WWT Podcast

Waterlands

Immerse yourself in the sounds of the riverbank, crashing tides, wild marshes filled with birds and the underwater sounds of the humble pond.

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Search for Waterlands on your favourite podcast app.

Latest episode

Series 3 > Episode 3: River rambling

There is little more grounding than walking along a river. Scientists have shown that spending time near bodies of water, particularly while exercising, can boost your overall health and mood. In this episode of Waterlands, Megan McCubbin takes us on a journey to a remote and secret river in rural Wales followed by a city centre river in Cardiff.

Three different river walkers explain why they do it and how it has changed their life. First up, television presenter (and president of WWT) Kate Humble shares her very special walk home with her trusty companion Teg, from the source of the River Wye to where it joins the River Severn near her home.

The writer, Helia Phoenix takes us on a guided meditation and shares her story of ADHD breakdown, diagnosis and recovery, explaining how mindful walking along the River Taff, helped her access the simple beauty all around - the colour of the wall or the sudden crash-landing of a duck onto water.

All episodes

Series 1 > Episode 1: Water on our doorstep

60% of us are predicted to be living in cities in 2050. But what happens when creatures once so wild become so far removed from nature? The answer is, it doesn’t have to be this way. In this episode we travel to London Wetland Centre to find out just how wild urban nature can be, and why it’s important that we fight back against urbanisation with pockets of mini wetlands connecting our cities into true watery metropolises.

Series 1 > Episode 2: Feeling blue

‘65% of people say spending time by water improves their wellbeing’. We know this intrinsically, but why does being by water make us feel better, and can we harness its power? We travel to some of our most tranquil wetlands to explore the topic further. We meet those whose lives have been changed for the better by these places, hear practical tips for improving your wellbeing from experts in nature prescribing, and the emerging science that reveals just how it works.

We also speak to a former city-dwelling fashion designer who created a wildlife pond from scratch, and what they learned.

Series 1 > Episode 3: The mermaid and the quest for cleaner water

To start this story, we meet a mermaid swimmer at Conham River Park in Bristol. She swam as a mermaid down the Avon to raise awareness of plastic pollution, but soon ran afoul – literally – of another issue when she suddenly fell very ill. We also discuss exactly why our waterways are in this mess, and how we might be able to fix it. We then head up to Gloucestershire to find a very special man-made wetland on the banks of the Severn, and explore how they can protect us from some of the truly horrifying nasties that make their way into our water.

Series 1 > Episode 4: Mangroves, marshes and the climate emergency


This episode takes us first to the wild coastline of Somerset and Steart Marshes, where the threatened land has been dramatically shaped by water in quite a marvellous way, thanks to some brave locals and pioneering landscape realignment. From the vast to the tiny, we then visit a wildlife pond with a sound recordist to discover a mini-underwater jungle and how these ‘insect chimneys’ can bring back all sorts of wildlife. We then take a trip to the mangroves of Madagascar to explore this little explored yet hard-working blue carbon store.

Series 1 > Episode 5: Fighting water with water

What would you do if the unthinkable happened and you suddenly found your home underwater? This is a situation experienced by a growing number of people, as storms tear across the UK, but some people turn this experience into an unexpectedly positive lesson. We look at why we need to be more beaver to help steward the water across our lands, and why flooding isn’t black and white – in fact, nature needs floods in unexpected ways, and we meet a flood historian to explore why we do too.

Series 1 > Episode 6: A watery future

You might be forgiven for thinking after visiting all these wonderful wetlands that our lands are still covered in water. Unfortunately, we’ve lost over 90% since Roman times. It’s hard to imagine what that might have been like, so take a time travel to a world when pelicans swooped from the skies, aurochs roamed carefree and wild pigs acted as ecosystem engineers to create wetlands themselves. We also discuss what can be done to rewild our wetlands, or even better, go one step further and actively restore them to what could once only be dreamed of.

