I am an outdoorsman, podcaster and speaker. I talk and write about the natural environment, biodiversity, conservation, hunting and fishing, rewilding and more. I am particularly interested in wildlife and human-wildlife interactions. I enjoy reading scientific papers on those subjects as much as being outdoors weathering the elements and getting first-hand experiences.
🐺 Coexistence with Wolves in Estonia
Tommy's OutdoorsConservation and ScienceCoexistence with Wolves in Estonia with Helen ArusooOn 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. Upcoming Interintellect Salon“What’s Interintellect?”, you might ask. It’s a platform that, in their own words, “reinvented the art of the French salon for the 21st century”. The idea of connecting thoughtful people from all over the world, to discuss topics of their interest, in a friendly and respectful manner, is something that I like a lot. And so I decided to give it a go and list my very own salon. The topic we are going to discuss is the connection between climate change and biodiversity loss. The angle I would like to specifically explore is that climate change can’t be tackled without rectifying the biodiversity crisis at the same time. If that’s something that interests you and you would like to discuss, please go to the salon page below and get your ticket. It is free for Interintellect members. |
I strive to deliver the most interesting and educational conversations with the most engaging guests about the natural environment. It is my goal to continue to deliver this content at no cost to you. However, the production of the podcast requires a significant investment of time and money. So I would appreciate any help you can give me. |
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Tommy's Outdoors: Conservation and Science
I am an outdoorsman, podcaster and speaker. I talk and write about the natural environment, biodiversity, conservation, hunting and fishing, rewilding and more. I am particularly interested in wildlife and human-wildlife interactions. I enjoy reading scientific papers on those subjects as much as being outdoors weathering the elements and getting first-hand experiences.
Conservation and Science If you work in conservation, no matter how remotely (for example, you are an IT person), take this survey: CONLAB survey Every now and then an opportunity comes up to talk to scientists about aspects of conservation that we are aware of but that sit in the background, rarely discussed. And when they are discussed, it's usually only in passing. What I'm talking about here is the labour of all the people whose work is required for conservation to happen. Whether rangers...
Conservation and Science This issue of the newsletter is a day late. Not least because I wouldn't miss the local St. Patrick's Day parade, but also because it felt rather rude to send a very Scottish issue of the newsletter on St. Patrick's Day. And very Scottish it is! Today, I have two podcast episodes in which we discuss nature restoration and rewilding in Scotland. The first is also a book recommendation, and both the episode and the book cover the same topic: the story of the first legal...
Conservation and Science This week's episode topic was a long time coming. It seems like the grey and red squirrel situation was an obvious one for my show that should have been covered long ago, and perhaps a few times already. But that wasn't the case. In fairness, many years ago, I was contacted by two ladies working on red squirrel conservation in Ireland and we exchanged a few emails with the view to recording a podcast. I don't remember exactly why it fell apart at the time, and the...