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COURAGEOUS OPTIMISM: BIG SKY COUNTRY COUNTERS CLIMATE DOOM WITH REAL STORIES OF HOPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE

Bush Heritage Australia

Monday 28 July 2025 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

 

Bush Heritage Australia’s most expansive season of Big Sky Country hits the airwaves today – with a new host and an even grander scale.  

 

Nominated for an Australian Podcast Award in 2023, Big Sky Country is a podcast by leading conservation not-for-profit Bush Heritage, offering an antidote to climate doom-ism and the seemingly never-ending news headlines on environmental collapse.   

 

The new season is hosted by wildlife conservation biologist and proud descendant of the Kaurareg Nations Tiahni Adamson – the 2024 Young South Australian of the Year. Across six episodes, the series introduces listeners to scientists, Traditional Custodians and conservationists with moving stories of working on the frontlines of the climate and biodiversity crisis. Despite the challenges, they remain indomitably hopeful as they tirelessly research, restore and protect ecosystems one block, one banksia, one oyster at a time.  

 

Season 3 of Big Sky Country comes at a time when the public’s engagement in the traditional media landscape is continuing its downward trend according to the latest Digital News Report: Australia 2025. Almost 70 per cent of people actively avoid the news, with almost half of these saying they avoid the news because it has a negative impact on their mood.   

 

Host Tiahni Adamson says:   

 

“Podcasts are increasingly playing a role in how people learn about what is happening in their world, and we know that they are helping listeners to understand issues they care about on a deeper level.”

  

“We can’t afford to stick our heads in the sand and ignore the facts about the state of our environment. But we also need to stay hopeful, so that we can listen and learn about the solutions out there – many of which are already well on their way to making a hugely positive difference for our native wildlife and our beautiful Australian landscapes.”  

 

“With Big Sky Country we wanted to shine a light on some of the great conservation efforts happening on the ground to protect and heal Country. I hope people hear the podcast and are left feeling optimistic and empowered instead of overwhelmed and terrified of the future, because actually, we do have the collective power to change it for the better.”

 

Released just a day after National Tree Day (27 July), episode one ‘Trees & climate: Bob Brown, cultural connection and why forests matter’ features a timely but sobering reminder from the cool forests of lutruwita/Tasmania – without trees, humans can’t exist.  

 

Episode guest and environmental legend Dr Bob Brown says:   

 

“They want us to feel overwrought and ineffective. But we mustn't get into that mindset. We must be optimistic. We must be defiant. We are defending a planet that gives us everything. The trees growing here [in the Tarkine] and elsewhere around the world are the biggest living creatures ever on the face of the planet.”  

 

As Tiahni travels from the ancient forests of lutruwita/Tasmania to the turtle-populated islands of the Kimberley she encounters people from all walks of life, united in their commitment to Country. From reintroducing platypus into Adelaide’s city rivers, to protecting towering blackwoods and carbon-storing gum trees, these stories are grounded in hope, resilience and collective action to confront global threats.  

 

‘Trees & climate: Bob Brown, cultural connection and why forests matter’ is out now on streaming platforms; the remaining episodes will be released on a fortnightly schedule.  

 

ENDS

 

Download behind-the-scenes images from the making of Season 3 of Big Sky Country: here

Download the audio trailer: here

Download the video trailer: here

Download the 10-second teaser: here

Download the Big Sky Country cover art: here

 

Media contact: Leah Sjerp (Bush Heritage Australia) | [email protected] | 0455 635 035 

 Big Sky Country Season 3 Episode Summaries

  

1. Trees & climate: Bob Brown, cultural connection and why forests matter – Release date: 28 July 2025  

On an island at the edge of the Earth – lutruwita/Tasmania – Tiahni sits down with legendary environmentalist Bob Brown. Among flowering blackwoods, they explore tree conservation and community, courage and staying defiant. She speaks with pakana Elder Hank Horton on deep cultural ties to trees, and with arboriculturist Dr Gregory Moore about a sobering truth: without trees, humans can’t exist. These biodiversity magnets store carbon, support life and help us breathe – so why are we still clearing trees? What would the world look like if we protected them instead? Find out more about the vital role of trees in fighting climate change.

Guests: 

• Dr Bob Brown 
• Dr Gregory Moore, arboriculture and trees expert
• Hank Horton, Pakana Traditional Custodian
   

2. Restoring nature: Platypus comeback, oyster reefs and habitat corridors – Release date: 11 August 2025 

When nature is destroyed and removed, can we ever truly restore it? Across Australia, scientists and communities are sharing powerful stories of ecological restoration – from city rivers to deep-sea reefs. In Adelaide’s River Torrens, urban ecologist Prof. Chris Daniels is leading platypus reintroduction for the city. Downstream near Glenelg beach, one of Australia’s true conservation success stories is occurring underwater: marine scientist Dr Dominic McAfee is restoring oyster reefs, using the sounds of the sea. In Southwest Western Australia – a global biodiversity hotspot – entire ecosystems are being revived from the soil up. Restoration is getting smarter and stronger, one tree, one banksia, one oyster at a time.

