Over his 70-year career, Attenborough, who turned 100, has brought wonders of the natural world home to us. His documentary ‘Life on Earth’ (1979) was seen by over 500 million people worldwide. The series ‘Planet Earth’ (2006) was shown in over 130 countries.
His film crews operate across the world. He is a communicator who has the gift of drawing on the expertise of others. Someone might have worked for 30 years on a particular animal and Attenborough comes along and wants 90 seconds of footage – and not one scientist has refused to help.
David Attenborough wants to convince people that the natural world is marvellous, and thinks that will help broaden awareness of how we treat nature: ‘You want people to understand the wonder of nature. Some spin-off is that if they appreciate the wonder, then they care about it, and that’s when it brings you to your other mission – which is to make people interested, then more likely to care and conserve, and become active in saving the planet.’[i]
Birthday cards by Deanna
His work has had its critics, that for too long he ignored the problems of: habitat loss, biodiversity collapse, indigenous issues, and climate change. George Monbiot in an article, ‘David Attenborough has betrayed the living world he loves’, wrote: ‘If you ask me whether the BBC or ExxonMobil has done more to frustrate environmental action in this country, I would say the BBC.’ [ii]
He has changed direction and become a passionate advocate for environmental protection. Back in 2013, he launched the UK State of Nature report saying: ‘This ground-breaking report is a stark warning.’ And in 2019, he narrated ‘Our Planet’ which stressed the harm humans have done to the natural world.
Cake by Deanna
He has urged world leaders to work together to address environmental issues and in 2022 he received a lifetime achievement award from the United Nations, for his work in this area.
To show our appreciation, from Valla Beach and beyond a celebratory party was organised by Forest Ecology Alliance (FEA) at Nambucca Heads.
Wyn is in her bush regeneration oufit and holding our furry Grey-headed Flying Fox
If anyone interested in protecting the beautiful natural environment in this area, contact Deanna at forestecologyalliance@gmail.com. Or, Nambucca Valley Conservation Association, contact Carol at pcmargolis@gmail.com.
[A version appears in Valla Views, May 2026][i] Jonathan Watts, ‘David Attenborough: too much alarmism on environment a turn-off’, Observer, 4 Nov, 2018.
[ii] George Monbiot, Guardian, 7 Nov, 2018.
