Emma Marsh: Feathers and Feminism with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Kazakh Antelopes

Emma Marsh sits on the Executive Board at The RSPB, and was until recently the Director of RSPB England. But, despite working for the nation’s largest bird charity (the RSPB is actually Europe’s largest conservation charity!), she says that she is not a twitcher, rather that “…being in nature just feels right. Everything is right in the world when nature’s right.” Raised on a farm, yet having studied International Relations at University, it is no surprise that Emma is well placed to discuss the manner in which enviro-NGOs interact with the current government; she also shares her hopes for who the RSPB will be dealing with in the future, and how the People’s Plan for Nature should keep Governments accountable to the people they profess to serve. In this walk around the Sandy nature reserve - the headquarters of the RSPB - Emma explains how the RSPB's roots lie with the Victorian women of the ‘Fur, Fin and Feather Folk’, and how it is still managed as an inclusive movement. We hear how Emma hopes to make the RSPB a home both for nature and for as diverse a group of mammalian bipeds as possible. All this, and the animals closest to the RSPB’s heart: Wrens, Avocets and Kazakh Saiga Antelopes?!

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