Connect to Nature

Did you know avocado, lemon, pomegranate and grapefruit trees are growing FREE in London? Join Amy & Katrina with Divya Hariramani, founder of Fruity Walks, to uncover London's hidden orchards, immigration stories rooted in fruit trees and how to start urban foraging safely and legally in the UK. Divya started Fruity Walks after discovering a pear tree in her local park during Covid. What began as...

Springwatch presenter Megan McCubbin joins Amy Chapman and Katrina Ridley to talk curiosity, courage and wildlife conservation.  Megan shares how a bedroom full of praying mantises, tortoises and Marmite the barn owl turned into a career in wildlife TV. She gets honest about imposter syndrome, eco-guilt, and why just because “we are all hypocrites living in a flawed system” doesn't...

Connect to Nature is BACK, and this time we're discovering that nature turns up in the most unexpected places. Join hosts Amy Chapman and Katrina Ridley for inspiring conversations, fresh ideas and plenty of reasons to look after our planet. In this season, we'll:🌳 Uncover hidden fruit trees in our cities with Divya Hariramani Herrero aka @FruityWalks🎶 Explore how music helps us hear the natural...

Can nature help you grieve? 🏔️In this episode, Amy Chapman and Katrina Ridley chat with Tinuke Oyediran, outdoor presenter, Guinness World skater record holder, adventure therapist in training and self-proclaimed nature addict, about how she turned profound loss into healing through adventure. After losing her immediate family, Tinuke solo-hiked the Grand Canyon, mountaineered in Iceland and climb...

Chef Doug McMaster explains how the food we eat can reconnect us with nature, from regenerative farming to zero-waste living and healthier systems. Food is one of the most powerful ways we connect with nature, but how often do we stop to think about where it comes from? In this episode of Connect to Nature, zero-waste chef Doug McMaster explores how food, philosophy and regenerative farming c...

What does your weekly shop have to do with climate justice? 🌍In this episode of Connect to Nature, Amy Chapman and Katrina Ridley are joined by Larissa Kennedy, doctoral researcher, community builder and trustee of the Fairtrade Foundation, to explore how our food choices connect us to people, planet and heritage. Raised in Croydon, she is a 'granddaughter of the Windrush generation', with family...

Johnathon Miller-McCall was on his way to becoming an accountant. Instead, he handed in his notice, started an animal management and conservation degree that same week, and never looked back. The naturalist and content creator, known online as J Talks Nature, has built his work around one simple belief: you don't need to live in the countryside to connect with nature. Growing up in South London, h...

After walking runways for a living, Poppy Okotcha found herself empty, unwell, and searching for something the fashion industry could never give her. She found it in soil. The regenerative grower, author, and new mother has become one of the UK's most compelling voices in ecological gardening, but her path to homegrown living was anything but straight. From a buddleia bush crawling with butterflie...

From diving with bubble-loving manta rays in Indonesia to wrestling off nibbly seals in the Bristol Channel, Madeline St Claire’s tales of life underwater are full of unexpected twists and turns. The marine biologist and underwater filmmaker has travelled the world exploring and even restoring some of our ocean’s most precious ecosystems. For many, her job is the stuff of childhood dreams, but it...

Who gets to be British? Writer, broadcaster and DJ Zakia Sewell wants you to look beneath the surface and discover the ancient stories, folk traditions, and seasonal customs that offer a radically different answer In this episode, Zakia joins Katrina and Amy to explore her book Finding Albion, why folklore offers an inclusive alternative to traditional British identity, and how Morris dancing...

Ecologist and entomologist Connor Butler joins Connect to Nature to challenge our ideas of what nature really is. From dung beetles and cockchafers to queer ecology and the hidden wildlife beneath logs, this thought-provoking episode explores how looking closer at the small, strange and overlooked parts of nature can change the way we see the world. 🌍 Connect to Nature Season Two is sponsored by...

Connect to Nature is back for a second season, with hosts Amy Chapman and Katrina Ridley exploring fresh and inspiring ways to deepen our relationship with the natural world. Through conversations with a diverse range of guests, the series uncovers practical, hopeful and imaginative approaches to living more sustainably, discovering urban wildlife and creating greener futures for people and t...

In this episode of Connect to Nature, we’re joined by climate justice advocate, writer and speaker Dominique Palmer. Dominique shares her journey into activism, from discovering a deeper connection to the natural world to speaking at the UN and championing change on a global stage. We explore the link between slow fashion and sustainability, how the fashion industry impacts people and the planet,...

In this episode of Connect to Nature, we’re joined by Joshua Ademi (Tales by Josh), adventurer and founder of Black Scottish Adventurers. From growing up in Lagos to exploring the Scottish Highlands, Josh shares how discovering the outdoors changed his life—and how he’s helping others do the same. We explore how nature can improve mental wellbeing, reduce loneliness, and build stronger, more meani...

Climate justice campaigner and author Tori Tsui joins Connect to Nature to share how growing up by the sea in Hong Kong shaped her love for the natural world, why cold-water swimming keeps her grounded, and how music can be a powerful tool for climate action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Connect to Nature, hosts Amy Chapman and Katrina Ridley sit down with environmental campaigner and lifelong birdwatcher Dr Mya-Rose Craig, also known as Bird Girl, to talk about how we really connect with nature. From defending misunderstood animals to rediscovering playfulness outdoors as adults, this conversation explores why birds might just be the most accessible (and joyful...

No time, no money, no idea where to start: YoungWilders once asked why reconnecting with nature seemed so complicated... Then they went and changed it. YoungWilders is, in their own words, a 'matchmaking service connecting young people with landowners who want to do ecological good'. But that doesn't mean their conservation work is boring. Far from it. Just ask them about the time they 'stole Chri...

Joycelyn Longdon grew up surrounded by London's concrete cityscape, feeling isolated from traditional environmental movements, but now she's rewriting that narrative and connecting to nature in ways many could barely imagine. An award-winning environmental justice researcher, founder of Climate in Colour, author, and part-time DJ, Joycelyn is currently pursuing a PhD at Cambridge University, inves...

Nadeem Perera says his earliest connection to nature was watching macaques scrabble over balconies and geckos slither over paths while visiting family in Sri Lanka, but it was a chance encounter with a woodpecker in a London graveyard that really set him on his current course. Born and raised in East Ham, the co-founder of Flock Together has always been anything but conventional. Now, he's finding...

Liz Bonnin says she was 'born into nature' The wildlife biologist and broadcaster spent her childhood summers running through the mango groves of Martinique and snorkelling with her cousins around the coral reefs of Trinidad. Now one of the nation's most recognised science communicators, she's spent most of her adult life communicating the magic of nature on screen. But it hasn't been easy, and ev...

Log off. Touch grass. 🌍 Join us to connect to nature, big feelings and positive actions with Amy Chapman & Katrina Ridley.   Connect to Nature is a new visualised podcast and social media brand with a strong focus on nature and the environment, discussing eco-anxiety and embracing positive actions. Hosted by Amy Chapman (@inthecottagegarden) and Katrina Ridley (@katrina_ridley) Connect to Nature ...