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Broadly Speaking — Broads National Park Podcast

At the Managing Carbon and Water in Lowland Landscapes Conference, the Broads Authority unveiled Broadly Speaking, a new podcast series created through a Defra‑funded project aimed at building a peatland community and tackling one of the region’s most pressing environmental challenges: cutting greenhouse gas emissions from 2,000 hectares of drained peat soils.




Hosted by Andrea Kelly, the series explores the future of peatlands through conversations with:

  • local farmers

  • landowners

  • water managers

  • scientists and environmental experts


The podcast aims to share practical, real-world solutions and diverse perspectives on how the Broads can transition toward more sustainable land management. It is described as a grounded, hopeful insight into a landscape undergoing significant ecological change.


Episodes currently include:


Farming and Feeling Wetlands


In this episode of Broadly Speaking, Andrea Kelly digs (pun intended) into lowland peat: what it is, why it matters, and why rewetting it is both urgent and complex. Listen in for insights from ecology, land management and policy.

 

How we manage water


The episode explores how water management shapes life in the low‑lying Broads, where climate change is making water levels increasingly unpredictable. Andrea Kelly speaks with experts working in drainage, catchment‑scale planning, and farming to examine whether current systems can cope with rising pressures. The conversation highlights how flooding, drought, food production and nature all compete for the same finite resource — and questions whether the region’s water infrastructure is ready for the demands ahead.

 

The science of peat


The episode examines how lowland peat in the Broads has shifted from a vital carbon store to a significant carbon source after centuries of drainage. Andrea Kelly and guests explain what peat is, why it plays such an important role in the landscape, and how its degradation now presents both climate risks and opportunities. Drawing on insights from ecology, land management, and policy, the discussion highlights why peatlands are crucial to the UK’s Net Zero goals and explores the urgency — and complexity — of rewetting them.

 


You can also explore more podcasts by visiting the Talking Paludiculture section of the Paludiculture website, which hosts a range of vlogs and podcasts covering farmer experiences, peatland management, and wetter farming insights.

 
 
 

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