Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s podcast returns with a third series of Unearthed: Nature needs us

Release date: 22 May 2024

  • Series 3 explores nature’s critical role in solving our environmental crisis and highlights how understanding the links between the micro and macro are crucial to tackling some of the world’s most urgent problems.
  • Kew’s experts and partners discuss their groundbreaking research in developing sustainable solutions to protect our biodiversity and fight climate change.
  • The series returns on 22 May 2024 and will be available to listen to here and, with images here.

Wildlife extinction rates are soaring, and natural habitats are degrading faster than ever. Amid this global biodiversity crisis, the third Unearthed: Nature needs us podcast series from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is more than just a series of discussions - it's a vital dialogue about the future of our planet.

Narrated by Dr Mya-Rose Craig, an environmentalist, ornithologist, and diversity activist known as Birdgirl, the third series of the award-winning podcast takes a deeper look into transformative and nature-based solutions that harness the innate strategies biodiversity can inspire us with.

Unearthed explores the essential connections in nature’s web – from the microscopic life in our soils to the expansive forest canopies that sustain our world. Each episode highlights Kew’s pioneering research and showcases real-world conservation projects, such as seed banking, which are critical for preserving our planet's biodiversity.

Dr Craig discusses the complex ecological networks that offer revolutionary approaches to conservation. The journey through unseen layers of nature, from themicrobial to the canopy level, demonstrates how every element is vital for life on Earth.

Dr Craig says: “With a huge increase in critically endangered wildlife, extinction is rapidly increasing with many habitats under strain. In Unearthed, myself and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew invite you to explore how plant and fungal knowledge can be harnessed to change our planet for the better. In this new series, I take you on a journey from soil to sky, scaling the tangle of nature’s systems and interactions to help us tackle the biodiversity loss and climate change crises.”

Isabel Larridon, Head of Accelerated Taxonomy at RBG Kew, says: "Facing the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and their partners around the globe are working tirelessly to better understand plant and fungal diversity to help deliver science-based data to policymakers that will help inform conservation efforts. In our own lives, there are many things we can do to relieve some of the pressure on nature, such as reducing our carbon footprint, advocating for nature, or even reducing our food waste and changing our diets to include less meat and dairy. Hopefully, listeners will pick up on some of these solutions to the challenges we face today through this podcast and realise that the environment is in peril, and nature needs us to save it."

The podcast serves as a blueprint for the future, granting listeners unprecedented access to innovative conservation techniques essential for biodiversity preservation in our changing climate, such as the use of new technologies to protect our pollinators.

Dr Craig and her guests tackle real-world applications of scientific knowledge, from restoring ecosystems to initiating sustainable agricultural practices. These discussions highlight how integrating traditional wisdom with scientific innovation can forge impactful environmental strategies.

Throughout the series, listeners are invited to explore a variety of pressing topics, in each episode, including:

  • Episode 1: Plan and protect - The importance of protecting plants and fungi
  • Episode 2: Soil - Why we can’t let soil degrade
  • Episode 3: Seed - How seed banking is crucial to human life
  • Episode 4: Pollination and threat - Ensuring our pollinators can thrive
  • Episode 5: Regeneration - Supporting the regeneration of habitats
  • Episode 6: Systems and scale - How plants and fungi create the world as we know it

Episodes are released bi-weekly on all major podcast platforms and address how these issues are interconnected with human behaviours and global practices, urging a deeper understanding and proactive engagement with nature.

Encouraging listeners to reconsider their relationship with the planet, Unearthed: Nature needs us is a call to action for everyone, from policymakers to individuals, urging choices that promote sustainable living. 

The series is made and produced by Fresh Air Production and a preview of the first episode is available here and will be available on all podcast platforms on May 22 here. Access press images for the series here.

Catchup with the first two Unearthed series: Mysteries from an unseen world, and Journeys into the future of food, here.

Follow here for updates throughout the series on Instagram, X and Facebook. 

Notes to editors

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About Dr Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 22 year old British Bangladeshi birder, conservationist & environmentalist. She was the youngest person to see half the world’s birds at age 17 and is committed to saving nature, campaigning to stop biodiversity loss and climate breakdown, whilst respecting indigenous people and highlighting Global Climate Justice.

