In Episode 10 - last episode of the first season - join me in conversation with Lisel Alamilla, an award winning conservation leader passionate about bringing about positive change for people and biodiversity in her home country of Belize. Lisel is a change maker to her core, with immeasurable passion for her homeland and an incredibly generous heart.

Lisel has worn many hats through her career, working in international and local conservation organisations, as well as in the Government of Belize following her appointment as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development back in 2012. Today, she leads from behind the scenes supporting others as they speak out and act in support of biodiversity and people in Belize.

In this conversation we chat about her time in government and how she handled the transition from working in the NGO sector, advocating for change from outside of government, to becoming a decision-maker within it. We talk about taking brave decisions, turning to nature to restore our wellbeing and consider what it will take to bring people together to find solutions to some of the complex challenges facing people, land and biodiversity.

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Follow Unearthing Wild Wonders on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice. If you enjoy it please consider leaving a review and rating and perhaps share it with a friend who would enjoy it too.

Mentions and resources

Ya'axché Conservation Trust

Follow Nicky

Instagram @nickyjenner_hawksdawn

Website and newsletter www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 9, I’m joined by Shaza Khan, Montessori educator, creative and mother, nature writer and poet, and a beautiful soul with immense wisdom to share. Shaza studied Literature and Art in college but was encouraged to pursue business, and so began her career in telecom and database administration.

When the opportunity to study and work in education arose, Shaza embraced it and became a Montessori teacher, teaching children aged 2-12 years both in Pakistan and in Canada where she lived, worked and raised her young family for over a decade.

Shaza has since returned to Pakistan and following major shifts in her personal life has embraced nature writing, poetry and a closer relationship with the natural world. However, this has not come easy, as there remain many barriers to nature connection for women living in Pakistan.

In this episode we talk about nature-based learning and the ways in which this helps soothe, nurture and spark curiosity in children. We also explore some of the barriers to developing a relationship with the natural world for women and girls living in Pakistan. The tangled web of constraints that prevent many women from spending time alone out in the natural world and the barriers that continue to prevent women from contemplating the pursuit of nature-based careers.

Follow the show

You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review and perhaps share it with a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Mentions and resources

Kathryn Aalto's creative non-fiction courses: https://kathrynaalto.com/

Connect with Shaza

Instagram: @migrainemuse

Follow Nicky

Instagram: @nickyjenner_hawksdawn Website and newsletter: www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 8, join me in conversation with conservation scientist Dr. Bárbara Goettsch from Mexico. Barbara has a background in botany, a PhD in Ecology and Conservation Biology from the University of Sheffield and is co-chair of the IUCN Special Survival Commission Cactus and Succulent Plants Specialist Group. Bárbara is also a mum, a biodancer and a therapeutic masseuse.

In this episode Bárbara invites us into her world, the vast and diverse desert ecosystems that host such rich biodiversity, and she takes us behind the scenes of the IUCN Red List for threatened species assessment process. We talk desert fog, climate change and what it feels like to meet some of the iconic cactus species she has studied in the wild for the first time.

We chat about the importance of human connection in catalysing conservation action, Bárbara's passion for dance, and how we can embrace both science and our own spirituality in an ever deepening relationship and understanding of the natural world.

I hope this conversation inspires you and sparks your curiosity to discover more about these remarkable desert ecosystems and the wondrous plants that have evolved to thrive in such extreme environments.

Follow the show

You can follow Unearthing Wild Wonders on your preferred platform of choice and if you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating, a review or perhaps share it with a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Mentions and resources

IUCN SSC Cactus and Succulent Plants Specialist Group (website)

⁠IUCN SSC Cactus and Succulent Plant Specialist Group ⁠ (instagram)

Elevated extinction risk of cacti under climate change

Biodanza UK

Connect with Bárbara

Linked In

Instagram @barbara_goettsch

Follow Nicky

Instagram: @nickyjenner_hawksdawn where you can also see pictures of some of the cactus species mentioned.

Website and newsletter: www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic