From plankton to humpbacks, ocean life is riding massive waves of change – including ocean warming, rising sea levels, acidification and algal blooms.

In the Timor Sea off the Kimberley Coast and over to Agnes Water in Queensland, marine biologists and Wunambal Gaambera Rangers are mapping turtles tracks, monitoring threats to their nests and protecting tiny hatchlings.

Along the humpback highway, wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta shares how whales are fertilising the ocean and miraculously adapting to a lack of krill.

And we dive into the world of blue carbon with Dr. Alice Jones – where deep in the waters, we learn that even though our oceans are disproportionately impacted by climate change, they play a mighty role in its defence.

Topics Covered:

• How climate change is transforming marine ecosystems
• Why turtle sex ratios are shifting with rising temperatures
• The surprising ways whales support ocean health
• What blue carbon is and why it matters in the climate fight

Guests: Dr Melissa Staines, Vanessa Pirotta, Dr Alice Jones, Tom Vigilante, Desmond Williams, Tabitha Kowan

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Bush Heritage Australia is a leading not-for-profit conservation organisation that works to protect and regenerate millions of hectares of ecologically important land across the continent. This podcast's focus on trees and Country is especially vital to understanding and advancing Australia's conservation future.

Get email updates: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/news/subscribe

Learn more about the show and our work at www.bushheritage.org.au or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or X

Traditional Custodians have recorded sea level changes, volcanic shifts and meteoric events for over 10,000 years through story, song, dance and art. Since colonisation, these knowledge systems have faced immense pressure – but Tiahni is solution focused. She traces her own journey to connect with her ancestry and explores how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge can strengthen Country to help it adapt.

With Aunty Bernice Hookey, she unpacks epistemic injustice and resilience, before heading to Birriliburu Country to meet Martu women keeping culture strong – and with Joanne Griffin, discovers a powerful new online tool for sharing knowledge, respectfully.

Topics Covered:

• How Indigenous knowledge systems inform environmental adaptation
• The impact of epistemic injustice on Traditional Custodians
• Martu women's role in cultural and ecological resilience

Bush Heritage Australia works in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to care for Country, combining millennia-old Traditional Knowledge with modern science – a mission that makes this episode's focus on cultural resilience and knowledge sharing especially powerful.

Guests: Bernice Hookey, Martu women, Jodi Edwards, Joanne Griffin

Support the show

Bush Heritage Australia is a leading not-for-profit conservation organisation that works to protect and regenerate millions of hectares of ecologically important land across the continent. This podcast's focus on trees and Country is especially vital to understanding and advancing Australia's conservation future.

Get email updates: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/news/subscribe

Learn more about the show and our work at www.bushheritage.org.au or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or X

The landscapes of Southwest Western Australia smack you in the face with their ecological richness, according to Gondwana Link CEO Keith Bradby. He and others – including Bush Heritage – are restoring a 1000km stretch of bushlands in this global biodiversity hotspot, shaped over millions of years by glacial shifts and evolution. For Noongar Elder Lester Coyne it is a place where his people prospered long before the disruptive forces of colonisation.

Today it is surrounded by monotonal agricultural properties. But that doesn’t mean farmers don’t also feel a deep love for nature. The question is how to balance the need to feed and resource our planet, while preserving biodiversity: our biggest natural defense against climate change.

Topics Covered:

• Why south-west Western Australia is a global biodiversity hotspot
• The vision and progress of the Gondwana Link restoration project
• How Traditional Custodians and farmers both care for Country
• The role of biodiversity in climate resilience and food security

Guests: Keith Bradby, Lester Coyne, Sylvia Leighton, Stephen Hopper

Support the show

Bush Heritage Australia is a leading not-for-profit conservation organisation that works to protect and regenerate millions of hectares of ecologically important land across the continent. This podcast's focus on trees and Country is especially vital to understanding and advancing Australia's conservation future.

Get email updates: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/news/subscribe

Learn more about the show and our work at www.bushheritage.org.au or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or X