In February 2020, she became the youngest person in Britain to be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science for her pioneering work campaigning with her organisation Black2Nature, leading the fight for equal access to nature for Visible Minority Ethnic people, organising teenage and children’s nature camps and high-profile conferences and campaigning to make the sector ethnically diverse. In September 2020 she visited the Arctic with Greenpeace, highlighting the second lowest sea ice minimum and holding the most northerly youth strike. 

She has written three award winning books, including her memoir, Birdgirl, which has also been published in the USA and in 7 languages, with a graphic novel due out shortly.

She has shared a stage with Emma Wastson and Greta Thunberg, appeared on TV and radio, given many talks including a panel with George Monbiot and Caroline Lucas MP when she was 13, was a Minister in Chris Packham's People’s Manifesto for Wildlife and spoke at his People’s Walk for Wildlife. 

In 2024, she was included on the Sunday Times Young Powerlist.

Follow Mya-Rose on www.birdgirluk.com and Instagram @birdgirluk.

About the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-famous scientific and horticultural institution and conservation charity, whose mission is to understand and protect plants and fungi for the wellbeing of people and the future of all life on Earth. It is internationally respected for its outstanding collections, horticultural and scientific expertise in plant and fungal diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the globe. Kew Gardens, with its 132 hectares of historic, landscaped gardens, is also a major attraction for international and London visitors alike. Dating back to 1759, the site has a rich history and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003. Combined visitor numbers with Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, total over 2.5 million per year. Wakehurst is home to the Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world and a safeguard against the disastrous effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. RBG Kew receives approximately one third of its funding from the UK Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils, with the remaining two thirds coming from supporters, sponsors, memberships and commercial activity including ticket sales. This enables RBG Kew to carry out its vital scientific and educational work. For tickets and membership options, please visit our website.  Since implementing a new accessibility scheme for those in receipt of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Legacy Benefits, Kew has welcomed over 88,000 visitors with £1 tickets across both UK sites.  

About Fresh Air 

Fresh Air is the leading podcast production company for brands and businesses in the UK. We create podcasts that audiences love listening to and that drive genuine return for a brand or business. Creative Flair and Commercial Nous. Find out more at www.freshairproduction.co.uk. 

About Kew Science   

Kew Science is the driving force behind RBG Kew’s mission to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth. Over 470 Kew science staff work with partners in more than 100 countries worldwide to halt biodiversity loss, uncover secrets of the natural world, and to conserve and restore the extraordinary diversity of plants and fungi. Kew’s Science Strategy 2021–2025 lays out five scientific priorities to aid these goals: research into the protection of biodiversity through Ecosystem Stewardship, understanding the variety and evolution of traits in plants and fungi through Trait Diversity and Function; digitising and sharing tools to analyse Kew’s scientific collections through Digital Revolution; using new technologies to speed up the naming and characterisation of plants and fungi through Accelerated Taxonomy; and cultivating new scientific and commercial partnerships in the UK and globally through Enhanced Partnerships. One of Kew’s greatest international collaborations is the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, which has to date stored more than 2.4 billion seeds of over 40,000 wild species of plants across the globe. In 2023, Kew scientists estimated in the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report that 3 in 4 undescribed plants globally are already likely threatened with extinction.  

Previous series of the Unearthed Podcast

Series 1 - Unearthed - Mysteries from an unseen world

Kew's debut podcast series, Unearthed: Mysteries from an unseen world, explores the roles plants and fungi play in thrilling, sinister and heart-breaking real-life stories.

Featuring ethnobotanist and TV presenter James Wong, listeners will learn about fungi that turn insects into zombies, how Kew’s lab research aids criminal investigations, and how the illegal trade and demand for rare plants are threatening our biodiversity.   

Series 2 - Unearthed: Journeys into the future of food

Kew's podcast, Unearthed: Journeys into the future of food, explores our relationship with food: what are we eating? What is it doing to our health and the health of the planet? And how are livelihoods and agriculture changing before our eyes?

Listeners can take a journey around the world: from farming practices, biodiversity loss, and climate-resilient crops, all the way to our own shopping baskets and kitchens.

James Wong, Advolly Richmond and Poppy Okocha bring you insights, ideas and inspirational actions from artists, thinkers, chefs and plant scientists who are all helping to secure healthy, sustainable diets for the future of our people and planet.

Listen to both series here.