222: Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels with James Kennedy

How did little over ten grey squirrels, brought to an Aberdeen zoo in 1971 to keep a tame squirrel called Jack company, turn into a population of over ten thousand? What does it take to eradicate an invasive species from a city? And could this project become the first urban grey squirrel eradication anywhere in the world? To discuss all of this I'm joined by James Kennedy, the Eradication Operations Lead for Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels (SSRS), a partnership project run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. James has been on the ground since 2009, starting as a Grey Squirrel Control Officer on what was supposed to be an eighteen-month contract. Here he is, seventeen years later, closer than ever to achieving something many thought impossible.During our conversation, James explains why grey squirrels are such a serious problem for native red squirrels and for the wider environment. It's not just about competition for food and habitat. Grey squirrels carry squirrelpox virus, which is lethal to red squirrels, usually killing them within a fortnight. They also cause millions of pounds of damage through bark stripping of trees, threatening both ancient woodlands and commercial forestry. We also discuss the role of pine martens in suppressing grey squirrel populations, a topic that is surprisingly emotive in conservation circles, and how the situation in Ireland offers some encouraging signs for red squirrel recovery.James takes us through the practical realities of running an urban trapping operation, from getting the backing of Aberdeen City Council to managing a trap loan scheme with local residents. He shares stories of public encounters, both positive and hostile, and explains why education and patience matter when dealing with a controversial subject. We also look at alternative approaches such as fertility control and gene drive technology. But as James puts it, nothing currently replaces boots on the ground. With grey squirrel captures down to just two in 2025 and detection dogs now being deployed, the project is entering its confirmation phase. If you care about invasive species management and what is possible with long-term commitment, this is an episode you don't want to miss.Subscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook

What does it take to track wildlife across 250 square kilometres of Irish woodland? How do you position cameras to capture elusive species like otters and pine martens without introducing bias into your data? What happens when floodwaters threaten your carefully placed equipment? Join us as we follow a camera trap survey through the Clara Vale in central County Wicklow, where systematic monitoring reveals the lives of Ireland's mammals.Throughout the episode, we've included footage from the field showing the actual process of retrieving cameras from flooded mixed woodlands. So, if you're watching the video version, you'll see the camera trap images of otters and deer, the moment we discover whether the equipment survived the floods, and the landscapes where these surveys take place.We also discuss the importance of systematic camera placement, why all cameras point north, and how spacing them kilometres apart provides better population sampling. The approach demonstrates how proper methodology reduces bias and creates representative data about wildlife distribution across diverse landscapes.Beyond the technical aspects, we explore what it means to survey wildlife across private and public lands, from forests to plantations. The work covers 60 cameras across County Wicklow and extends to other project sites around Ireland, including national parks where grid-based designs become possible. It's a glimpse into the patient, systematic work that builds our understanding of Irish wildlife populations and their response to different habitat types and land management practices.Subscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and FacebookMentioned in this episode:DisclaimerThe views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individual participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organisation. The participants are expressing their personal opinions and perspectives.

This episode features one of the most important conversations about hunting and impacts on nature that I can remember in 10 years of making the podcast. It's not surprising though as our guest today is a long-time supporter and friend of the podcast, Tony Bynum. Tony is an accomplished wildlife photographer who spent 15 years travelling the world photographing people hunting. He is a geographer by training with a master's degree in science and has managed scientific projects across the United States. He also worked in two presidential administrations at the Environmental Protection Agency. On top of all that, Tony is a lifelong hunter and angler with Native American heritage that deeply influences his approach to conservation and land ethics.Our conversation starts with a famous quote from José Ortega y Gasset suggesting that photography can never replace hunting because one is mere observation and the other is participation. Tony challenges this view with a perspective I hadn't considered before. Are photographers really just observers? What personal decisions has Tony made about his own photography as a result of his views? And how do traditional stories shape our connection to the land and the animals we pursue? You'll have to listen to find out.We also discuss the difference between transactional and value-based approaches to hunting, the role of visual art in conservation and the problematic influence of social media on outdoor pursuits. Tony's message about doing something for what you love, rather than just loving it, runs through everything we discuss. His thoughts on raising his three daughters with outdoor experiences, without pushing them to become environmentalists, offer valuable insights for anyone who cares about passing on a connection to nature.Subscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook

Can holistic grazing systems restore degraded hillsides and create profitable farms? How can local food systems and venison products revitalise struggling rural communities? Is it possible to farm with nature rather than against it and still make a living? These are the questions we explore in our conversation with John Duffy from Future Oak Farm, who returned to County Donegal after a career in oil and gas to transform his family's traditional sheep farm into a model of regenerative agriculture.John left Donegal at 17 because he couldn't see a future in traditional farming. After 16 years working in civil engineering, mining and oil and gas exploration across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, he returned home following an industry downturn and his father's death. What brought him back wasn't nostalgia but a vision for a different kind of agriculture. Inspired by Allan Savory's holistic management and the predator-prey dynamics he'd seen in David Attenborough documentaries, John began experimenting with bunched livestock grazing that mimics natural herbivore behaviour. The results transformed not just the land but the economic viability of hill farming in one of Ireland's most challenging landscapes.Our conversation covers habitat recovery, woodland regeneration, deer management and the creation of Wild & Co, John's venison product company that's building shorter supply chains and retaining more value in rural communities. We also discuss the fragility of long supply chains, the disconnect in Ireland's food system where 70% of consumed beef is imported despite producing enough to feed ourselves three times over and why John believes the innovation needed for Irish agriculture will come from the challenging farming conditions of the West of Ireland. John offers a practical vision for how farming can support both nature and thriving rural communities.Further reading:Wild & Co | Wild Irish Venison Protein SnacksFuture Oak FarmFuture Oak Farm | InstagramWild & Co | InstagramSubscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and FacebookThe guest featured in this episode paid a nominal guesting fee. This fee did not directly influence the content of the episode. The guest had no editorial control, did not review the episode before publication, and did not influence the questions asked during the interview.

How do rural communities prepare for climate change when global commitment seems to be wavering? What does real climate adaptation look like on the ground? Can local knowledge be as valuable as academic expertise when it comes to building resilient communities? These are the questions we tackle in this special episode, which launches a new series following a two-year Community Climate Adaptation Training and Mentoring Programme in Kerry.Today I'm joined by six guests. John Loughrey from NEWKD explains how the LEADER programme evolved from having one small climate sub-theme to making it a major focus. Micheál Ó Cóileáin, Mary Kiernan, Thomas O'Connor, Niamh Ní Dhúill and Catríona Fallon from Transition Kerry share their experiences working on these issues since 2007. Together, NEWKD and Transition Kerry developed an ambitious programme to work with local communities across Co. Kerry. Our conversation covers everything from the practical details of the programme to the philosophy behind it, including wisdom about using your head, heart and hands to create the future you want.This is the first episode in a series where we'll be following the programme over the next two years. We'll be speaking with participants and community leaders as they work through the various phases of capacity building, from initial meetings through to implementing climate adaptation projects in their own communities.To sign up or find out more, contact [email protected] go to www.adaptationkerry.transitionkerry.orgSubscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook

What if the world's most powerful climate solution is being logged away while politicians and industry groups feed us misinformation? How can an ecosystem store three times more carbon per acre than the Amazon rainforest? Why has the international science community remained largely silent about the destruction of temperate rainforests? Our conversation with Paul Koberstein, co-author of "Canopy of Titans - The Life and Times of the Great North American Temperate Rainforest" tackles these urgent questions head-on. The Great North American temperate rainforest stretches 2,500 miles from northern California to Alaska, making it the largest intact temperate rainforest on Earth. Yet this carbon-dense ecosystem faces ongoing threats from industrial logging, greenwashing campaigns, and policy decisions that prioritise short-term profits over long-term climate stability.Paul shares his journey from camping beneath old-growth Douglas firs as a child to becoming an investigative environmental journalist covering forest issues for over 40 years. Our conversation examines the troubling parallels between the timber industry's tactics and those employed by fossil fuel and tobacco companies. We discuss how scientists like Dr Beverly Law faced persecution for publishing research on how forests benefit the climate. Paul explains the "global blind spot" that has allowed temperate rainforest logging to continue largely unchallenged, even as the international community rallies to protect tropical rainforests. The book reveals how industry-funded research has shaped policy debates and obscured the true climate impact of logging these ancient forests.Despite the sobering realities, Paul offers hope through examples of successful grassroots activism. When thousands of people raised their voices against Drax's expansion into California, the project was cancelled. Our conversation also touches on the dramatic shift in US climate policy under different administrations and what this means for forest protection efforts globally. Paul's advice is clear: to save a forest, you must work at it every day, but to destroy it, you only need to do it once. This episode is essential listening for anyone who cares about climate action, forest conservation, and cutting through corporate greenwashing.Subscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and FacebookTommy’s Outdoors is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk The guest featured in this episode paid a nominal guesting fee. This fee did not directly influence the content of the episode. The guest had no editorial control, did not review the episode before publication, and did not influence the questions asked during the interview.

