Let Your Courage Take Flight - A Conversation with Sacha Dench

In this episode of Force of Nature, Clover sits down with Sacha Dench - an award-winning conservationist, adventurer and UN ambassador. Sacha has been called ‘the Human Swan’ since she took to the skies in 2016. Equipped with a propellor on her back and a piece of fabric to keep her airborne, Sacha migrated with the swans from Arctic Russia to the UK, crossing 11 countries, to find out why the bird population was plummeting. In this conversation, Clover and Sacha chat overcoming fear, finding a mandate bigger than yourself, and reconciling loss in a changing world.


Episode notes

01:31 - 10:18) Letting go of ego to achieve a mandate bigger than yourself; Sacha’s catalyst for taking to the skies; learning to fly in the face of “impossible”.

10:18 - 25:45) Finding allies in unusual places; why James Bond saved the day (seriously!); the power of “overview effect” - seeing the world from above.

25:45 - 35:31) Why we shut down in the face of global challenges; setting aside the shouting to invite people to be one of the good guys; the power of the media when it chooses to be a force for good.

35:31 - 38:45 ) Why we’re numb to the climate and ecological crisis; how social media and “hashtag activism” swathe us in the assurance we’re doing our bit; what happens when people wake up to their individual power.

38:45 - 48:45) Navigating critics - including our inner ones; rekindling deep awe and appreciation for nature; losing your home to climate change, and finding inspiration in the rubble.

48:45 - 54:00) Climate change does not discriminate - responding to threats in a globalised world; how communities on the frontlines are already learning to adapt; realising interconnectedness.

54:00 - 58:45) Reigniting the moral conviction of youth; why society’s narratives keep us feeling disempowered; grounding in “intrinsic” values to rewrite the stories that keep you from finding your WHY.

58:45 - 1:11:16) The power of assumptions, and how to shake up your own; thinking about legacy; reconciling our mortality to live life to its fullest.


Top quotes

“I’d like to think that I have taken the weird collection of skills and passions that make me, me and I’ve used them for the most good in the world.” - Sacha


“We have won the lottery of life on this planet. But I think we tend to fixate on the mini lotteries that we lose.” - Clover


“I also try and apply the same sort of empathy that conservationists have for the animals, and apply that to people. We often miss that most people actually aren’t bad.” - Sacha


“We’re carving our names so deeply in the tree of life that we look as if we’re about to kill it. And that comes from fear of our own mortality.” - Clover



About the guest(s)

Sacha Dench is an award-winning conservationist (founder of Conservation Without Borders), adventurer and UN ambassador. Her groundbreaking expedition ‘Flight of the Swans’ saw her flying by paramotor from Arctic Russia across 11 countries to the UK to help save the Bewick’s swan. She has been awarded the 2018 Britannia Trophy for the most meritorious performance in aviation (previously awarded to Sir Richard Branson and the Red Arrows and not won by a woman since 1967), a Woman of the Year 2017 and the Environment Campaign of the Year 2017 among others. She also holds the record for the First Channel Crossing by Paramotor for a woman.


Resources
Conservation Without Borders: https://www.conservation-without-borders.org/
Sacha’s personal website: http://www.sachadench.com/
The human swan, TEDxTruro