Happy New Year!!! New podcast episode is dropping tomorrow.

I have to say that I'm largely disappointed by the updates to EU REACH plans for restrictions on lead in ammunition. Preventing the impact on defence is likely the area that requires most care and effort it is though, I feel, used as an excuse to defer restrictions that would affect hunting. 🌍

It seems to me that academia copes with AI worse than other *ahem* industries. 🧪

"They didn't want temperate rainforest to be designated as a climate solution and then off limits" 🌍

What if the world's most powerful climate solution is being logged away while politicians and industry groups feed us misinformation? Why has the international science community remained largely silent about the destruction of temperate rainforests? 🌍 ➡️🎧 pod.fo/e/3676ca

This is very topical given two recent podcast episodes and my particular interest in wolf protection in the EU. 🌍🦤

An interesting blog post from a listener to my podcast draws on recent episodes with @hannalp.bsky.social and Helen Arusoo and discusses wolf coexistence in Sweden and what it takes to successfully coexist with wolves there.

This is a really thought-provoking podcast for anyone interested in how modern conservation may need to evolve to be much more flexible and pragmatic. tommysoutdoors.com/2025/12/09/2...

In the latest episode, once again we're taking on the never-boring topic of lowering the protection status of wolves in Europe. This time with conservation social scientist @hannalp.bsky.social. Listen to the full episode here: pod.fo/e/362998 🌍🦤🧪🦊

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? With @hannalp.bsky.social, we discuss the frustratingly polarised debate about wolf conservation in the EU. 🌍🦤🧪🦊 🎧➡️ pod.fo/e/362998

What's the best app for identifying plants?

As a warm-up to next week's episode, this week's replay series features my conversation with Helen Arusoo, the leader of Estonia's National Animal Working Group, about the Estonian wolf conservation and management (dirty word, no?) programme. 🌍🦤🦊

Why Your House Is Full of Stuff You'll Never Use.

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. 🌍🦤

Why are we failing on climate change and biodiversity despite fifty years of campaigning? Could social inequality be the root cause undermining all our conservation efforts? In this episode, I talk with @tonyjuniper.bsky.social about his latest book 'Just Earth'. 🌍 🎧➡️ pod.fo/e/35954e

 "The reversal of biodiversity loss is gonna come from farming community." ⬇️ 🌍 bsky.app/profile/tomm...

This week in the Replay series we're going back to the episode about Irish farming and talking about all the biodiversity goodness that comes with it, or that can come with it. 🌍🦤

Short clip from the latest episode of the podcast "Bringing Back the Wild with Mike Arnold - A Hunter's View of Global Conservation" 🦤 🎧 pod.fo/e/350640

Can hunting truly support conservation? Does fortress conservation offer a sustainable solution for protecting wildlife in the long term? And how do we balance the needs of impoverished communities with the preservation of fragile ecosystems? The latest episode is up! 🌍🦤 ➡️ pod.fo/e/350640

In today's replay series I'm bringing you back my conversation with @petercorkeron.bsky.social from which you will learn about the complex, surprising and somewhat worrying intersection of geopolitics and whale conservation. 🐳🌍🦑🦤 👇🏼 open.spotify.com/episode/60UA...

Leucistic Iberian Lynx found in Extremadura, most probably the only one in the world given the rarity and distribution of Iberian Lynx. @markbirdingpinoso.bsky.social @deepfrieddna.bsky.social @fionamathews.bsky.social @mammalssuck.bsky.social @tommysoutdoors.com @markavery.bsky.social

I'm not capitalising unless I have a good reason to. But just take a look at all this discussion under this and related posts. At this point we should start to worry about the carbon/energy footprint of all the compute used for discussing this online. 🤭

What does it take to eradicate ferrets from an inhabited island? @davidgtosh.bsky.social shares the story of the LIFE Raft project on Rathlin Island - from wireless trap technology and ethical considerations to community relationships and why these projects cost so much. 🌍 🦤🧪🦊🪶 🎧➡️ pod.fo/e/345989

I have finished @tonyjuniper.bsky.social's book "Just Earth". It is rather good, I must say. It makes the most compelling argument on why to address the nature and climate crisis we must also necessarily address social inequalities.

This week's podcast is delayed. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Irish presidential election. Seems off topic from what I'm talking about here. Politics is unavoidable though if you talk about policy affecting what is dear to your heart. Both candidates are sorely disappointing, so as in most cases, it's going to be a matter of voting for the less shit candidate.

