Treading Lightly Podcast

Treading Lightly Podcast is a community conversation show about looking after the environment close to home. Its guests arrive with local work to talk about, and the talk stays tied to named places. Dane Wilmott, president of Nature Coast Marine Group, is a good example. He answers the backlash against marine parks by pointing out that fully protected areas make up less than a fifth of each park, and that the Sydney and Eden bioregions are missing from the state's marine parks. His explanation for the resistance is plain: habit, and too many people catching too many fish. The introduction credits him with filling Bill's boots at the group, and the closing leaves artificial reefs for another day. A behind-the-podcast episode turns the microphones on founders Moni Mudge and Dean Howcroft. Jimmy introduces it as a chance to hear their backstories and how the podcast came to be. One story is about a pitch to councillors, timed by a little bell with extra time granted on the day, that ended in a unanimous yes for a community clean-up. The episode closes by inviting anyone working on something with other people to get in touch, and mentions a hub in Milton they can use. Fire runs through another conversation. Critta and Lord Wildlife, introduced as deeply connected to nature, had been planning a trip through the Budawangs that they wanted to document before the fires came through. Once the fires had come through, the episode turned to what they experienced and to a report on going back out onto the land. The Yila Healing Trail conversation with Cate Peterson leans on memory. It takes in holidays around Murray's Beach, months spent alone on the island, a nuclear reactor scare and a plan for a nuclear test city on Bowen Island that, in the telling, Malcolm Fraser squashed. It ends by acknowledging mistrust in the country and hoping that everyone might heal, with about a dozen organisations flagged for later conversations. That episode also carries a spoken content warning about local people who have passed away. Jimmy greets listeners with 'Hey legends' and names the guests he hopes to record: local characters, community leaders, crafty tradespeople, growers and makers. The register is relaxed and chatty, and he admits the founders' episode starts out flowy while everyone finds the vibe. In the fire episode, the request to listeners is modest: share it with friends and stay conscious of your own impact.