A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future

by David Attenborough

See the world. Then make it better.

I am 94. I've had an extraordinary life. It's only now that I appreciate how extraordinary.

As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day - the loss of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity.

I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. It is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake - and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right.

We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited.

All we need is the will to do so.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Audiobook, Environment, Biography, Memoir

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2020

About the author

Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a naturalist and broadcaster, who is most well-known for writing and presenting the nine "Life" series, produced in conjunction with BBC's Natural History Unit. The series includes Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), Life in the Freezer (about Antarctica; 1993), The Private Life of Plants (1995), The Life of Birds (1998), The Life of Mammals (2002), Life in the Undergrowth (2005) and Life in Cold Blood (2008).

He is the younger brother of director and actor Richard Attenborough.

Photo credit: Wildscreen's photograph of David Attenborough at ARKive's launch in Bristol, England © May 2003

Reviews

[Sean Barrs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unpopular opinion time: I really do not like David Attenborough and the cognitive dissonance he displays in this book

Now let me tell you why: he does not do enough. Most people will read such a statement and get a little bit angry with me and not quite understand the position from which I write, considering his life and work, so I will do my best to explain myself as best as I can.

This book needs to take a stronger stance on what is the biggest cause for environmental destruction. Attenborough talks at length about saving the planet here. He has also spent his life documenting natural life and presenting numerous examples of species extinction and environmental destruction. He comes to the accurate conclusion that such horrors are, ultimately, our fault. There is no denying this. He also accurately believes that such a thing can be reversed. He believes that there is still enough time to tip the scales back and restore balance to nature. He understands that there is still hope and he also understands that humanity needs to grow and learn in order to survive. We need something different before things get irreversible worse.

He has all the facts, and my dislike comes down to one strong and clear point: David Attenborough is not a vegan.

I find this extremely problematic. One cannot be a meat-eating environmentalist. One cannot talk about saving the earth when they partake in the single biggest contributor to natural destruction, climate change, habitat loss and species extinction. Worse, yet, is that Attenborough is aware that animal agriculture in the leading cause. He advocates for reducing meat intake, which simply is not enough to make a significant difference. We need to stop consuming animal products entirely because they are ruining the planet.

Now I am not downplaying the important work Attenborough has done. I love his documentaries. They are a celebration of the natural world, and I still watch them whenever he produces one. I just find it extremely distasteful and illogical that he does not directly advocate for a lifestyle that, if universally embraced, would significantly alter the future of this planet.

This will prove to be an unpopular critique of someone who is considered a national treasure, but I ask you this: how many people would go vegan, for the planet, if Attenborough asked them to?

It is the only way we can save what is left of the environment.

It is my sincere wish that Attenborough follows the example of Chris Packham, another fantastic naturalist who went vegan earlier this year because he understood that he cannot love nature and talk about the longevity of life on this planet whilst he took part in the leading cause for its destruction.

To quote an extraordinary and morally consistent environmental activist "it's time to start panicking" because there is still hope that we can change this.

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You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
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[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary
An award-winning natural historian shares his knowledge he acquired during his last 93 years of life through this book. He is exploring the various threats imposed by humans on our planet that is affecting its biodiversity. This book outlines how to tackle these threats and rectify the problems for a better future.

Three things I learned from this book
1) The importance of biodiversity in civilizations
Mr. Attenborough says that biodiversity is the backbone of civilizations. Civilization's gathered pace with every generation and each technical innovation. The current geological epoch of Holocene's stability is inevitable for the development and sustenance of civilizations.

“The benign environment of the Holocene and the marvellous biodiversity is more important to us than ever.”

2) Bait ball sequences


This is one of the most spectacular sequences found in nature. Tuna sweep around the baitfish, penning them against the surface, swimming around them to drive them into a tight ball. Then they attack, shooting through the ball. Dolphins tackle it from below. A whale may appear to scoop up the remaining bait. They are one of the most difficult of all the natural events to predict.

3) What will cause the next pandemic, and how can we prevent it?
In this book, the author mentions an association between the rise of emergent viruses and the planet's demise. About 1.7 million viruses, which can be a threat to humans, hide within the population of mammals and birds. Deforestation, the extension of farmlands, and the illegal trade of wild animals will affect wildlife balance. It will be one of the main causes of the emergence of a new pandemic.


