{"podcast":{"title":"Wilder Podcast","slug":"wilder-podcast-6446398","podcast_index_feed_id":6446398,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/wilder-podcast/","website_url":"https://www.grangeproject.co.uk/wilder-podcast","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/ccf0843a-c305-4861-bfa7-bc581db486e3/CB9C92SZxcDje7YTXgykn7Ne.jpg","author":"Grange Project","episode_count":56,"summary":"Chloe is a clinical psychologist. Tom is a former British Army officer. In 2023 they bought 80 acres of intensive farmland in rural Monmouthshire and started rewilding it. The Wilder Podcast is the conversation that came next, and it has grown beyond the land. Every fortnight, we talk to the people thinking seriously about the systems we have built, and the ones we need next. Rewilding scientists and conservation founders. Regenerative farmers and food security experts. Economists, ecologists, psychologists, community builders, the occasional well-placed contrarian. The connecting thread is simple: a culture disconnected from nature is at the root of the polycrisis, and reconnection is the foundation for almost everything else. Alongside the interviews we share the honest version of our own journey at the Grange Project. The wins, the false starts, and the muddy reality of trying to turn a former silage farm into a mosaic of habitats, with no formal background in ecology. Topics range across rewilding and nature recovery, food systems and resilience, the economics of land, community and connection, and the mental health case for time spent wilder. Chloe brings a clinical psycholog…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-12T00:17:40.448358+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wilder-podcast-6446398"},"episode":{"title":"Ep. 045: Community Land Stewardship with Chris Blake","slug":"ep-045-community-land-stewardship-with-chris-blake","published_at":"2025-10-08T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wilder-podcast-6446398/ep-045-community-land-stewardship-with-chris-blake","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wilder-podcast-6446398","url":"https://www.grangeproject.co.uk/wilder-podcast","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/64f5f537-6bdd-4e90-aaac-724dc18cc401.mp3","summary":"This week on the Wilder Podcast , we sit down with Chris Blake to explore how communities can steward land through collaboration, long-term vision and trust between local people and public bodies. We also share Grange Project updates (bumper apple harvest, the market garden & \"cathedral-scale\" polytunnel!), two recent courses, and announce Wilder Away Days - our nature-based corporate retreats. Key takeaways: Community land stewardship ≠ one model. Freehold, long leasehold, management agreements and co-production each offer different ways for local values to shape land. Co-production works when power is shared. Start with a blank page, bring evidence-givers (forestry, ecology, education), and let a mixed panel turn evidence into values & principles - not expert-written plans. Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) can beat clear-fell on 100-year horizons: better soils, flood risk, vistas - and local, steady jobs from ongoing thinning rather than boom-and-bust harvesting. Public bodies win too. Communities unlock grants, volunteers and entrepreneurial energy that agencies often lack - delivering outcomes already in policy (biodiversity, access, carbon). Trust is the glue. A year-long, facilitated process built mutual respect between Natural Resources Wales managers and residents; FSC certification also helps keep plans on track. Practical first steps. If transfer isn’t feasible, explore long leases or co-produced forest/resource plans; talk to national support orgs early (see \"Resources\"). Timestamps: 00:06 — Welcome & what’s ahead 00:30 — Grange Project update: community day, record apple harvest & juice pressing 06:50 — Announcement: Wilder Away Days (purposeful team retreats in wild nature) 10:15 — Guest intro: Chris Blake & the journey to community stew…","meta_description":"This week on the Wilder Podcast , we sit down with Chris Blake to explore how communities can steward land through collaboration, long-term vision and tru…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3455,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/wilder-podcast-6446398/episodes/ep-045-community-land-stewardship-with-chris-blake/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/wilder-podcast-6446398/ep-045-community-land-stewardship-with-chris-blake.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}