Nadia Shaikh
(She/her)
Nadia is a naturalist and ornithologist with 16 years of experience in nature conservation. She is currently the director of the Right to Roam Campaign and is passionate about people reconnecting to nature and how access to nature is systemically unequal. She is a columnist for TGO magazine and chair of the Raven Network, a network for people of colour who work in nature and conservation.
Why I'm involved
“Spending time in nature and the outdoors has become somewhat two-dimensional in many ways. I find recreation extractive; the pursuit of targets and endurance is lacking. Even learning about natural history itself can seem academic. When we introduce play, curiosity and creativity into our time outdoors, something magical happens. There are few places in nature where people can experience this sort of connection, where we don't simply have to pass through and follow lines on maps; we can linger and do what humans have always done, let nature move us and respond with the gifts we have to offer as humans. Singing with Nightingales is just this: we are allowed to play, be vulnerable and let nature move us.”
Favourite Nightingale Experience
“My first Nightingale experience can never be surpassed. It was a morning in May, and I had travelled a long way in the dark to get to the site before sunrise. When I first heard the bird sing, I was moved to tears. I felt the power of their song in my diaphragm; I'd never felt birdsong within me before. It was singing from a giant ancient hawthorn absolutely bursting with blossom, just the tree itself was enough to be moved, but with the early morning golden light and the Nightingale singing from within, it was as though the life of the tree and the bird were as one.”