Rewilding Africa’s Sahel region with John Watkin

“Our hallmark is the reintroduction of the Scimitar-horned Oryx… It’s a beautiful, beautiful beast and it was a tragedy that it was allowed to go extinct in the first place.”The Scimitar-horned Oryx, the animal symbol of Sahara Conservation, was driven to extinction in the wild in the 1990s due to a lethal combination of overhunting, drought and habitat loss.In this episode Ben Goldsmith is joined by John Watkin, the outgoing Chief Executive of Sahara Conservation. John and his team were charged with restoring a truly immense landscape in Africa’s Sahel region, including the reintroduction of species that have almost disappeared or have been lost from the region entirely.Join rewilding enthusiast and financier Ben Goldsmith as he speaks to environmental trail blazers from all corners of the globe.Recent climate science seems to paint a picture of despair with irreparable damage being done to our natural world. But there are rays of hope. Across the planet people are carrying out astonishing work, returning large areas of land and oceans back to their former glory.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach.