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Ep. 045: Community Land Stewardship with Chris Blake
Season 1 Episode 45
This week on the Wilder Podcast, we sit down with Chris Blake to explore how communities can steward land through collaboration, long-term vision and trust between local people and public bodies. We also share Grange Project updates (bumper apple harvest, the market garden & "cathedral-scale" polytunnel!), two recent courses, and announce Wilder Away Days - our nature-based corporate retreats.
Key takeaways:
- Community land stewardship ≠ one model. Freehold, long leasehold, management agreements and co-production each offer different ways for local values to shape land.
- Co-production works when power is shared. Start with a blank page, bring evidence-givers (forestry, ecology, education), and let a mixed panel turn evidence into values & principles - not expert-written plans.
- Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) can beat clear-fell on 100-year horizons: better soils, flood risk, vistas - and local, steady jobs from ongoing thinning rather than boom-and-bust harvesting.
- Public bodies win too. Communities unlock grants, volunteers and entrepreneurial energy that agencies often lack - delivering outcomes already in policy (biodiversity, access, carbon).
- Trust is the glue. A year-long, facilitated process built mutual respect between Natural Resources Wales managers and residents; FSC certification also helps keep plans on track.
- Practical first steps. If transfer isn’t feasible, explore long leases or co-produced forest/resource plans; talk to national support orgs early (see "Resources").
Timestamps:
00:06 — Welcome & what’s ahead
00:30 — Grange Project update: community day, record apple harvest & juice pressing
06:50 — Announcement: Wilder Away Days (purposeful team retreats in wild nature)
10:15 — Guest intro: Chris Blake & the journey to community stewardship
13:05 — What is “community land stewardship”? Why it matters
15:40 — Lessons from Scotland’s community buyouts (Noidart, forestry, hydro, housing)
19:40 — The co-production model in the Rhondda: who’s in the room & how it ran
27:55 — Designing for Continuous Cover Forestry & local jobs over decades
30:00 — Why agencies benefit: capacity, risk culture, and policy delivery
34:35 — Accountability: FSC, public scrutiny & relationship-based safeguards
37:55 — Inside the room: creative methods, expert “witnesses,” values > wish-lists
47:50 — Where to go for help (nation-specific orgs)
49:47 — Closing reflections: changing the values that shape landscapes
50:02 — Hosts’ debrief: win-wins, optimism, and where else co-production fits
Guest:
Chris Blake - social entrepreneur focused on community energy and land stewardship; founding director at The Green Valleys, long-term work in the Rhondda on co-produced f
Published on 12 hours ago