Episode 227: Declan Burley, The Long Game
About this episode
Declan Burley shares his journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a wildlife camera operator, discussing the intricacies of conservation and storytelling in wildlife television.
Episode 227 of The Adventure Podcast features wildlife camera operator and television presenter, Declan Burley. Declan grew up in Luton, dyslexic and working on building sites. Nobody around him went into the arts and no one really knew what a wildlife camera operator was. In this episode, Declan talks to Matt about the long road to where he is now: three months in the Amazon at 23 that changed everything, years of being flat broke, and a cancer diagnosis in his late twenties. He explains what camera trapping actually involves, and what it was like to work across six critically endangered species for The Wild Ones, from snare-riddled jungle in Malaysia to mine-field leopards on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. They also cover the class divide in British wildlife television, what slowing down teaches you about the natural world, and whether conservation storytelling can actually change anything - or whether it's just preaching to the converted. For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @theadventurepodcast. Chapter Breakdown…
More episodes of The Adventure Podcast
- Episode 231: Matthieu Tordeur, Adventure in the Age of Fire
- Episode 230: Naomi Aldwyn-Allsworth, Wild By Design
- Episode 229: Dom Ferris, Trash Free Trails
- Dispatch: Niall McCann, Poaching
- Episode 228: Tim Good, Cast Off
- Episode 226: Ollie Phillips, Ten Out Of Ten
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