Ep. 022: Rewilding London with Citizen Zoo

Are you one of the 84.4% of the population that live in an urban setting? In this episode, Elliot and Digby from Citizen Zoo tell us about rewilding projects across London, including the reintroductions of water voles and beavers. We hear about some of the unexpected impacts of these projects, the opportunity to create nature friendly ‘cities of the future’ and some of the opportunities and challenges of urban rewilding. 

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Your Hosts:

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

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• Email: [email protected]
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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-constable/

Our Guests:

Citizen Zoo is a social enterprise committed to rewilding and conservation, beginning with a group of friends and now ‘rewilding our future, to create a world filled with wildlife’. They currently have a portfolio of projects including: London beavers, Get InVOLEd and Wild Tolworth Farm, with a focus on community and engagement. 

Find out more at: www.citizenzoo.org

Listen out for:

[00:00:00] Tom and Chloe share the latest news from the Grange Project: update on the trees planted in March on the community day, our mixed emotions in the loss of a fallen oak and project pig.

[00:00:00] Elliot and Digby introduce themselves and the mission and structure of Citizen Zoo (including the origins of the name).

[00:00:00] We discuss what is meant by urban rewilding and its importance, with people as the driving force.

[00:00:00] Elliot talks about one of the Citizen Zoo projects launched in 2019: Get InVOLed.

[00:00:00] Elliot and Digby introduce us to one of the flagship projects of the social enterprise: returning beavers to London’s waterways. We particularly reflect on the impact on the local community.

[00:00:00] We talk about the importance of volunteers, nature engagement and the opportunity of cultural diversity in urban settings.

[00:00:00] Tom questions Elliot and Digby about some of the challenges for Citizen Zoo, including the risk of becoming ‘too successful’, the balance between the needs of humans and nature and the importance of flexibility and responsiveness. 

[00:00:00] We continue the conversation with a discussion about nature education and engagement, particularly within urban populations.

[00:00:00] Finally, we conclude the conversation by hearing about Wild Tolworth Farm and the opportunity to bring large herbivores into urban settings.

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

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