Green Originals

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Chico Mendes

20200123

20211016/17 (R4)

When Chico Mendes was gunned down in the Amazon in December 1988, his assassin, a rancher named Darcy Alves, hoped to kill off his campaign to prevent forest clearance. Instead, it raised the alarm on the issue in Brazil and across the world, influencing a generation of conservationists and policy makers. Mendes is now a symbol of the global environmental movement in South America.

After starting to tap rubber as a child in Acre state in Brazil's far west, Mendes co-founded the local branch of the rural workers union and organised demonstrations to stop thousands of square kilometres of rainforest being destroyed for timber and ranching, saving hundreds of families from destitution.

`He showed what we could do against the power of these people who had money, and gunmen, and the protection of the judiciary,` says Marina Silva, a former environment minister and presidential candidate.

The Brazilian singer Monica Vasconcelos reflects on the work of the union leader who only learned to read at 18 but went on to become a powerful advocate for forest people.

`Since Jair Bolsonaro became Brazil's president at the start of last year, his government has weakened forest protections and encouraged land grabbers to move in. As we face an increase in violence towards local communities and deforestation in the Amazon, its worth looking back and remembering Chico's extraordinary life,` she says.

Producer: Emily Williams

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4in association with The Open University

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Chico Mendes.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

David Mctaggart

20200114

20210828/29 (R4)

In the spring of 1972, David McTaggart responded to an advert in a Vancouver magazine for a fledgling organisation calling itself Greenpeace. It was looking for volunteers to go to Muroroa Atoll in the South Pacific to protest against the testing of French atmospheric nuclear bombs.

McTaggart spent five weeks sailing over 3000 miles to reach the exclusion zone and position himself down-wind from the blast. France had already exploded 41 nuclear bombs into the atmosphere, some 200 times the strength of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

In what he thought might be a last recording to his family, he said, 'I just hope you understand what I'm doing. I'm against all this stuff.

While he couldn't claim to be the founder of Greenpeace, David McTaggart was the one who took a small embryonic organisation in the early 1970s and transformed it into a global force for change.

After the nuclear testing protests, McTaggart set up International Greenpeace organisations in Britain, France and the Netherlands. He bought a trawler, Sir William Hardy, from the British Government, and re-named it The Rainbow Warrior.

`For many years, he was the leading figure in campaigns against whaling, seal culling and offshore oil drilling,` says writer Emma Shortis. `He successfully drew attention to the issues in ways that no-one had previously considered, by putting himself directly at the heart of the action - in the line of fire of a whaler's harpoon, or being rammed by a naval frigate.`

Producer: Emily Williams

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 in association with The Open University

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today, David McTaggart.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

From James Lovelock To Margaret Thatcher

20200117

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement.

Film-maker and campaigner Jack Harries considers the impact of James Lovelock, the creator of the influential Gaia theory which sees the earth as a self-regulating system.

Writer Emma Shortis profiles one of Greenpeace's pioneer campaigners. Canadian David McTaggart sailed his yacht into the blast zone of French nuclear test areas, and later spear-headed the Rainbow Warrior's activities against Norwegian seal culling and Japanese whaling.

World champion free-diver Tanya Streeter looks at the impact of French film-maker and under-water explorer Jacques Cousteau.

The man who defended Himalayan forests against the logging industry Sunderlal Bahaguna is profiled by former colleague Vandana Shiva.

Alice Bell of the climate change charity Possible makes a case for the inclusion of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on the list of Green Originals.

Presenter: Peter Gibbs.

Producers: Natalie Steed, Dan Hardoon, Emma Barnaby, Emily Williams.

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

From Ken Saro-wiwa To Severn Cullis-suzuki

20200124

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

From Rachel Carson To Judith Wright

20200110

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement.

Nature writer Conor Jameson considers the impact of Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring which alerted the world to the impact of pesticides like DDT on the environment.

Meteorologist Peter Gibbs looks back at his old boss, the British Antarctic Survey scientist Joe Farman, who spotted the hole in the ozone layer using an antiquated piece of kit at the Halley research station in Antarctica.

