat. They chat to organiser Keith Thomas-Wurth and other participants too.

Finally, James and Elysee travel to Dodges Ferry, a small town just on-shore from where the only Red handfish populations live. Here they meet Jenny Scott, a local resident who organised a mass beach protest against the expansion of salmon farming in order to protect the handfish. Our hosts discuss the environmental impacts fish farming is having on Tasmanian waterways and Jenny talks about the community's love for their own endangered fish.

Thank you to:

Dr Tyson Bessell

Associate Professor Neville Barrett

Jenny Scott

Keith Thomas-Wurth from Invasive Sea Star Clean up Tasmania

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/1318246581861063
• Clean ups once to twice a month, just show up!

Recorded, written, and edited by James Worsfold and Elysee Lee

The long-awaited Great Koala National Park in NSW's Mid-North Coast was announced in September 2025, and will protect over 400,000 hectares of native forest and countless endangered animals including koalas, Greater gliders, and Yellow-bellied gliders.

But behind this announcement has been years of tireless volunteer community work to put pressure on the government to fulfil their conservation promises, and to make sure that in the meantime, the forests and animals within will still be there to protect.

Hosts James and Elysee meet with ecologist Mark Graham, who introduces them to the lush subtropical forests in the hills behind Coffs Harbour and the charismatic gliders there threatened by native forest logging.

They also meet Deanna Markinova, head of Forest Ecology Alliance, a community volunteer group that conducts surveys to keep checks on logging activity and look out for vulnerable animals.

With De and ecologists Sue and Hank Bower, James and Elysee head out spotlighting to look for Greater and Yellow-bellied gliders to prevent their den trees from being logged.

Finally, James and Elysee visit the Blicks River Guardians – Meredith Stanton and Barry Hunt up in Dorrigo. Every morning they hold a vigil by the main road, blocking the entrance of Clouds Creek State Forest to prevent loggers from going in, and educate people passing by.

Thank you to:

Mark Graham
Deanna Markovina from Forest Ecology Alliance

• https://www.facebook.com/forestecologyalliance/
• Volunteers needed – send a message to their Facebook page or email forestecologyalliance@gmail.com

Sue Bower

Hank Bower

Meredith Stanton and Barry Hunt from Blicks River Guardians (Glider Reviver)

• https://www.facebook.com/blicksriverguardians

Recorded, written, and edited by James Worsfold and Elysee Lee

Like the brushturkey but much more elusive, the Malleefowl is a majestic bird on the decline.

James and Elysee track this bird down in the desert-like Mallee region of north-west Victoria, where they learn about its laborious lifestyle and compost-powered incubating mounds.

They meet a group of volunteers who head into the bush every breeding season to record important Malleefowl data to help aid its recovery, work that's otherwise too expensive for governments.

Ecologist Mirinda Thorpe takes James and Elysee out to find Malleefowl mounds and tells them how volunteer data has been used in a pilot program to rescue Malleefowl eggs after a bushfire.

James and Elysee also chat to Mick Webster and Ross MacFarlane, long-time volunteers, and Ross shares how his family’s farming community spearheaded the volunteer initiative.

James and Elysee explain land clearing and fragmentation, some of the drivers behind the Mallefowl’s decline.

They revisit Mirinda and her partner and fellow ecologist, Iestyn Hosking, to discuss addressing illegal land-clearing, as well as revegetation as a solution. The couple show James and Elysee around their property, which they've transformed from a cleared farm to one full of native vegetation and life.

Thank you to:

The Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group

• https://www.malleefowlvictoria.org.au/
• Registrations for 2025 volunteer training are now open till the 3rd of October!

Ross MacFarlane

Mick Webster

Mirinda Thorpe

Iestyn Hosking

Macy Fuller

Recorded, written, and edited by James Worsfold and Elysee Lee