What I didn’t like in this book
This book has a lot of statistical data and data from various scientific studies. This can make the reading experience monotonous in some areas of this book. But the author's absorbing writing skills and the gravity of the topic discussed counterpoises it to a certain extend.

My favourite three lines from this book

“Our planet is small, isolated and vulnerable. It is the only place we have, the only place where life exists as far as we can tell. It is uniquely precious.”

"The pictures from Apollo 8 transformed the mindset of the population of the world. As Anderson himself said, "We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the earth."

"We often talk of saving the planet, but the truth is we have to do these things to save ourselves. With or without us, the wild will return like the forest has taken over the city of Pripyat after the Chernobyl disaster forced people to evacuate the city."

Rating
4/5 If you liked Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, there is a high probability that you will also like this book. This is a must-read book for environmentalists or anyone who loves to read books about our planet and its biodiversity.

[Nataliya · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We often talk of saving the planet, but the truth is that we must do these things to save ourselves. With or without us, the wild will return.”

Over his ninety-plus years on Earth David Attenborough has seen the world change.

In 1937 he was 11, and at that time the world population was 2.3 billion, atmospheric carbon 280 ppm, and remaining wilderness 66%.

In 2020 he was 93, and things changed quite a bit: population 7.8 billion, atmospheric carbon 415 ppm, and remaining wilderness 35%.

This is his witness statement of the changes, a simple and accessible explanation why we should care, and ideas and hopes for us, humans, to find a way out of the disaster we are bringing upon ourselves.

“We have replaced the wild with the tame. We regard the Earth as our planet, run by humankind for humankind. There is little left for the rest of the living world. The truly wild world–that non-human world–has gone. We have overrun the Earth.”

Attenborough’s long life over which these changes have been ever-accelerating is really less than a blink on a planetary life scale — and yet life as we know it is now teetering on a brink, rushing there with the speed that, while much slower that dinosaur-doom Chicxulub asteroid, is proceeding scarily fast, to the point where what we leave to generations to come — climate, biodiversity, ability of the planet to sustain our ever-expanding numbers — is really uncertain.

“We live our comfortable lives in the shadow of a disaster of our own making. That disaster is being brought about by the very things that allow us to live our comfortable lives.”

Extinctions and huge changes have happened in the history of the planet before, but this one is not due to natural forces. It is us, humans, that are messing it all up. Earth will persist, life will recover in one form or another — we, after all, only had a chance to thrive because the world of dinosaurs got extinguished, benefitting from that horror in the world — but that post-extinction planet will not only lose its current ever-declining biodiversity but will likely not be a friendly place for us, humans, to continue (well, other than those few super-rich who can find resources to get through everything, leaving those less fortunate to burn).

Attenborough emphasizes that there’s no room for continued growth - population, GDP, consumption — on a closed-system planet worth limited resources. Earth is all we have, and if we want to continue to be the ones having it, we need to change what we are doing, even if it’s uncomfortable.

“We have come as far as we have because we are the cleverest creatures to have ever lived on Earth. But if we are to continue to exist, we will require more than intelligence. We will require wisdom.”

David Attenborough is optimistic, however. He believes that not only can we fix it but that we are willing to change to achieve it. He is hopeful that people can adjust the expectations of comfort and wealth growth and countries adjust to not focusing on GDP growth as the all-important metric, and that we will see the big picture and put things right. And he is very good at explaining his point so convisely and accessibly, and with such hope that even the cynics among us start wondering that maybe, just maybe, we have a chance after all.

5 stars.

“Our planet is small, isolated and vulnerable. It is the only place we have, the only place where life exists as far as we can tell. It is uniquely precious.”

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scariest book I've read lately and it's so true. Love his voice and these dire warnings sure make one aware of how much we have destroyed and where exactly we are going if things don't start changing soon. The statistics are beyond jaw dropping. May be one of the most important books I'll read this year. It's concise, well presented and backed up with facts. Also solutions. Certainly made me much more aware of my carbon footprint and to think of ways to minimize these in my personal life. Though of course, things need to change in a much bigger way. Companies and innovations, governments need to take charge and to lead the way. This is a world problem and all need to be involved.

[Jo (The Book Geek) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's probably fairly old news, but I'd chew off a limb if it meant me sipping coffee and nibbling biscuits with Sir Attenborough. He has always been the figure of reason, the gentle voice that describes animals mating or fighting for survival on Sunday night TV, but most of all, he seen changes that most of us have not lived through in our lifetimes, and I believe that everything he tells us about climate change and the problematic changes to our planet, is entirely true.

Attenborough gives us an insight into his life in which he has dedicated to nature. Not only is his work thrilling to witness, but I think it can break even the hardest of hearts. In one of his most recent TV programmes, I was watching a crowd of young flamingo's escape the clutches of a beady-eyed predator. It was spectacularly moving, and I think my heart was in my mouth the entire time.

But, getting back to the book, Attenborough lays out a lot of information. Information that we, as individuals need to follow in order to save our beautiful world for future generations. Much of this information ultimately sounds depressing, but a lot of it is achievable. It's just the simple actually of doing it that we as humans have issues with.

This was a short, simple, and definitely to the point kind of read, and when it comes to world issues, Attenborough is the King, and I think this book is thought-provoking and terribly necessary to anyone that happens to read it.

[Colin Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Sir David Attenborough.

This book delivered everything I wished for.

We all know about the ongoing climate debate and, like the author, some of us are willing to accept the indisputable evidence that climate change is seriously affecting our planet. Like him, some of us have witnessed the changes.

The author also acknowledges the powerful (mostly economic) influences that allow scepticism on climate change, and lack of action to combat it, to persist.

Irrespective of where a person is on that spectrum, there is no denying the expertise, passion and thoroughness of this man, this writer, this environmentalist, this scientist is all laid out in this text.

And of course, it's not all about climate change/global warming. He covers other issues, such as population and impact of plastic waste - but manages to connect all the dots. The bottom line is we need to change and act.

In my opinion, he does not ‘preach’. He does not promise miracles. We are given a detailed, balance account of the history, current state and survival of our planet - and in turn, our species.

The difficulties are not ‘sugar coated’ as things that can be easily fixed. We are cautioned that some reversal strategies will be difficult to implement, but reminded that it is the sum of all the parts that count. This is a global call for action.

We are given supplementary backup data and research. This adds to the integrity of this author. He is fair and intelligent. He looks at the bigger picture.

The book offers a positive, collective approach to solving the problems. ‘It is possible,’ he writes. Simple versus overreaching words of encouragement.

There were times when I felt the science became dense, but I imagined the sound of the author’s distinctive voice. This reset my concentration and allowed the text to flow and become clearer. It is all relevant.

Sir David Attenborough is, and will be remembered for generations to come, a champion.

Four stars for content. An extra star for the author for being who he is.

Credit also goes to the Co-Author, Jonnie Hughes, Director and Co-Founder of Studio Silverback.

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book I thoroughly enjoyed by a man I have the utmost respect for since I grew up watching his programs and learning a lot about the natural world. This book is what it says it is; Sir David Attenborough's witness statement of our planets last 80-odd-years. He makes examples of how our natural world has suffered due to us humans, but also gives hope for the future of practical ways in which to reverse the damage we have done to our planet. He does not point the finger at any specific humans who have damaged the planet, but to all of us as the dominant species on the planet, where probably most of us are culpable. Hopefully his vision for the future becomes a reality, but that would mean that all humans must work together to save our planet, and unfortunately at the moment, we can't...

[André Oliveira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good. It tells us how the world has been changing since David was born and how it could look like in the future if we keep doing what we are doing today. In the last chapter, he also presents some information on what we can do to improve the lifestyle of all the people around the world, giving some examples that are currently working for some people - we just need to apply what they are doing around the world so we can have a greener future.


Now I have to watch the documentary on Netflix.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

We regard the Earth as our planet, run by humankind for humankind. There is little left for the rest of the living world.

This book is Sir David Attenborough’s witness statement of anthropogenic climate change and biodiversity loss that has happened during his lifetime. In the blink of an eye, from a geological viewpoint, the world has changed drastically.

In the first part of the book he takes us on a journey to revisit some important moments of his life, starting in 1937 when as a young boy he developed a fascination with fossils. We then see how he joined the BBC and as a naturalist and broadcaster traveled the world to bring animal and plant life on Earth into people’s living rooms. He also talks about other significant events like the Apollo 8 mission or the Chernobyl disaster. All these stories are always connected to the topic of the book and the reader learns about the importance of biodiversity and how with the Holocene the living world settled into a gentle, reliable annual rhythm. Before we disrupted it.

At the beginning of every chapter Attenborough quotes three numbers and their development over the years, which is quite disconcerting. I’ll give you these numbers for three dates. The year an eleven-year-old David Attenborough explored the countryside around Leicester, turned over rocks, excited about what he might find under them; the year I was born; the year the United States of America under then-president Donald Trump effectively withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, because it would “undermine” the U.S. economy. Those are the numbers:

1937:
World population: 2.3 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 280 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: 66%

1982:
World population: 4.6 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 341 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: Around 50% (I couldn’t find the exact number)

2020:
World population: 7.8 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 415 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: 35%

The natural world is fading. The evidence is all around. It has happened during my lifetime. I have seen it with my own eyes. It will lead to our destruction.

This is what the second part of the book is about. The things that are expected to happen until the year 2100, another blink of an eye, if we don’t change our ways.

But ultimately this is an optimistic book. Because Mr. Attenborough believes that we can and will change. We really have no other option. In the third part of the book he shows what is already done in parts of the world and what has to be done globally to put things right.

This book is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake, and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right.

Everyone should read it.

It gives a good overview of the things that can be done to make the world a better place again, is highly readable, informative, inspiring, and comes from the heart.



"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living."

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so worth reading! I hope everybody does and that it will actually help the earth to recover.
Sir David Attenborough points out that the end of life on our planet might be near, but that there are still possibilities to put a halt to it and continues to inform us how. Ultimately I find this an optimistic book.

[Woman Reading (is away exploring) · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are just another species on the tree of life.

Attenborough acknowledges that he has been fortunate with his career. He had created documentaries for the BBC about a subject dear to his heart - the natural world - thus giving him a front row seat to witness how much the life on earth has changed. He was born in 1926 during one geological period - the holocene - and is now observing another - the anthropocene - the period in which humans are the dominant influence on the climate and the environment. And this is clear in the statistics he cited during his lifetime. The human population has quadrupled since his birth. The amount of carbon in the atmosphere has increased by 50 percent. Given that a safe level for humans would be 350 parts per million (ppm), we're now easily in the danger zone. The world's remaining wilderness areas have shrunk in half.

Year - World Population - Carbon Level (ppm) - World's wilderness

1937 - 2.3 billion - 280 parts - 66%
1954 - 2.7 billion - 310 parts - 64 %
1968 - 3.5 billion - 323 parts - 59%
1971 - 3.7 billion - 326 parts - 58%
1978 - 4.3 billion - 335 parts - 55 %
1989 - 5.1 billion - 353 parts - 49%
1997 - 5.9 billion - 360 parts - 46%
2011 - 7.0 billion - 391 parts - 39%
2020 - 7.8 billion - 415 parts - 35%

The loss of the undeveloped areas and their animal inhabitants have been anathema to Attenborough, making him a passionate advocate. How could he not bemoan these changes when he has had such rare experiences with our planet's other residents? One such memorable encounter was during a visit to Dian Fossey's research camp in Rwanda. A female gorilla placed her hand on his head and then proceeded to examine his teeth as two infant gorillas played with his boot shoelaces. His respect for animal life is quite evident.

As to why anyone beyond naturalists should care about these changes, Attenborough provided an illustration. Scientists who want to grow bacteria place a few bacterium along with nutrients into a petri dish. There's a predictable progression in which growth is initially slow to occur as the bacteria assess the available resources, and then there's explosive growth from the high number of births. Eventually some bacteria die from old age and this will slow the rate of all population growth. But as there's still positive growth, the petri dish is getting crowded as there's more competition for the few remaining nutrients. Eventually once all the nutrients are exhausted, the entire colony begins its death spiral. Although earth is much larger than a petri dish, it is also a closed system with finite resources.

What I liked about his witness statement is that he outlined solutions, which were quite comprehensive in scope, to deal with our unsustainable lifestyles and the damage we've done to our planet. He described population trends and stages in development and what this meant in terms of food requirements. