Rewilding in Action

28/05/2026

EPISODE 35 - Nature Leading at Scale - Guiding Principles of Rewilding
Hosted by Maureen Howard with guest Steve Carver
Listen to at https://tinyurl.com/35-Rewilding-in-Action
Or on your favourite podcast app or YouTube (links below).

Rewilding is catching on but do we really know what it is? Join me, Maureen Howard as I chat with Professor Steve Carver from the University of Leeds about rewilding definitions and the first two of the IUCN CEM’s five rewilding guidelines that he and his team developed. Some of the things we talk about are - What does allowing nature to lead mean? And why is it so important that rewilding happens at a large landscape scale?

Many thanks to TASTE NATURE for kindly sponsoring this episode (www.tastenature.co.nz).

This episode contains the song of song thrush recorded by David Darrell-Lambert at Queens Wood, Greater London, XC1132946. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1132946.

This episode of Rewilding in Action was first broadcast on the 28th May 2026 by OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz. Many thanks to OAR FM Dunedin - Community Access Media

Listen to ALL the Rewilding in Action PODCAST episodes on:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ Spotify (latest episode): Listen to the episode on: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyRewilding
▶️ Apple Podcasts (latest episode): https://tinyurl.com/ApplePodcastRewilding
▶️ YouTube (latest episode): https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeRewilding
▶️ or your favourite podcast provider!

14/05/2026

EPISODE 34 - Wild Dunedin Q&A - Knepp & Hinewai

Hosted by Maureen Howard with guests Hugh Wilson, Matt Phelps and the Q&A Audience
Listen to at https://tinyurl.com/34-Rewilding-in-Action
Or on your favourite podcast app or YouTube (links below).

Hugh Wilson from Hinewai Reserve (www.hinewai.org.nz) on Banks Peninsula and Matt Phelps from Knepp Wilding (www.knepp.co.uk/rewilding) in West Sussex England are put in the hot seat via Zoom to answer a Dunedin audience’s rewilding questions!
Questions for Hugh include: How are pest animals such as rabbits tackled? What do you think of the Predator Free New Zealand goal? Do you support substitutes for extinct species such as moa? How are vulnerable species like rifleman doing?
Questions for Matt include: Does Knepp Estate sell animals for meat? How do you mimic the predatory behaviour of wolves? Did the creeping thistle that plagued the property ever return?
And for both: Are neighbours' copying what's happening at Knepp Estate and Hinewai Reserve?

Rewilding in Action is hosted by Maureen Howard. Many thanks to Wild Dunedin (New Zealand Festival of Nature) for organising this event and to Tūhura Otago Museum for providing the venue.

This episode of Rewilding in Action is kindly sponsored by Taste Nature (www.tastenature.co.nz) and was first broadcast on the 14th May 2026 by OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz. Many thanks to OAR FM Dunedin - Community Access Media

Listen to ALL the Rewilding in Action PODCAST episodes on:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ Spotify (latest episode): Listen to the episode on: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyRewilding
▶️ Apple Podcasts (latest episode): https://tinyurl.com/ApplePodcastRewilding
▶️ YouTube (latest episode): https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeRewilding
▶️ or your favourite podcast provider!

30/04/2026

EPISODE 33 - Creating Corridors for Urban Bugs
Hosted by Maureen Howard with guest Jacqui Theis
Listen to at https://tinyurl.com/33-Rewilding-in-Action
Or on your favourite podcast app or YouTube (links below).

Join me, Maureen Howard in the centre of Dunedin, as I chat with my guest PhD student Jacqui Theis (Zoology Department, University of Otago - new at University of Otago) to show how predatory beetles and other invertebrates are colonising the George Street Planters (created and maintained by the Dunedin City Council) and using them as stepping stones, and how these planters are adding to the beauty of our city and our own well being.

Many thanks to Taste Nature for kindly sponsoring this episode (www.tastenature.co.nz).

This episode contains the song of Tui recorded by Ken George at Orokonui Ecosanctuary: XC842514 and accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/842514.

This episode was first broadcast on 30th April 2026 by OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz. Many thanks OAR FM Dunedin - Community Access Media!

Listen to ALL the Rewilding in Action PODCAST episodes on:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ Spotify (latest episode): Listen to the episode on: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyRewilding
▶️ Apple Podcasts (latest episode): https://tinyurl.com/ApplePodcastRewilding
▶️ YouTube (latest episode): https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeRewilding
▶️ or your favourite podcast provider!

16/04/2026

EPISODE 32 - Turn your Sightings into Science with iNaturalist
Hosted by Maureen Howard with guest John Barkla

Listen to at https://tinyurl.com/Rewilding-Episode-32
Or on your favourite podcast app or YouTube.

Rewilding an ecosystem requires good ongoing monitoring. In this episode I visit Craigieburn Reserve in Dunedin with iNaturalist expert John Barkla to find out how we can improve our monitoring with iNaturalist, an easy to use citizen science platform. We’ll also get some tips on how to tell if a tree has been planted or or not.

Many thanks to Taste Nature for sponsoring this episode (www.tastenature.co.nz).

This episode of Rewilding in Action contains the sounds of korimako/bellbirds at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens: recorded by Ken George, XC842744. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/842744.

09/04/2026

If you haven't already please get iNaturalist.nz onto your phone to participate in the City Nature Challenge. It's a global bioblitz for cities small and large We've got so much here to share. I'd love Dunedin to do well!

Big shout out to John Barkla and all the people who put so much time into reviewing people's iNaturalist observations. It's such a great resource and way to contribute to citizen science. And to Wild Dunedin for getting us enrolled this year.

I hope you enjoy my article about it in today's ODT.

https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/home-garden/it%E2%80%99s-jungle-out-there

The urban garden is a rich source of wildlife once you know what you are looking at, writes Maureen Howard. Earlier this month I watched a kārearea...

09/04/2026

I'm dusting off this Rewilding in Action page, as the podcast will be restarting next week! In the meantime here is another interesting episode from KKnepp Wilding

https://knepp.co.uk/2026/04/episode-47-graze-expectations-how-knepps-animals-capture-carbon/

This is such an interesting episode! Isabella Tree's daughter Nancy Burrell has calculated carbon capture of scrub trees, roots and all in a very comprehensive way that will allow future rewilding efforts in the UK to be measured using drones and AI assistance. One very interesting discovery is that trees that are nibbled by animals contain more carbon because they compensate by storing it in their roots! Hope you enjoy!

Isabella Tree catches up with two of the White Stork Project volunteers, Tim Morgan and Rosemary Dewan, as they prepare food for the non-flying storks in the pen at Knepp.

27/01/2026

IUCN Guideline Three: Rewilding is informed by evidence and requires ongoing monitoring to inform adaptive plans 🦋🐜🪰🪲🦟🦗

New Zealand has very little baseline data of our insect population across the country. In a very clever study called the DNA Drive Project, research leaders Richard O'Rorke and Aimie van der Reis have been collecting DNA samples sent in by people taken from swabs they take from their vehicle number plate from various locations around New Zealand. The study has been happening since mid last year. There is just over one month left before they need to stop collecting and start analysing! It would be great if you can help so they can reach their goal of 6000 swabs! You can find the pick up and drop off locations for the DNA kits on their website, plus more details about the study.

The DNADRV (DNA Drive) project seeks to explore the insect biodiversity in Aotearoa-NZ by swabbing any DNA traces that remain after insects collide with car license plates. The aim is to try and collect 6,000 samples across Aotearoa-NZ’s mainland over the next year (starting mid 2025). Head to you...

24/01/2026

How big does a Rewilding project need to be before it's considered rewilding?

Usually when we think about rewilding, it's at scale. Measured in hectares at least. The Guildelines to Rewilding by the IUCN, makes it clear too that we need to be aspiring to something that aspires to largescale restoration.

It's really good to have that big picture. BUT let's not exclude all our efforts to enable nature to recover at the small scale. In our gardens, on our berms, in the tree stump we leave to do it's own thing. Maybe Hugh's definition of Minimum Interference Management works, or Wilding or Mini Rewilding.

Any ideas on what we should call it?

23/01/2026

I wrote this piece for the ODT, out TODAY. It's in the Inside Out section. And when I'm talking about bees - I mean the native ones! We have 28 native species here in NZ, all but one is endemic.

Thanks especially to Jenny Jandt!

You don’t have to work hard to create the perfect home for invertebrates in your garden, writes Maureen Howard. The ‘bee-friendly’ sign on the gate...

22/01/2026

For those of you who really want to know what Rewilding is - and isn't - here is the Guideline to Rewilding - created for the IUCN - by Steve Carver and around 100 rewilding academics and practitioners. There are Five main principles that I'll touch on in coming posts - hopefully in interesting ways!

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 9 October 2025 (IUCN) – New guidelines on rewilding practice have been launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025. Evolving over many years, the guidelines offer a clear, evidence-informed framework for rewilding initiatives around the world.