Caroline Lucas, the only British Green MP, explores the legacy of the radical German politician Petra Kelly who founded Die Grünen and inspired a generation of European Greens.

Naturalist and TV presenter Gillian Burke assesses the role of her Kenyan `auntie`, Wangara Maathai, in drawing attention to environmental causes in sub-Saharan Africa and becoming the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize.

Writer Corin Throsby reflects on how the Australian poet Judith Wright drew attention to land rights and the broader environmental cause in her native Australia.

Producers: Natalie Steed, Dan Hardoon, Emma Barnaby, Emily Williams.

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Jacques Cousteau

20200115

20210904/05 (R4)

A pioneer of the aqua lung and nature documentaries, Jacques Cousteau's groundbreaking series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau had an enormous impact on the 1970s, gripping an entire generation of children with its kaleidoscopic beauty. The stunning films of sea-life, coupled with Cousteau's natural history lectures in romantically accented English, are credited with spawning the environmental movement.

Cousteau spent more time filming underwater than probably anyone else and, as such, was alert to the devastating impact of over-fishing and pollution, particularly in the Mediterranean. Away from the camera, he lobbied tirelessly for tighter government regulations to protect the marine environment and biodiversity.

Champion freediver Tanya Streeter reflects on the life and work of the explorer and film-maker turned oceanographer and considers the challenges that remain for the protection of our Oceans.

`Cousteau's inventions opened up the underwater world to exploration,` she says. `He inspired us to see the planet in an entirely new way.`

Producer: Emily Williams

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today, Jacques Cousteau.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

James Hansen

20200121

20211002/03 (R4)

With his trademark hat and clear message about climate change, Dr James Hansen has been described as somewhere between an old testament prophet and Indiana Jones.

In 1988, when he was Director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA, he gave evidence to Congress that changed the conversation about the greenhouse effect and climate change. Since then, he's been a powerful advocate for the importance of listening to scientists on climate change and has himself become an activist.

'Einstein said to think and not act is a crime,' Hansen said in 2011. 'If we understand the situation, we must try to make it clear.'

In this episode, the science educator, writer and broadcaster, Dr Emily Grossman explains why James Hansen is an inspiration for the scientists who are increasingly stepping out of their labs and onto the streets to protest about inaction from governments on climate change.

Producer: Natalie Steed

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - James Hansen.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

James Lovelock

20200113

20210821/22 (R4)

James Lovelock's Gaia Theory, first put forward in the mid 1970s, was a ground-breaking hypothesis of how the earth works and one of the most influential ideas on 20th century environmentalism.

It proposed that the earth is one self-regulating system in which everything on the planet, living and non-living, interacts with each other to maintain the right conditions for life to exist. It's quasi-spiritual sentiment captured the imagination of the New-Agers of the 1980s, sci-fi writers and philosophers, as well as a growing global environmental movement.

Lovelock's idea has been a source of controversy within the scientific community. But many of his ideas about the impact of life, and humans in particular, on the environment have made their way into the scientific status quo.

Having recently celebrated his 100th birthday, the humble Lovelock continues to inspire. Environmental activist and filmmaker Jack Harries looks back on the career of this rare breed freelance scientist, and traces Gaia's legacy across science and culture.

`As we discover more about humanities role in tipping the fragile balance of life on earth,` he says, `Lovelock's Gaia theory becomes incredibly compelling.`

Producer: Emma Barnaby

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - James Lovelock.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Joe Farman

20200107

20210724/25 (R4)

On 16th May 1985, Joe Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin from the British Antarctic Survey published a paper in Nature announcing their discovery of a hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica. Their research suggested that chlorine released from CFCs - the chemicals used in everyday products like aerosols, refrigerators and air conditioning units - was destroying the layer of ozone which shields the Earth from the sun's UV rays.

Just two years after the paper was published, world governments took swift action by signing up to the Montreal Protocol, a UN treaty which phased out the use of CFCs. Today, the Montreal Protocol is widely considered the most successful environmental treaty ever.

The meteorologist Peter Gibbs, who spent two years in Antarctica collecting ozone measurements for the British Antarctic Survey, reflects on the life of the camera-shy scientist who made one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century.

