“As Kazakhstan became part of the Soviet Union a whole series of very large transformations took place. 45 million hectares of land within Kazakhstan was simply ploughed under the Virgin Lands campaign.”

Mark Day is from the RSPB and part of the team delivering a project covering 180 million acres in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The Altyn Dala, an area the size of France and Germany combined, is a huge grassland that once may have rivalled the Serengeti.

The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative has been working for almost 20 years to save the critically endangered saiga antelope and establish new protected areas. Last year, its success received recognition from the United Nations, which named the project among its first 10 World Restoration Flagships.

Ben Goldsmith is a rewilding enthusiast and activist based in the UK. In this podcast he is joined by people behind some of the most exciting and ambitious rewilding projects around the world.

Every year we hear stories about wildlife being destroyed. However, there are rays of hope as across the globe people are working to give nature a hand to recover and rejuvenate.

This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach.

Text Rewilding the World here. Let us know what you think of the podcast and if there are any rewilding projects you would love Ben to feature in future episodes.