Deep Seed Podcast

About Deep Seed Podcast

Welcome to the Deep Seed Podcast, your ultimate source for all things regenerative agriculture, soil health, and ecosystem restoration! Join your host, Raphaël, on an exciting journey into the heart of sustainable farming and environmental resilience. The podcast is packed with inspiring conversations with regenerative farmers, cutting-edge innovators, and leading experts who are pioneering the movement towards a more regenerative food system. Whether you’re a passionate advocate for sustainability, a professional in agriculture or environmental science, or just curious about the future of our food systems, the Deep Seed Podcast is your gateway to the vibrant world of regenerative agriculture. Key topics discussed include: Agroecology and its role in creating sustainable food systems The power of agroforestry in boosting biodiversity and productivity How carbon farming can fight climate change while benefiting farmers The benefits of no-till farming for soil health and erosion prevention Holistic grazing practices that restore ecosystems and enhance animal welfare Crop rotation and polyculture for nutrient-rich soils and resilient farms Exploring the potential of food forests and other nature-based solutions The critical link between soil microbiology and plant health Restoration agriculture and the future of land regeneration Climate solutions that leverage regenerative practices to sequester carbon Promoting biodiversity through sustainable farming approaches Insights into the importance of sustainable diets and their environmental impact Rewilding and its role in ecosystem restoration and preservation Produced in partnership with Soil Capital, a leader in supporting regenerative agriculture and rewarding farmers for improving soil health, this podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in sustainable farming and climate action. Get in touch with me LinkedIn - Raphael Esterhazy Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Publisher

Raphael Esterhazy

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Feb 2024

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

98 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   How to Bring an Ecosystem Back to Life | Astrid Vargas

   Astrid Vargas has spent her life helping bring endangered species back from the brink of extinction, from the black-footed ferret in North America to the Iberian lynx in Spain. But over the years, her focus expanded from saving individual species to something much bigger: restoring entire ecosystems and landscapes. In this episode, we follow that remarkable journey. We explore the silent decline of butterflies and insects, the extraordinary recovery of the Iberian lynx, what happens when predators return to an ecosystem, and why restoring nature ultimately means working with the people who live within it. Astrid also shares the story of AlVelAl, a pioneering landscape restoration initiative in southern Spain bringing together farmers, conservationists, entrepreneurs and local communities to regenerate a region threatened by desertification. We talk about rewilding, trophic cascades, regenerative agriculture, the politics of environmentalism, the power of community, and why hope and inspiration may be just as important to restoration as ecology itself. At its heart, this is a conversation about something surprisingly hopeful: nature can come back. And we know more about how to help it recover than we might think. ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ In this episode, we explore: • The extraordinary recovery of the Iberian lynx • Why top predators can transform entire ecosystems • Trophic cascades, explained simply • The silent decline of butterflies, insects and pollinators • Why conservation must move beyond saving individual species • Rewilding vs ecological restoration • How Astrid helped catalyse AlVelAl in southern Spain • Regenerative agriculture and landscape restoration • Commonland’s 4 Returns and 3 Zones frameworks • Why restoration must create livelihoods as well as biodiversity • The importance of local ownership and community • How restoration can happen at bioregional scale • Why hope may be one of conservation’s most important tools ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ✨ASTRID VARGAS Astrid Vargas is a conservation biologist whose career has taken her from endangered-species recovery programmes to large-scale landscape restoration. Her work has included the black-footed ferret in North America and the Iberian lynx in Spain, where she played a major role in the species’ captive-breeding programme. She later worked with Commonland and helped catalyse AlVelAl, the large-scale landscape restoration initiative in south-eastern Spain that brings together ecological restoration, regenerative agriculture, entrepreneurship and community development. ⸻ 🌱 COMMONLAND This episode was made in partnership with Commonland, an international non-profit working with local partners to restore degraded landscapes around the world. https://commonland.com/ (https://commonland.com/) ⸻ 🌱 ALVELAL AlVelAl is a large-scale regeneration initiative in southeastern Spain, bringing farmers, businesses and communities together to restore degraded landscapes through regenerative agriculture, ecosystem restoration and a stronger local economy. https://alvelal.es/ (https://alvelal.es/) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy (https://ausha.co/privacy-policy) for more information.