Can we find a middle ground between those who see the EU's wolf downlisting as a catastrophe and those who celebrate it as good news? The debate around wolf conservation in the EU has become frustratingly polarised, with both sides 'crying wolf' about the consequences of changing protection status. It's time to step back and look at the evidence.When dealing with controversial subjects like this, it is important to be factual and follow the evidence. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk about it with Dr Hanna Pettersson, one of the most prominent early career voices in interdisciplinary conservation. Hanna is the lead author of a paper titled 'Now What? The Conundrum of Successful Recovery of Wolves and Other Species for European Conservation', co-authored with Professor Erica von Essen, who was also a guest on the acclaimed episode 163.During our conversation, we discuss the success conundrum in conservation, the difference between ecological and social carrying capacity, and why we need to think about future pathways rather than looking back. We also talk about the role of legal hunting in reducing poaching and the importance of working with local communities who have lived alongside wolves for generations. Of course, there are larger systemic issues underneath and we don't shy away from discussing those as well, including inequality as a driver of biodiversity loss.Further reading:Now What? The Conundrum of Successful Recovery of Wolves and Other Species for European ConservationTime to stop crying wolf – on both sides of the debate - Stockholm Resilience CentreSubscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook

On my podcast, we talk a lot about coexistence with large carnivores and the challenges it poses. Some of those challenges might seem insurmountable to some. To shed some light on overcoming these hurdles, I contacted Helen Arusoo, an Estonian nature journalist and the leader of the National Animal Working Group. In this conversation, we talk about how Estonia overcame these hurdles and created something that I would consider the gold standard of coexistence with large carnivores.Unsurprisingly, the majority of our time was spent discussing wolves as they seem to be the most difficult carnivore species to coexist with, at least in the northern hemisphere. However, we did discuss other large carnivores like bears too. Our conversation focused mostly on social and cultural factors. We also touched on the European Commission's proposal to lower the protection status of wolves, something we’ve discussed extensively in one of the previous episodes.It was a wonderful conversation and I enjoyed speaking with Helen. Her profound understanding of the challenges of coexistence is impressive. She presented a deeply thought-out perspective and I can only wish that more people who care about wolves could learn from her experience and the Estonian model of coexistence with large carnivores.Subscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and FacebookMentioned in this episode:This is the Conservation and Science podcast Replay series, a curated collection of best episodes from last year. If you are new to the show, this is an excellent opportunity to catch up with the most popular episodes from the back catalogue. And if you’re a regular listener, maybe you missed one of those or want to listen to one of them again. Don’t worry! The new episodes are being published on the regular fortnightly schedule, so keep tuning in for the new content every other Tuesday.

Why are we failing to make progress on climate change and biodiversity loss despite fifty years of environmental campaigning? What changed in recent years that made it so difficult to rally support for nature? Could social inequality be the root cause undermining all our conservation efforts? These are the questions Tony Juniper addresses in his latest book 'Just Earth: How a Fairer World Will Save the Planet' and in our conversation today.Tony has been campaigning for nature for nearly forty years. He has led major organisations including BirdLife International, Friends of the Earth, and WWF UK. He is a multi-award winning author whose books include 'What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?' and 'Harmony', co-authored with King Charles III. Currently, he chairs Natural England, the British Government's official conservation agency. During our conversation, Tony reflects on the progress made over the past five decades and explains why the last fifteen years have seen a dramatic shift. He describes how political volatility, misinformation, media fragmentation, and rising inequality have created an environment where environmental progress has stalled.We discuss how obscene levels of wealth concentration, declining living standards for ordinary people, and the manipulation of public debate by vested interests have made it nearly impossible to build the broad coalition needed to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. Tony makes a compelling case that we cannot solve environmental problems without addressing social inequality. He offers practical advice on what each of us can do, starting today, to be part of the solution. This conversation challenges us to think differently about conservation and recognise the deeper societal issues we must confront.Buy Tony's Book: https://amzn.to/4ptIfs4Subscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and FacebookTommy’s Outdoors is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk

What is sustainable agriculture? Does regenerative farming mean focusing primarily on the soil biome? Is farming a leading cause of biodiversity loss? …and do we really have only 60 harvests left? To get the answers to those and other questions about farming and biodiversity, join me for a conversation with an agricultural management and policy specialist, an economist, a writer and an advisor, Stuart Meikle.In this episode, Stuart shares with us the history of his education in farming and later his work in different farming environments across the world. Then we switch gears and talk about issues specific to Irish agriculture, which also has some relevance in the UK context. And so, we discuss the use of nitrogen fertilisers, soil health and whether the cuts to the size of the national cattle herd are inevitable. I also ask Stuart about his thoughts on the recently passed Nature Restoration Law.After you listen to this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter so as not to miss more farming episodes that are due in the coming weeks. Being a subscriber also gives you an excellent opportunity to send me your feedback and suggestions about past and future episodes. It’s as easy as replying to an email! Finally, newsletter subscribers are first to be informed about live events and can avail themselves of substantial discounts on exclusive content.Subscribe to Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science NewsletterSupport the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee.Recommended Books: tommysoutdoors.com/booksMerch: tommysoutdoors.com/shopFollow Tommy's Outdoors on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and FacebookMentioned in this episode:This is the Conservation and Science podcast Replay series, a curated collection of best episodes from last year. If you are new to the show, this is an excellent opportunity to catch up with the most popular episodes from the back catalogue. And if you’re a regular listener, maybe you missed one of those or want to listen to one of them again. Don’t worry! The new episodes are being published on the regular fortnightly schedule, so keep tuning in for the new content every other Tuesday.