Terra Stories

Can what is broken be repaired?  This episode comes after a life episode of burnout, a moment when nothing made sense. It unfolds like fragments, pieced together, tracing the feeling of being broken—and finding meaning within it. From fragmentation in landscapes, to the myth of Osiris in Ancient Egypt, to ancestral rites of dismemberment, to dreams, to repairing broken clay with golden dust—this p...

How much can a tiny insect tell us about our relationship with nature? This podcast episode unfolds as a chronicle—tracing one insect, the scarab, across time and place. From the banks of the Nile in Ancient Egypt, to the French Alps twenty years ago, to today’s Mediterranean shores, and even millions of years back, when a scarab’s body lay buried until archaeologists uncovered it. Why has an inse...

We are in a world of mad kings. The ones that destroy life, extract more and more, leaving Earth empty.  Lately, I keep asking: What shall we do? What are we doing wrong? If I had asked that question in the medieval Arab world, they might have said: Tell them a story. And they might have told me the story of Shahrazad, the woman who changed the mind of a mad king by telling him a thousand stories....

If a story reveals something about its characters, it also reveals something about the storyteller. The story you’re about to hear is no exception. But what could a story tell about the one who is telling it? You might ask. Well, what if, in this story, the storyteller was the Prince of them all? What if, thousands of years ago, he understood better than anyone what makes a story an invisible thre...

What would you do if you stood before the spirit of the forest? How would you feel? And how would you treat its forest? This podcast episode comes at a time when I find myself looking around and witnessing how deeply we disrespect nature in so many ways—including the precious, life-giving forests of our planet. Deforestation, animal hunts, mining… As a fierce believer that stories shape a culture...

Carolyn recalls romanticizing the woods after spending time with her father among the majestic Redwoods.  Her connection to the forest deepened when she later, within her studies, traveled to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Surrounded by their rich forests, she was struck by a profound realization that changed her career path: these forests and their biodiversity were deeply intertwined with agriculture...

Gabriela has always felt at home where she grew up, on a guest house farm on the Portuguese coast. Despite often leaving her land to travel and work, deep down she knew that, like indigenous trees, she belonged to that place.  But one summer day, a wildfire swept through her father's land, devouring everything around. Her father was evacuated, leaving the fire time to pass. And when he returned to...

Dorcas grew up in Kenya, where her father instilled in her the value of planting trees—his farm was full of trees and coffee plants. Dorcas also recalls the generational stories that were passed along: they once had forests full of trees that have now been cut down. These stories sparked a deeper appreciation for nature within her. While she once overlooked tree-cutting on farms, believing it woul...

Rūta's upbringing was enriched by her mother's presence and the wisdom of her grandmother, a passionate geologist deeply connected to the natural world and its spiritual essence.  When her grandmother faced a grave illness, Rūta found herself pondering:  “If we were able to present the diagnosis with a very different approach, how would people heal?” This question ignited her journey into psycholo...

Ana was raised in Venezuela with her family, who had been cattle farmers for generations. They, from whom she inherited Indigenous ancestry, maintained a deep connection to the land.  However, due to increased governmental pressure, she was compelled to leave with her parents for Canada, thus becoming separated from her family, homeland, and culture.  Growing up far from her ancestors' lands, Ana...

After a long journey that took her from writing poems to strangers, to the Shakespeare & Company bookstore café in Paris, and to an immersive writing experience in a forest in Sweden, Billimarie found herself back in her mother's garden. "This is a man-made woods," Billimarie recalled a phrase that had struck her during her time in Sweden. "Man-made," she thought.  Meanwhile, her mother, wise...

Welcome to Season 2 of Terra Stories. What’s on the agenda? FORESTS. 🪲🌳🌲🪵🍄 Specifically, “Reviving Forests Roots” explores forest ecosystems and their wisdom, deepening the intrinsic links between nature and humanity through the people who live and listen to it. It’s a journey to our roots, steeped in stories, to imagine, rediscover, and reconnect with the natural world and our ancestral orig...

Naima's father has always taken care of his garden as if he were hiding a secret within it. Naima couldn't help but wonder, 'how could such a tough person have such a tenderness to care for the plants, the fruits that grew on the trees, and the birds that latched on them.'  It wasn't until she re-entered that sacred space, a few years after painful events, that Naima began to unravel the precious...

Justine's grandfather had a passion for photographing trees, particularly those with character. This made him a man who knew how to find wonder in the small things. Justine found her grandfather's legacy to be a guiding light amid the growing waves of the haunting melodies of a changing world. As she embarked on her own odyssey, she understood that the wonders of the world weren't just confined to...

Birungi's journey starts with her ancestors, who always found inspiration in nature for their creative work. Through the use of banana tree fibers, bark cloth, and batik techniques native to Uganda, they crafted various forms of art that shaped her childhood. This left her with a profound respectful relationship with the natural world, driving her to revisit these traditions and incorporate them i...

Daiva's journey began in Lithuania, where rich cultural folklore wove a profound love for the performing arts into the very core of her being. During her exploration of diverse talents and encounters with pivotal figures, Daiva paused, allowing the peaceful silence of nature to guide her. In that serene moment, she not only listened but also embarked on a new path. Leaving everything behind, she f...

"It's not an appropriate job for women"; Favour had to face numerous challenges and obstacles when she decided to pursue a career in forestry: the opposition of her family and societal norms. Yet, this hasn't stopped her from exploring her connection with nature, driven by her love for the environment and the desire to make a difference. Something she deeply inherited from her grandmother, a dedic...

Ana and Andrea inherited important knowledge from their great-grandmother. She was a wise woman who left the highlands for the coast to secure her family's future. She believed that if you have received any good opportunity to have a better life, you shouldn't forget to open up those opportunities to the people around you and who will come.    Ana and Andrea grew up in the village of Chepén, Peru,...

Dawa Yangi Sherpa is a Sherpa-Nepali woman, who grew up in a culture where mountains are deities and nature is an entity to be respected. As she grew up and moved from Nepal to India and then to the United States, she embarked on a path that called her and led her to reconnect with her roots, rediscovering the wisdom and knowledge of her ancestors. What did she learn? Does reconnecting with nature...

Have you ever heard stories where rivers are sacred, healing, and creative? Well, let us tell you one: Tessel is a Dutch artist, who was lulled by the sound of rivers, waterfalls and waves, who developed an admiration for the natural world, its shapes, colors, and secrets. The secrets that fascinated her as a child, watching time go by through the movements of water, and that she began to unravel...

Natalie Sifuma grew up in Nairobi and spent most of her childhood living close to the Arboretum, an oasis near the city center. It was here that she first had a love for trees, but it wasn't until she started working with a storytelling firm in 2017 that she found a creative way to connect with people, places, and the environment, and begin using stories to share information. In January, Natalie v...

Asmita is a young woman from western Nepal who recently completed her Bachelor's in Forestry from Tribhuwan University. When she was a child, her parents, originally from the mountains of Nepal, used to draw their resources from nature, like the Ayurvedic products they added to their tea. Asmita, at the age of six or seven, did not want to go to school anymore - which her father agreed to on the c...

Ashley is a storyteller, she first started by searching for fossils at her grandmother's house and saving the trees in her garden. She traveled to the Caribbean, saw the rainforest, and was blown away by the fact that the local people ate termites because of their amount of protein and how the termites lived with tree species. Growing up, Ashley wanted to study biology and become an artist. Althou...

Cecilia lives in the center of Argentina, in a region that is a wetland, having one of the biggest rivers in South America. She is an environmental advocate, a COP26 Youth Delegate & COP27 Young Negotiator. As a student, she spent many years learning about the importance of her lands, about how rich the biodiversity was, and how her Indigenous ancestors used to live from what they could get fr...

Have you ever felt part of something bigger, something that the world we created did not manifest? Well, we are part of nature, nature is the great center of everything, it is our home and where we come from. For this second introductory episode, I’m happy to introduce you to Tania Roa, a wildlife, environmental and social justice advocate. Tania will take you on a rethinking path of our place on...