2. 

   16 Sept 2026

   The 20-Year Plan to Restore Nature at Scale [WILLEM FERWERDA]

   What does it actually take to restore nature? Not just on individual farms or through isolated projects, but across entire landscapes? For more than a decade, ecologist and Commonland founder Willem Ferwerda has been working on exactly that question. In this episode, Willem takes us inside the thinking behind Commonland and the Four Returns framework: a long-term approach to landscape restoration that brings together ecology, agriculture, communities, business and finance. We explore why restoring ecosystems requires thinking in decades; why technical knowledge is often not the biggest barrier to change; what Willem learned from decades working in conservation around the world; and why farmers and landowners can become what he beautifully describes as “islands of hope” within degraded landscapes. We also get into the economics of regeneration: long-term finance, the role of farmers and communities, and why our economies ultimately need to operate within the ecological systems on which they depend. At its heart, this is a conversation about moving from loss to return: restoring not only biodiversity, soil and water, but livelihoods, communities, purpose and hope. 💚 This episode is part of a special Deep Seed series produced in collaboration with Commonland, exploring what it really takes to restore landscapes at scale. ✨ WILLEM FERWERDA Ecologist, conservationist and founder of Commonland. https://www.linkedin.com/in/willem-ferwerda-1540135/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/willem-ferwerda-1540135/) ✨ COMMONLAND A global organisation working with partners around the world to support large-scale, long-term landscape restoration through the Four Returns framework. https://commonland.com/ (https://commonland.com/) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy (https://ausha.co/privacy-policy) for more information.

3. 

   9 Sept 2026

   How China Brought 4 Million Hectares Back to Life | John D. Liu

   What if humanity already knows how to restore the ecosystems we have degraded? For more than three decades, filmmaker and ecologist John D. Liu has documented some of the world’s most ambitious efforts to bring damaged landscapes back to life. His work documenting the restoration of China’s Loess Plateau showed him something that would shape the rest of his life: large-scale ecological degradation is not necessarily irreversible. So if restoration is possible, why aren’t we doing it everywhere? In this conversation, John takes us from the Loess Plateau to the possibility of restoring the Sinai Peninsula. We explore how vegetation, soil, biodiversity and the water cycle interact, why degraded landscapes struggle to retain water, and what happens when ecological function becomes the starting point for how we manage land. But John’s argument goes much further than ecosystem restoration. We discuss why our economic system often rewards extraction rather than ecological health, why GDP is such an incomplete measure of wealth, whether perennial polycultures and regenerative agriculture could reshape our food system, and what it would mean to organise human civilisation around restoring the living systems on which we depend. John also reflects on ageing, responsibility, his friendship with Jane Goodall, the creation of the Ecosystem Restoration Communities movement, and his work as an Ecosystem Ambassador for Commonland. At 73, after decades spent documenting both ecological destruction and extraordinary recovery, John remains convinced of something profoundly hopeful: Humans don’t have to be a destructive force on this planet. We can become a restorative one. This episode was produced in partnership with Commonland, a global organisation working to enable large-scale landscape restoration through its holistic Four Returns approach. ⎯⎯⎯ 🎙️ JOHN D. LIU John D. Liu is a filmmaker, ecologist and ecosystem restoration advocate whose documentaries have helped bring global attention to the potential of large-scale landscape restoration. ✨ COMMONLAND Commonland works with communities around the world to restore degraded landscapes and create thriving futures for people and nature through its Four Returns approach. https://commonland.com/ (https://commonland.com/) ✨ THE DEEP SEED The Deep Seed explores the people, ideas and solutions helping regenerate our food systems and ecosystems. Through long-form conversations with farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs and leading thinkers, we explore regenerative agriculture, soil health, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity and how we can build a healthier relationship with the living world. 🔔 Follow The Deep Seed for more conversations on regenerative agriculture, soil health, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity and the future of food. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy (https://ausha.co/privacy-policy) for more information.

Who has been a guest on Deep Seed Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Silvia Quarta
• Anna de Brito
• David de Brito
• Dimitri Tsitos
• Marc-André Selosse

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

898,591

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

153 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 82 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

97

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

77

Contact Deep Seed Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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