As well as our beloved bees, pollinators include wasps, moths, hoverflies, butterflies, beetles, bats and birds. There are about 1,500 different insect species helping plants reproduce in the UK alone, and without them our world would be less colourful, less nutritious and less diverse.

In this episode of Unearthed: Nature needs us from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew hear how pollinator health supports the health of humans and the planet. Dr Mya-Rose Craig finds out how the biodiversity of our habitats can support pollinators against the pressures they face from climate change and human activity.

Professor Phil Stevenson busts myths surrounding honeybee conservation projects whilst Professor Adam Hart looks at how we might need to change our outlooks and practises for the good of our pollinating friends.

We also dive into the wonder of meadow and prairie habitats with Iain Parkinson at Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden, and with Great Yellow’s Isabel Milligan.

Ever wondered how healthy your garden is for pollinators? Advolly Richmond considers how our social history has impacted the plight of plant-pollinator relationships.

Then it’s into the landscape at Wakehurst with Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee and Chantelle Lindsay. Nature Unlockedis building a new bee bank here and inviting visitors to contribute to important research. In Dodoma in Tanzania, one researcher tells us how his team have been working with smallholder farmers to gain a host of benefits, including improved yields, via the growing of pollinator-friendly plants in their field margins.

Finally, the bug-loving Dr Eleanor Drinkwater chats with Phil Stevenson about the important links between plants and wildlife for environmental biodiversity.

Subscribe to this podcast to catch up on earlier episodes of Unearthed and to enjoy a new episode every fortnight.

You can find out more about the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and support their cutting-edge conservation research and training at Kew.org.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seeds are the beginnings of life. From the food we can grow today, to the wondrous habitats they can create. They offer us a chance to capture, store and even design the landscapes of the future.

In this episode of Unearthed: Nature needs us from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew find out how scientists around the globe are working against the clock to protect species on the brink of extinction.

From the Millennium Seed Bank - the world’s largest global seed bank for wild plant species - to intrepid collection trips in harsh conditions, Dr Mya-Rose Craig explores the breadth of current research about seeds.

Dr Katie Field from the University of Sheffield tells us the story of how plants and fungi colonised and shaped the planet we know today.

Then Joycelyn Longdon @climateincolour meets with Kew’s Charlotte Couch and The Natural History Museum’s Ben Town at Kew’s Community Allotment to discuss how everyone can benefit from biodiversity research that includes and values communities.

Subscribe to this podcast to catch up on earlier episodes of Unearthed and enjoy a new episode every fortnight.

You can find out more about Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and support their cutting-edge conservation research and training at Kew.org.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is still so much to learn about the mysterious realm of soil.

From the microscopic organisms essential to life on Earth, to the complex and wonderful associations between plants and fungi, the ground beneath your feet is teeming with life. Dr Mya-Rose Craig explores soil in this episode of Unearthed: Nature needs us from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Find out how our world’s health is impacted by forces we may not even be able to see, and how this plays out on the scale of crop health, biodiversity in environments and the nutritional wealth of landscapes.

We head to Kew’s world-class fungarium with Professor Irina Druzhinina, and into Wakehurst’s diverse woodlands where conservation research is going on to understand gas exchange between the earth, atmosphere and vegetation. Dr Gary Egan and Dr Phil Wilkes show us around this living laboratory in Sussex.

Mya also hears how conservation of Madagascan grasslands, which are important carbon sinks, goes hand-in-hand with providing value to local communities through livestock grazing. And hear from Dr Feng Cai, whose research into plastic-eating fungi on China’s saltmarshes is powering innovative research into cleaning up this global pollution problem and supporting important habitats.

Then it’s off to FarmED in Oxfordshire where “Rooted” author Sarah Langford meets with fellow farmers Ian Wilkinson and Andy Cato of Wildfarmed (and Clarkson’s Farm) to discuss how modern farming is transitioning to working with soil regeneration and longevity of our environments in mind. But it’s not just about changing hearts and minds, they chat about the social, economic and policy changes that are vital in supporting farmers to save our beloved landscapes.

Subscribe to this podcast to catch up on earlier episodes of Unearthed and enjoy a new episode every fortnight.

You can find out more about Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and support their cutting-edge conservation research and training at Kew.org.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.