Series 3 > Episode 1: Bouncing bogs: At the source of a river

Have you ever stood beside a river and imagined where it all begins? In this episode of Waterlands, Megan McCubbin takes us to the Flow Country in Scotland, home to the world’s largest expanse of blanket bog, where water seeps slowly through a maze of pools before feeding rivers like the Thurso.

Joined by someone who’s spent a lot of time in this ecosystem, Millie Revel Hayward, Megan explores this fascinating and fluid landscape, discovering how the bog acts like a sponge, absorbing rain and releasing pure water into the ecosystem. As they bounce on the waterlogged land, like a natural trampoline, they reveal how this ancient peatland supports everything from breeding salmon to rare wading birds like the golden plover.

Dr. Mark Everard explains the complex, interconnected systems of rivers, from their underground sources to the impact of human activities like farming. He shares how changes in the landscape can shift a river’s path and flow before it even reaches the surface.

And artist Kathy Hinde dives into the sounds of the bog, crafting a unique soundscape from beneath the blanket of moss, capturing the rhythms of this hidden world.

Series 3 > Episode 2: Rivers and people: a dance across time and space

We are all drawn to the beauty and power of rivers, but have you ever wondered how they have changed us? Or how we have changed them? In this episode, Megan McCubbin takes us to Devon, to meet the river poet Alice Oswald by her ‘pretty little stream’, the Torridge.

Writers and artists through the ages have been drawn to the beauty and power of rivers, and Alice is no exception. The river was a paradise throughout her childhood; a place for skimming stones, catching (and setting-free) minnows and escaping to another reality. She believes we are drawn to the wildness and otherness, as well as to the animals and different, changing landscapes of rivers as they travel from source to sea.

Paul Raven, Author of Rivers: A natural and not-so-natural history, examines the relationship between rivers and people since the ice age and shares how human actions across history have positively and negatively affected the health of our waterways and the creatures that depend on them.

Roisin Taylor, Co-Director of UK Youth 4 Nature shares the important work they are doing to redress the balance and implores us to ‘find a dipper and then you’ll want to save that river.’

Series 3 > Episode 3: River rambling

There is little more grounding than walking along a river. Scientists have shown that spending time near bodies of water, particularly while exercising, can boost your overall health and mood. In this episode of Waterlands, Megan McCubbin takes us on a journey to a remote and secret river in rural Wales followed by a city centre river in Cardiff.

Three different river walkers explain why they do it and how it has changed their life. First up, television presenter (and president of WWT) Kate Humble shares her very special walk home with her trusty companion Teg, from the source of the River Wye to where it joins the River Severn near her home.

The writer, Helia Phoenix takes us on a guided meditation and shares her story of ADHD breakdown, diagnosis and recovery, explaining how mindful walking along the River Taff, helped her access the simple beauty all around - the colour of the wall or the sudden crash-landing of a duck onto water.

About this podcast

This podcast takes you on a journey around our incredible wetlands here in the UK – and further afield - revealing their power to shape our future for the better.

Join conservationist and wildlife presenter Megan McCubbin as she takes a closer look at the most fascinating habitats. From a humble garden pond to the rush of a river at the heart of a community, these wetlands have had a huge impact on our lives as well as being home to our most beloved wildlife.

In series 1 explore how wetlands have fed, inspired and transported us from countryside to city, source to sea, with nature expert and film maker Roxy Furman.

Close up of river flowing into a mini waterfall in glorious sunshine

Dive beneath the surface of our wetlands through personal stories and conversations with experts to reveal an underwater jungle, the restorative powers of water, tonnes of carbon hidden underground, the things you never knew were lurking in your freshwater and why we need to think like beavers to solve our flood problem.

Beaver submerged in water, chewing on branches

Our wetlands bring us together across species and continents. They’re the source of life as we know it. Yet wetlands only cover about 6% of our planet, and they’re disappearing fast, despite the fact that people and 40% of all wildlife are reliant on them.

This is a podcast all about the wonderful, sometimes surprising and often underappreciated watery places around us, and how they can help us with some of the biggest issues facing life on this planet.

You’ll never look at a marsh or pond the same way again.

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