Episode 25

Synopsis

25/40. In the northern hemisphere autumn is upon the world and the skies are busy with air traffic of the feathered variety. Bird migration is one of the great natural wonders of the living planet and this is peak time for northern hemisphere birds to head south. And we're interested in the birds bound for Africa. Swifts and Swallows, Martins and Warblers, Cuckoos and Nightingales are some of the birds that head for sub-Sahara Africa to winter. Many have arrived and are living under African skies.

We'll be in London at one of the most historic bird observatories with a special "memories" piece reflecting on a time when London's skies were busy with south-bound avian migrants.

And we'll have a special piece from a sacred forest in Ethiopia, a unique wooded island refuge in a desert of over tilled land - a forest protected by a church and its followers. We hear from Claire Ozanne from Roehampton University as she and colleagues conduct the first ever wildlife survey of this refuge. The biologists discover a new bird for Ethiopia and involve the local children in their discoveries. And we take on the bigger picture; what contribution does religion make to nature conservation at a global level? We have Martin Palmer, CEO of The Alliance of Religion and Conservation (ARC) in the studio.

Presented by Brett Westwood
Produced by Mary Colwell
Series Editor Julian Hector.