Guests: 

• Dr Dominic Mcafee, shellfish restoration expert  
• Professor Chris Daniels, University Professor and Chair of the Board of Green Adelaide 
• Alex Hams, former Healthy Landscapes Manager, southwest WA, Bush Heritage Australia 
   

3. Surviving the heat: Climate change in deserts, numbats and knowledge – Release date: 25 August 2025 

Our planet is getting hotter – and deserts, covering 41% of the Earth and nearly 20% of Australia, are on the frontline. What will the sweltering and scorching temperatures mean for the people and species that live there? At Secret Rocks in South Australia, Tiahni joins Dr Katherine Moseby and Jack Bilby who are braving extreme temperatures to help to protect native animals like bilbies and numbats survive. Gareth Catt from the Indigenous Desert Alliance tells of how deserts are changing rapidly, making the practice of reading Country more difficult for Traditional Custodians. Author Clive Hamilton explores resilience as social justice, while Dr. Rebecca Spindler urges bold, science-driven solutions – to make sure people and wildlife alike can handle the heat.

Guests: 

• Dr Katherine Moseby, wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist
• Jack Bilby, bilby researcher
• Gareth Catt, former project manager at Indigenous Desert Alliance 
• Clive Hamilton, Author and public intellectual
• Dr Rebecca Spindler, former Executive Manager Science & Conservation, Bush Heritage Australia 

 

3. Working together: Gondwana Link, Aboriginal land, and sustainable farming – Release date: 8 September 2025 

The landscapes of Southwest Western Australia smack you in the face with their ecological richness, according to Gondwana Link CEO Keith Bradby. He and others – including Bush Heritage – are restoring a 1000km stretch of bushlands in this global biodiversity hotspot, shaped over millions of years by glacial shifts and evolution. For Noongar Elder Lester Coyne it is a place where his people prospered long before the disruptive forces of colonisation. Today it is surrounded by monotonal agricultural properties. But that doesn’t mean farmers don’t also feel a deep love for nature. The question is how to balance the need to feed and resource our planet, while preserving biodiversity: our biggest natural defence against climate change.

Guests: 

• Sylvia Leighton, farmer, scientist and landcarer  
• Keith Bradby, CEO, Gondwana Link 
• Professor Stephen Hopper, botanist
• Lester Coyne, Noongar Traditional Custodian and Elder 

 

4. Traditional knowledge: Healing Country and sharing Indigenous wisdom – Release date: 22 September 2025 

Traditional Custodians have recorded sea level changes, volcanic shifts and meteoric events for over 10,000 years through story, song, dance and art. Since colonisation, these knowledge systems have faced immense pressure – but Tiahni is solution focused. She traces her own journey to connect with her ancestry and explores how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge can strengthen Country to help it adapt. With Aunty Bernice Hookey, she unpacks epistemic injustice and resilience, before heading to Birriliburu Country to meet Martu women keeping culture strong – and with Joanne Griffin, discovers a powerful new online tool for sharing knowledge, respectfully.

Guests: 

• Aunty Bernice Hookey, Lead Yanalangami Facilitator
• Dr Jodi Edwards, Walbanja Woman, from Yuin Nation with Dharawal Nation Kinship ties
• Martu women: Annette Williams, Jennifer Morgan, Stella Shipway, Yvonne Ashwin
• Jo Griffin, Olkolo woman and Healthy Country Manager, Bush Heritage Australia 
   

6. Oceans of change: Turtles, blue carbon & whale poo – Release date: 6 October 2025 

From plankton to humpbacks, ocean life is riding massive waves of change – including ocean warming, rising sea levels, acidification and algal blooms. In the Timor Sea off the Kimberley Coast and over to Agnes Water in Queensland, marine biologists and Wunambal Gaambera Rangers are mapping turtle tracks, assessing threats to their nests and protecting tiny hatchlings. Along the humpback highway, wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta shares how whales are fertilising the ocean and miraculously adapting to a lack of krill. And we dive into the world of blue carbon with Dr. Alice Jones – where deep in the waters, we learn that even though our oceans are disproportionately impacted by climate change, they play a mighty role in its defence. 

Guests: 

• Dr Melissa Staines, marine biologist and sea turtle expert
• Demond Williams, Senior Uunguu Ranger and Wunambal Gaambera Traditional Owner
• Tabitha Kowan, Wunambal Gaambera woman and Uunguu Ranger
• Tom Vigilante, Healthy Country Manager, Bush Heritage Australia
• Dr Vanessa Pirotta, wildlife conservation biologist and whale expert
• Dr Alice Jones, resilience ecologist

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Contact details:

For media inquiries, please contact: Leah Sjerp | [email protected] | 0455 635 035