`Farman realised the implications of his work for the whole world,` says Peter, `and despite not being a natural performer, he was prepared to put his head above the parapet.`

Producer: Dan Hardoon

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Joe Farman.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Joni Mitchell

20200122

20211009/10 (R4)

Joni Mitchell isn't often associated with environmental activism, but her famous 1970 hit Big Yellow Taxi is one of the biggest green anthems to date.

Growing up in the golden prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada, Joni spent her childhood surrounded by nature. She began touring the United States in the mid 1960s - a tumultuous decade of social, political, and environmental change. Big Yellow Taxi was written in response to the natural losses she saw on her journey.

The song laments ecological loss and warns of irreversible damage to the earth's natural beauty. But Joni's dedication to raising awareness of environmental devastation spans her entire career.

Folk singer Sam Lee takes a look at Joni's relationship with the earth she inhabited, and how she inspired so many to care about the world through her personal yet highly political lyrics.

Producer: Emma Barnaby

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University for BBC Radio 4

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Joni Mitchell.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Judith Wright

20200110

20210814/15 (R4)

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Judith Wright, one of Australia's finest poets whose poems forged a new way of looking at and valuing the Australian landscape and wildlife.

In 1962, increasingly concerned by environmental destruction, Judith founded the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland with three friends and was president of the organisation until 1975.

She was a leading force in the successful campaign to prevent oil drilling in the Great Barrier Reef and fought to create the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It was a campaign that relied not on arguments about the beauty of the Reef but carefully marshalled scientific evidence and thorough administrative and legal action.

In later years, she focussed on land rights for indigenous Australians which she saw as a part of her environmental activism

The writer Corin Throsby reflects on the poetry and activism of Judith Wright. 'She showed generations of Australians that our landscape may be dusty and craggy, but that it has a profound and unique beauty. After a century of thinking the bush was something to be feared and tamed, she sent a loud and defiant message - this land is worth fighting for`.

Producer: Natalie Steed

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Judith Wright.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Ken Saro-wiwa

20200120

20210925/26 (R4)

Ken Saro-Wiwa was a writer, television producer, human rights and environmental activist.

He was hanged by the Nigerian government in 1995 after a hearing John Major described as fraudulent.

He campaigned for the rights of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta who found their land devastated by the pollution caused by oil extraction. They saw little financial benefit from the vast oil and gas resources and suffered from oil spills, gas flaring and water contamination.

Helon Habila is a Nigerian novelist and professor of creative writing at George Mason University in Virginia. His novel Oil on Water dealt with the human cost of the oil industry in Nigeria.

Producer: Natalie Steed

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Margaret Thatcher

20200117

20210918/19 (R4)

Margaret Thatcher might seem to some like an unlikely pioneer of the need for climate action but, in the late 1980s, she made a series of remarkable speeches and interventions on the subject and catapulted the issue to the foreground of media and public attention.

In 1988, at a Royal Society dinner, she gave a speech warning of the dangers of what was then known as the greenhouse effect, and the need for action. Tellingly, a key paragraph setting out practical suggestions for global action was struck out by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson.

She encouraged discussion of the subject at Cabinet level, inviting leading climate scientists into Downing Street to educate her Ministers, and described the urge to protect the environment as a key plank of Tory philosophy.

In 1989, she addressed the UN General Assembly on the subject of climate change and called for immediate and urgent action to address it.

Alice Bell is co-director at climate change charity, Possible, and is writing a book about the history of climate change. She reflects on Margaret Thatcher's brief and vigorous engagement with the question of climate change.

Contributors include Lord Deben, Sir Crispin Tickell, Professor Sir Brian Hoskins and Jonathan Porrit.

Producer: Natalie Steed

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University

Reflections on modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Margaret Thatcher.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Petra Kelly

20200108

20210731 (R4)
20210801 (R4)

Petra Kelly did more than perhaps anyone else to raise the profile of green politics. As the most prominent member of West Germany's Green Party, Die Grünen, Kelly's energetic campaigning played a critical role in catapulting her party to electoral success in the 1983 Bundestag elections, where they won 27 seats.