Yup, the film is well worth watching, and not least for the stunning landscapes and overall production value! A clip from the podcast and the entire episode linked below. 🌍🦤🦊

It's a pity that events like this are not available online (or at least that's what it looks like to me). It's even bigger pity that it looks like @faceforhunters.bsky.social gave up on Bsky.

It looks like we've been focusing on rewilding over the last few weeks on the podcast and this week is no different. If you follow @landethics.bsky.social, you'll have noticed that he's been posting quite a lot recently, so in this week's replay series I'm bringing you our convo from last year. 🌍🦤

It's here! After 2 years of work, our short film 'Snow Leopard Trail' is here. With Rinzin Lama, Tashi Ghale, Marty Stalker, James Glancy & Abinash Lama Premiering 22/10 @queensfilmtheatre.bsky.social Tickets: tinyurl.com/4aw6928r To win a copy of the film poster, see details below. 🌳 🌿 🌍🦤🧪🦊📚💙

Farmers are a diverse bunch. Some know and do good things for nature. Others say the right things but are mentally or economically unable to follow through, ending up causing more damage. And then there are those who treat you like a public enemy the moment you mention 'nature' or 'wildlife'. 🌍🦤

We had a great conversation with the brilliant @jonnyhhanson.bsky.social about his short film titled 'Snow Leopard Trail'. We talk about conservation efforts to protect this elusive cat and, more importantly, what we can learn to enable coexistence with lynx closer to home. 🌍🦤🦊 🎧 pod.fo/e/33883c

Enjoyed this interview with Tommy, time flies! Have a listen and better still buy the book!

This week in the replay series, an episode that we mentioned in last week's episode: my interview with @ianparsons.bsky.social about his book 'Great Misconceptions: Rewilding Myths and Misunderstandings'. 🌍🦤 Spotify ⬇️ open.spotify.com/episode/7fKZ...

Some takeaways from episode 211 of the podcast 🎧🌍🦤 Reintroductions can sometimes cause 'de-wilding' rather than rewilding because they replace natural processes. Many species can return on their own if we create proper habitat and connectivity - patience often works better than intervention. 1/10

I found this blog (this piece and the entire site by @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social) absolutely excellent. 🌍🦤 'The first reason to defend optimism is cognitive, not ecological.'

Alex Lees (@alexanderlees.bsky.social) discusses natural recolonisation vs costly reintroduction programmes in Britain. 🌍🦤🪶 Full episode ➡️ pod.fo/e/32fae6

Can species reintroductions harm biodiversity rather than help it? Are we using reintroductions as a distraction from the real drivers of our nature crisis? Listen to my conversation with the one and only @alexanderlees.bsky.social 🌍🦤🧪🪶 ➡️ pod.fo/e/32fae6

When it comes to addressing the biodiversity crisis, reintroductions are relatively unimportant. More on that in this week's episode. 🌍🦤

Anyone interested in Mammals will surely find those open seminars interesting. 🦊

Since I have 'science' in the name of my podcast, I think I should start referring to the place where I record and edit it not as a studio but as a lab. 🤭

This is off-topic in some ways, but I write about podcasting from time to time, and this is one of those times. Is spending time and often money on preparing podcast episode transcripts a good idea for indie podcasters? I don't think so. My latest blog post on this subject.

Today in the replay series, we're revisiting an episode where we discuss the topic of sika deer in Ireland and whether their invasive status is justified and what we should (or shouldn't) do about it. 🌍🦤🦊 🎧 pod.fo/e/32b640

There is very little original content or thought on social media. For example, today I muted all posts with links to The Guardian. Not because I dislike The Guardian, but because lots and lots of you are just slapping a link to an article without even bothering with a word of original comment.

This is not an argument against rewilding though. Rewilding - that term... Most rewilding proponents worth their salt will tell you that just leaving the land and walking away is not going to cut it, in most cases.

Turn's out land abandonment could be quite bad for biodiversity and have negative ecological consequences. I feel like it's a good topic for one of the future episodes of the podcast. 🌍🦤

This is very good ⬇

I Would Not Have Taken on This Topic at All 🌍🦤

This is going to be a controversial one for some of you. With our guest, former park ranger and now filmmaker Ryan Davy, we discuss the uncomfortable reality of elephant overpopulation in some of the African national parks and his upcoming film The Culling Conundrum. 🌍🦤 ➡️ pod.fo/e/327395

The new episode is out. Subscribe to my newsletter to stay up to date with the latest episodes and more. newsletter.tommysoutdoors.com