Ep. 021: Save the Curlew, Save the World with Mary Colwell

In this inspirational conversation, we start off with the story of the curlew and end up discussing the importance of ‘nature literacy’. Mary’s creativity, passion and determination shine through as we hear about her historic campaign for the curlew, driving forward the natural history GCSE and her hopes for a nature pathway throughout our education system. ‘If you’re prepared to put yourself out there, to be uncomfortable, be vulnerable, do all the hard work, just because you love something, then you will be absolutely amazed about what happens’.

Credit for the curlew call: Merlyn Driver, singer songwriter and nature focused musician, www.merlyndriver.com

*****************************************************

• Interested in becoming a Wild Steward?
• Reach out to [email protected]

*****************************************************

Your Hosts

• Tom Constable: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-constable/
• Chloe Constable: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-constable-24155821b/

Grange Project Contact & Social Media

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grange.project/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/grangeproject
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GrangeProject
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-constable/

Our Guest

Mary Colwell is a writer, TV and radio producer and conservationist, whose massive walk across the breadth of the UK in 2016 helped raise the profile of the Curlew, and led her to write the greatly influential Curlew Moon. Mary founded Curlew Action in late-2019 after a series of talks, meetings and forums among experts discussing what was most needed to rescue the rapidly declining UK Curlew population. Mary loves long distance walking, camping, reading and cycling, as well as wildlife and storytelling, and it is her passion for telling the story of the curlew that has helped launch it into the public consciousness in the past few years. If that wasn’t enough, for eleven years, she spearheaded a successful campaign for a GCSE in Natural History.

You can find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-colwell-1202779/?originalSubdomain=uk 

Listen out for:

[00:00:00] Tom and Chloe provide a few quick updates from the Grange Project: planning (again), the arrival of the British Saddlebacks and our collaboration with Youngwilders..

[00:04:16] Mary Colwell joins us and we are introduced to the curlew, why they are so special and we hear an extract of their call.

[00:09:47] Mary helps us reflect on the many factors that are contributing to the decline of the curlew and why Wales has been particularly badly affected.

[00:15:04] Chloe questions Mary about what the systemic solution might be for this systemic problem and how they are indicators of the health of a landscape.

[00:17:59] Mary talks to us about her relationship with curlews and the variety of activities she’s engaged in to help promote their story, as well as how successful this has been. 

[00:24:07] We hear about what we can do to address the problems of the natural world; putting yourself out there for what you love.

[00:25:31] Tom and Chloe share their perspective on the importance of education and we hear about Mary’s concern about our lack of nature literacy.

[00:29:10] Mary talks about what she hopes will be achieved as the result of the natural history GCSE and the process of campaigning for its introduction.

[00:37:00] Tom shares his experience of teaching and what he feels might be needed to support teachers in the introduction of this new qualification.  

[00:41:59] Chloe and Tom reflect on the interview and what resonated most for them.

Keen for more:

https://www.curlewaction.org to learn about the many projects you could get involved in to help secure the future of the curlew and engage people with nature.

https://teach.ocr.org.uk/naturalhistory for the latest information about the natural history GCSE and its content.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit & Stay at the Grange Project

Would you like to escape the trappings of the modern world and wake-up in the morning to one of the best views in South Wales, where only the birds are noisy? We have two beautiful and sustainably built ‘tiny homes’, carefully located in secluded locations across our 80 acre rewilding project.

Visit Grange Project