Outside Germany, Kelly was an internationally famous campaigner against nuclear weapons and nuclear power, issues which galvanised the early green movement. But in 1992, at the age of just 44, Kelly was found dead in mysterious circumstances, alongside her lover Gert Bastian.

The Green Party MP Caroline Lucas looks back on the career of a politician who inspired her and considers Petra Kelly's relevance to the environmental movement today.

`For Petra Kelly, green politics was never confined to Parliament,` she says, `it happened out on the streets, embracing non-violent protest and direct action.`

Producer: Dan Hardoon

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Petra Kelly.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Rachel Carson

20200106

20210717/18 (R4)

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Rachel Carson.

Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring was probably the most important environmental book of the 20th Century. It catalogued, in grim detail, the effect that pesticides were having on the countryside and the wildlife within it. The book was fiercely attacked by the chemicals companies, whose businesses had grown rapidly in the years after the Second World War as a result of the widespread adoption of pesticides like DDT (dubbed the `insect bomb`).

After the publication of the book, there was a change in policy regulating the use of such substances in North America and in Britain too, where the effects of DDT on birds of prey numbers had long been suspected by organisations like the RSPB.

The nature writer Conor Jameson reflects on the work of this humble marine biologist turned conservationist, and analyses what challenges remain for the regulation of chemicals in wider environmental systems.

`Carson has taken on the status of a prophet,` he says, `with Silent Spring she created a new testament for our ecological times.

Producer: Emily Williams

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Severn Cullis-suzuki

20200124

20211023/24 (R4)
20211030 (R4)

Severn Cullis-Suzuki was twelve years old when she gave a speech demanding action on the environment at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

Like many young people who came after her, she demanded that adults listen and act swiftly to protect her future. She had grown up with a love of nature and was scared and angry about the extinction of animal species, pollution, and the destruction of forests.

In this programme, the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham reflects on the impact of her speech and the power of children's voices in the climate debate.

Producer: Natalie Steed

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 in association with The Open University

Reflections on modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today, Severn Cullis-Suzuki.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Sunderlal Bahuguna

20200116

20210911/12 (R4)

In the early 1970s, village women in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas resisted deforestation by literally hugging the trees that loggers came to chop down. These original tree-huggers became known as the Chipko movement, from the Hindi word meaning `to embrace`.

At the heart of the movement was the Gandhi-inspired activist Sunderlal Bahuguna, who spread Chipko's message of forest conservation by undertaking an almost 5,000km foot march across the Himalayas. In 1981, Bahuguna successfully persuaded India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to ban the felling of all trees in the region above an altitude of 1,000 metres.

The Chipko movement inspired similar tree-hugging movements around the world, from Switzerland to the USA. In the 1990s, Bahuguna campaigned against the construction of India's tallest dam in the state of Uttarakhand - this time without success.

The environmental activist Vandana Shiva, herself an early volunteer with the Chipko movement, assesses Bahuguna's legacy. She considers what his campaign against Tehri Dam teaches about what happens when environmental activism fails.

`Bahuguna was a natural politician,` she says. `He pioneered the use of non-violent tactics - including marches, fasts and roadblocks - to draw attention to environmental issues.`

Producer: Dan Hardoon

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Sunderlal Bahuguna.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Wangari Maathai

20200109

20210807/08 (R4)

In 1977, the Kenyan academic Professor Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots initiative which encouraged rural women to plant trees to restore local ecosystems and address their need for food, fodder and fuelwood. Maathai also campaigned to protect Nairobi's green spaces, including Uhuru Park and Karura Forest, from government development.

To date, the Green Belt Movement has planted more than 51 million trees in Kenya. In 2004, Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for her environmental work.

The nature broadcaster Gillian Burke, who grew up on the outskirts of Nairobi and met Wangari Maathai as a child, reflects on the legacy of this larger-than-life environmental activist, and considers the role of tree planting in addressing the climate crisis.

She says, `Wangari Maathai understood what people, especially rural women, really needed and married that with the needs of the environment.`

Producer: Dan Hardoon

Series Editor: David Prest

A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University.

Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Wangari Maathai.

Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.

Episodes

Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
Chico Mendes	20200123	20211016/17 (R4)	When Chico Mendes was gunned down in the Amazon in December 1988, his assassin, a rancher named Darcy Alves, hoped to kill off his campaign to prevent forest clearance. Instead, it raised the alarm on the issue in Brazil and across the world, influencing a generation of conservationists and policy makers. Mendes is now a symbol of the global environmental movement in South America. After starting to tap rubber as a child in Acre state in Brazil's far west, Mendes co-founded the local branch of the rural workers union and organised demonstrations to stop thousands of square kilometres of rainforest being destroyed for timber and ranching, saving hundreds of families from destitution. `He showed what we could do against the power of these people who had money, and gunmen, and the protection of the judiciary,` says Marina Silva, a former environment minister and presidential candidate. The Brazilian singer Monica Vasconcelos reflects on the work of the union leader who only learned to read at 18 but went on to become a powerful advocate for forest people. `Since Jair Bolsonaro became Brazil's president at the start of last year, his government has weakened forest protections and encouraged land grabbers to move in. As we face an increase in violence towards local communities and deforestation in the Amazon, its worth looking back and remembering Chico's extraordinary life,` she says. Producer: Emily Williams Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4in association with The Open University Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Chico Mendes. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
David Mctaggart	20200114	20210828/29 (R4)	In the spring of 1972, David McTaggart responded to an advert in a Vancouver magazine for a fledgling organisation calling itself Greenpeace. It was looking for volunteers to go to Muroroa Atoll in the South Pacific to protest against the testing of French atmospheric nuclear bombs. McTaggart spent five weeks sailing over 3000 miles to reach the exclusion zone and position himself down-wind from the blast. France had already exploded 41 nuclear bombs into the atmosphere, some 200 times the strength of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In what he thought might be a last recording to his family, he said, 'I just hope you understand what I'm doing. I'm against all this stuff. While he couldn't claim to be the founder of Greenpeace, David McTaggart was the one who took a small embryonic organisation in the early 1970s and transformed it into a global force for change. After the nuclear testing protests, McTaggart set up International Greenpeace organisations in Britain, France and the Netherlands. He bought a trawler, Sir William Hardy, from the British Government, and re-named it The Rainbow Warrior. `For many years, he was the leading figure in campaigns against whaling, seal culling and offshore oil drilling,` says writer Emma Shortis. `He successfully drew attention to the issues in ways that no-one had previously considered, by putting himself directly at the heart of the action - in the line of fire of a whaler's harpoon, or being rammed by a naval frigate.` Producer: Emily Williams Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 in association with The Open University Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today, David McTaggart. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
From James Lovelock To Margaret Thatcher	20200117		Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Film-maker and campaigner Jack Harries considers the impact of James Lovelock, the creator of the influential Gaia theory which sees the earth as a self-regulating system. Writer Emma Shortis profiles one of Greenpeace's pioneer campaigners. Canadian David McTaggart sailed his yacht into the blast zone of French nuclear test areas, and later spear-headed the Rainbow Warrior's activities against Norwegian seal culling and Japanese whaling. World champion free-diver Tanya Streeter looks at the impact of French film-maker and under-water explorer Jacques Cousteau. The man who defended Himalayan forests against the logging industry Sunderlal Bahaguna is profiled by former colleague Vandana Shiva. Alice Bell of the climate change charity Possible makes a case for the inclusion of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on the list of Green Originals. Presenter: Peter Gibbs. Producers: Natalie Steed, Dan Hardoon, Emma Barnaby, Emily Williams. Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
From Ken Saro-wiwa To Severn Cullis-suzuki	20200124		Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
