Our team is made up of passionate individuals from diverse backgrounds, all working together to protect and restore the natural world through our shared vision and expertise.
Meet the Team
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Team
Collaborators, volunteers and advisors
Kasia Posen
Practitioner
Kasia is a local artist with many years experience of devising and delivering inclusive, community engaged projects. She has collaborated with scientists, growers, foragers and other creatives in diverse settings, and will be bringing her insight to this project to support farmers in offering creative and accessible opportunities via their farms.
Jon Tyler
Practitioner
Jon is a professional forager and bush-craft practitioner with a passion and enthusiasm for wildlife and wild food. In a career spanning 20 years he has worked on community, education and conservation projects in a variety of urban and rural locations. Jon will be supporting farmers to foster skills to share their foodscape with children, refugees and the wider community.
Gaina Dunsire
Practitioner
Gaina worked as a secondary school teacher in the UK and overseas before going on to complete a Permaculture Design course and MSc in Sustainable Horticulture and Food Production. She has over a decade of experience designing and facilitating projects around food and farming for children and young people as well as for teachers and farmers, and will be using this experience to support farmers in providing safe and engaging activity.
Fedora Morris
Practitioner
Fe Morris is passionate about trees, woodlands and hedgerows and the role they play in protecting our landscapes. She works as a Land Use Advisor for the Forestry Commission and part-time as a Wellbeing in Nature Facilitator for the Green Light Trust. She also coordinates Suffolk Tree Warden Network’s community tree nursery scheme, which has seen over 40 community tree nurseries spring up around Suffolk since Autumn 2020. She is experienced in working with children and engaging with the community having taught and performed guitar and ran music camps for 6 years in North London and on her family’s organic mallholding in North Suffolk. She is a trained ecologist and
recognises the importance of integrating arming and conservation to ensure sustainable food production as well as a thriving ecosystem.
Lola De Mille
Practitioner
Lola is a community focused chef, who has set up and cooked at social eating spaces and food networks alongside a career in restaurants. A keen grower, fermenter and forager, she focuses on food that is good for people and the planet. She is most passionate about connecting people through food and nature and will be supporting farmers to share their landscape through food, with those who have sought refuge within the East of England.
Emily Scarce
Practitioner
Emily is a Suffolk-based practitioner who grew up surrounded by farming and is passionate about the restorative power of nature. She holds an MSc in Psychology and is a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society, with a keen interest in nature-connectedness.
With a background in local authority and education, Emily is skilled at adapting her approach for all ages. She brings specialist insight through her work as a Neurodevelopmental Assistant and as a trainer for the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training, helping ensure practice remains inclusive and sensory-aware for the whole community.
Lewis Wickwar
Project Filmmaker
Lewis is a community video artist and educator who works with a range of screen-based media throughout Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond. He has extensive experience working with a wide range of clients and participants, using playful approaches to working with video technologies, to remove technical barriers and encourage experimentation and creative expression. Lewis will be working with this project, capturing the diverse voices and landscapes to create a Landscape Record film to share a snapshot of farming in Blyth Valley at this pivotal point in time.
Ed Flaxman
Practitioner
Brought up on a Suffolk farm, Edward has a deep affinity with the local landscape which led him to a career in landscape architecture. He runs a progressive and environmentally conscious design practice working to improve the landscape for people and planet, is spearheading a local Parish biodiversity action plan and is working with us to develop our growing programme, headquarters site and land justice work.
Jannine Parry
Experienced grower and environmentally engaged practitioner who has delivered on many sustainability projects, including. sustainable water management, biodiversity improvement schools engagement, and corporate collaborations. Alongside running projects, she is also a co-director of a medicinal herb CIC, Artemisia and a grower for the progressive Agro-forestry farm, Wakelyns. Jannine will be supporting us to develop our activities and build connections within our community.
Trustees
Jonny Vaughan
Founder and Trustee
Jonny has held senior leadership roles within the environmental sector
for over 20 years. He is the CEO of Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT),
Malawi’s leading nature conservation and environmental education
charity. Prior to running LWT, Jonny held executive management roles
within the private sector. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s
Degrees in Ecology and is a full Member of the Chartered Institute of
Ecology and Environmental Management. In 2019 Jonny was made an MBE for his wildlife conservation work in Malawi.
Jonny brings considerable experience of building successful charitable
conversation organisations, programmes and projects. He and the other founders conceptualised Natural Habitat (NH) during the COVID pandemic, a time when local communities were at their most detached, both from one another and nature. As chairperson, Jonny now works to guard NH’s long-term future by helping ensure that NH’s will effectively deliver on our strategic policies, plans and programmes.
Susan Innes
Chair of Trustees
Sue brings decades of senior leadership experience across sustainability, business management and financial oversight. She has held director and executive roles in the construction, resource efficiency and healthcare sectors, and previously worked with the Environment Agency. A longstanding smallholder and grower, she combines practical land-based knowledge with strong financial literacy, strategic governance expertise, and commitment to community-focused change.
Johann Don-Daniel
Trustee
Johann is a Suffolk-based sound artist and educator whose work connects people, place and ecology through creative practice. With leadership experience across mainstream, SEMH and alternative education settings, he brings strong inclusive practice and community insight. Johann also contributes extensive regional arts networks and hands-on experience delivering environmental engagement projects.
Genevieve Rudd
Trustee
Genevieve Rudd is based in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk and has been leading participatory projects in outdoor and environmental arts projects for many years. She is the founder of Under Open Sky Ltd; a not-for-profit social enterprise exploring the changing coast through arts, cultural heritage, science and holistic health activity. Genevieve brings her wealth of experience of safe, engaging and innovative public facing work to her role as trustee.
Rae Willcox
Trustee & Safeguarding Lead
Rae brings over fifteen years’ experience across the community, arts and environmental sectors, specialising in facilitation, strategy, participation and inclusive programme design. An artist-researcher and current PhD candidate, she offers thoughtful governance and creative insight. Rae also serves as Trustee Safeguarding Lead, championing safe, inclusive and caring practice across the charity.
Patrons and Founders
Carrie Phoenix
Founder
Andrew Self
Co-Founder and Patron
Chris Vaughan
Founder
George Watts
Founder
About Us
Who are we, and what is our story?
Our Story
Born from a shared vision between an ecologist, carpenter, tree surgeon, and artist in East Anglia, our journey began as a conversation about transforming our local farmlands. Today, we’re an environmental charity committed to revitalising habitats and connecting communities through sustainable land practices.
Collaborations
Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to work alongside a network of forward-thinking organisations, local businesses, and community groups who share our vision for a more sustainable and thriving environment. Our partners bring invaluable expertise, resources, and support, helping us achieve lasting change in the landscapes and communities we serve. Together, we’re creating a brighter, greener future. Learn more about the incredible partners who make our mission possible.
What is Natural Habitat?
Our focus is sustainable land-use, supporting conservation and biodiversity, while promoting education through an inclusive land-based movement. As one of the oldest agroforestry sites in Europe, we blend organic farming with innovative practices, fostering thriving ecosystems and resilient local food systems.