From Rachel Carson To Judith Wright	20200110		Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Nature writer Conor Jameson considers the impact of Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring which alerted the world to the impact of pesticides like DDT on the environment. Meteorologist Peter Gibbs looks back at his old boss, the British Antarctic Survey scientist Joe Farman, who spotted the hole in the ozone layer using an antiquated piece of kit at the Halley research station in Antarctica. Caroline Lucas, the only British Green MP, explores the legacy of the radical German politician Petra Kelly who founded Die Grünen and inspired a generation of European Greens. Naturalist and TV presenter Gillian Burke assesses the role of her Kenyan `auntie`, Wangara Maathai, in drawing attention to environmental causes in sub-Saharan Africa and becoming the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize. Writer Corin Throsby reflects on how the Australian poet Judith Wright drew attention to land rights and the broader environmental cause in her native Australia. Producers: Natalie Steed, Dan Hardoon, Emma Barnaby, Emily Williams. Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Jacques Cousteau	20200115	20210904/05 (R4)	A pioneer of the aqua lung and nature documentaries, Jacques Cousteau's groundbreaking series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau had an enormous impact on the 1970s, gripping an entire generation of children with its kaleidoscopic beauty. The stunning films of sea-life, coupled with Cousteau's natural history lectures in romantically accented English, are credited with spawning the environmental movement. Cousteau spent more time filming underwater than probably anyone else and, as such, was alert to the devastating impact of over-fishing and pollution, particularly in the Mediterranean. Away from the camera, he lobbied tirelessly for tighter government regulations to protect the marine environment and biodiversity. Champion freediver Tanya Streeter reflects on the life and work of the explorer and film-maker turned oceanographer and considers the challenges that remain for the protection of our Oceans. `Cousteau's inventions opened up the underwater world to exploration,` she says. `He inspired us to see the planet in an entirely new way.` Producer: Emily Williams Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today, Jacques Cousteau. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
James Hansen	20200121	20211002/03 (R4)	With his trademark hat and clear message about climate change, Dr James Hansen has been described as somewhere between an old testament prophet and Indiana Jones. In 1988, when he was Director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA, he gave evidence to Congress that changed the conversation about the greenhouse effect and climate change. Since then, he's been a powerful advocate for the importance of listening to scientists on climate change and has himself become an activist. 'Einstein said to think and not act is a crime,' Hansen said in 2011. 'If we understand the situation, we must try to make it clear.' In this episode, the science educator, writer and broadcaster, Dr Emily Grossman explains why James Hansen is an inspiration for the scientists who are increasingly stepping out of their labs and onto the streets to protest about inaction from governments on climate change. Producer: Natalie Steed Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - James Hansen. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
James Lovelock	20200113	20210821/22 (R4)	James Lovelock's Gaia Theory, first put forward in the mid 1970s, was a ground-breaking hypothesis of how the earth works and one of the most influential ideas on 20th century environmentalism. It proposed that the earth is one self-regulating system in which everything on the planet, living and non-living, interacts with each other to maintain the right conditions for life to exist. It's quasi-spiritual sentiment captured the imagination of the New-Agers of the 1980s, sci-fi writers and philosophers, as well as a growing global environmental movement. Lovelock's idea has been a source of controversy within the scientific community. But many of his ideas about the impact of life, and humans in particular, on the environment have made their way into the scientific status quo. Having recently celebrated his 100th birthday, the humble Lovelock continues to inspire. Environmental activist and filmmaker Jack Harries looks back on the career of this rare breed freelance scientist, and traces Gaia's legacy across science and culture. `As we discover more about humanities role in tipping the fragile balance of life on earth,` he says, `Lovelock's Gaia theory becomes incredibly compelling.` Producer: Emma Barnaby Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - James Lovelock. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Joe Farman	20200107	20210724/25 (R4)	On 16th May 1985, Joe Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin from the British Antarctic Survey published a paper in Nature announcing their discovery of a hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica. Their research suggested that chlorine released from CFCs - the chemicals used in everyday products like aerosols, refrigerators and air conditioning units - was destroying the layer of ozone which shields the Earth from the sun's UV rays. Just two years after the paper was published, world governments took swift action by signing up to the Montreal Protocol, a UN treaty which phased out the use of CFCs. Today, the Montreal Protocol is widely considered the most successful environmental treaty ever. The meteorologist Peter Gibbs, who spent two years in Antarctica collecting ozone measurements for the British Antarctic Survey, reflects on the life of the camera-shy scientist who made one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century. `Farman realised the implications of his work for the whole world,` says Peter, `and despite not being a natural performer, he was prepared to put his head above the parapet.` Producer: Dan Hardoon Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Joe Farman. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Joni Mitchell	20200122	20211009/10 (R4)	Joni Mitchell isn't often associated with environmental activism, but her famous 1970 hit Big Yellow Taxi is one of the biggest green anthems to date. Growing up in the golden prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada, Joni spent her childhood surrounded by nature. She began touring the United States in the mid 1960s - a tumultuous decade of social, political, and environmental change. Big Yellow Taxi was written in response to the natural losses she saw on her journey. The song laments ecological loss and warns of irreversible damage to the earth's natural beauty. But Joni's dedication to raising awareness of environmental devastation spans her entire career. Folk singer Sam Lee takes a look at Joni's relationship with the earth she inhabited, and how she inspired so many to care about the world through her personal yet highly political lyrics. Producer: Emma Barnaby Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University for BBC Radio 4 Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Joni Mitchell. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Judith Wright	20200110	20210814/15 (R4)	Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Judith Wright, one of Australia's finest poets whose poems forged a new way of looking at and valuing the Australian landscape and wildlife. In 1962, increasingly concerned by environmental destruction, Judith founded the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland with three friends and was president of the organisation until 1975. She was a leading force in the successful campaign to prevent oil drilling in the Great Barrier Reef and fought to create the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It was a campaign that relied not on arguments about the beauty of the Reef but carefully marshalled scientific evidence and thorough administrative and legal action. In later years, she focussed on land rights for indigenous Australians which she saw as a part of her environmental activism The writer Corin Throsby reflects on the poetry and activism of Judith Wright. 'She showed generations of Australians that our landscape may be dusty and craggy, but that it has a profound and unique beauty. After a century of thinking the bush was something to be feared and tamed, she sent a loud and defiant message - this land is worth fighting for`. Producer: Natalie Steed Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Judith Wright. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Ken Saro-wiwa	20200120	20210925/26 (R4)	Ken Saro-Wiwa was a writer, television producer, human rights and environmental activist. He was hanged by the Nigerian government in 1995 after a hearing John Major described as fraudulent. He campaigned for the rights of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta who found their land devastated by the pollution caused by oil extraction. They saw little financial benefit from the vast oil and gas resources and suffered from oil spills, gas flaring and water contamination. Helon Habila is a Nigerian novelist and professor of creative writing at George Mason University in Virginia. His novel Oil on Water dealt with the human cost of the oil industry in Nigeria. Producer: Natalie Steed Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Ken Saro-Wiwa. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Margaret Thatcher	20200117	20210918/19 (R4)	Margaret Thatcher might seem to some like an unlikely pioneer of the need for climate action but, in the late 1980s, she made a series of remarkable speeches and interventions on the subject and catapulted the issue to the foreground of media and public attention. In 1988, at a Royal Society dinner, she gave a speech warning of the dangers of what was then known as the greenhouse effect, and the need for action. Tellingly, a key paragraph setting out practical suggestions for global action was struck out by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson. She encouraged discussion of the subject at Cabinet level, inviting leading climate scientists into Downing Street to educate her Ministers, and described the urge to protect the environment as a key plank of Tory philosophy. In 1989, she addressed the UN General Assembly on the subject of climate change and called for immediate and urgent action to address it. Alice Bell is co-director at climate change charity, Possible, and is writing a book about the history of climate change. She reflects on Margaret Thatcher's brief and vigorous engagement with the question of climate change. Contributors include Lord Deben, Sir Crispin Tickell, Professor Sir Brian Hoskins and Jonathan Porrit. Producer: Natalie Steed Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University Reflections on modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Margaret Thatcher. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Petra Kelly	20200108	20210731 (R4) 20210801 (R4)	Petra Kelly did more than perhaps anyone else to raise the profile of green politics. As the most prominent member of West Germany's Green Party, Die Grünen, Kelly's energetic campaigning played a critical role in catapulting her party to electoral success in the 1983 Bundestag elections, where they won 27 seats. Outside Germany, Kelly was an internationally famous campaigner against nuclear weapons and nuclear power, issues which galvanised the early green movement. But in 1992, at the age of just 44, Kelly was found dead in mysterious circumstances, alongside her lover Gert Bastian. The Green Party MP Caroline Lucas looks back on the career of a politician who inspired her and considers Petra Kelly's relevance to the environmental movement today. `For Petra Kelly, green politics was never confined to Parliament,` she says, `it happened out on the streets, embracing non-violent protest and direct action.` Producer: Dan Hardoon Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Petra Kelly. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Rachel Carson	20200106	20210717/18 (R4)	Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Rachel Carson. Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring was probably the most important environmental book of the 20th Century. It catalogued, in grim detail, the effect that pesticides were having on the countryside and the wildlife within it. The book was fiercely attacked by the chemicals companies, whose businesses had grown rapidly in the years after the Second World War as a result of the widespread adoption of pesticides like DDT (dubbed the `insect bomb`). After the publication of the book, there was a change in policy regulating the use of such substances in North America and in Britain too, where the effects of DDT on birds of prey numbers had long been suspected by organisations like the RSPB. The nature writer Conor Jameson reflects on the work of this humble marine biologist turned conservationist, and analyses what challenges remain for the regulation of chemicals in wider environmental systems. `Carson has taken on the status of a prophet,` he says, `with Silent Spring she created a new testament for our ecological times. Producer: Emily Williams Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Severn Cullis-suzuki	20200124	20211023/24 (R4) 20211030 (R4)	Severn Cullis-Suzuki was twelve years old when she gave a speech demanding action on the environment at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Like many young people who came after her, she demanded that adults listen and act swiftly to protect her future. She had grown up with a love of nature and was scared and angry about the extinction of animal species, pollution, and the destruction of forests. In this programme, the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham reflects on the impact of her speech and the power of children's voices in the climate debate. Producer: Natalie Steed Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4 in association with The Open University Reflections on modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today, Severn Cullis-Suzuki. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Sunderlal Bahuguna	20200116	20210911/12 (R4)	In the early 1970s, village women in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas resisted deforestation by literally hugging the trees that loggers came to chop down. These original tree-huggers became known as the Chipko movement, from the Hindi word meaning `to embrace`. At the heart of the movement was the Gandhi-inspired activist Sunderlal Bahuguna, who spread Chipko's message of forest conservation by undertaking an almost 5,000km foot march across the Himalayas. In 1981, Bahuguna successfully persuaded India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to ban the felling of all trees in the region above an altitude of 1,000 metres. The Chipko movement inspired similar tree-hugging movements around the world, from Switzerland to the USA. In the 1990s, Bahuguna campaigned against the construction of India's tallest dam in the state of Uttarakhand - this time without success. The environmental activist Vandana Shiva, herself an early volunteer with the Chipko movement, assesses Bahuguna's legacy. She considers what his campaign against Tehri Dam teaches about what happens when environmental activism fails. `Bahuguna was a natural politician,` she says. `He pioneered the use of non-violent tactics - including marches, fasts and roadblocks - to draw attention to environmental issues.` Producer: Dan Hardoon Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown production in association with The Open University. Reflections on modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Sunderlal Bahuguna. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.
Wangari Maathai	20200109	20210807/08 (R4)	In 1977, the Kenyan academic Professor Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots initiative which encouraged rural women to plant trees to restore local ecosystems and address their need for food, fodder and fuelwood. Maathai also campaigned to protect Nairobi's green spaces, including Uhuru Park and Karura Forest, from government development. To date, the Green Belt Movement has planted more than 51 million trees in Kenya. In 2004, Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for her environmental work. The nature broadcaster Gillian Burke, who grew up on the outskirts of Nairobi and met Wangari Maathai as a child, reflects on the legacy of this larger-than-life environmental activist, and considers the role of tree planting in addressing the climate crisis. She says, `Wangari Maathai understood what people, especially rural women, really needed and married that with the needs of the environment.` Producer: Dan Hardoon Series Editor: David Prest A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University. Reflections on the modern pioneers of the environmental movement. Today - Wangari Maathai. Reflections on the pioneers of the environmental movement over the last sixty years.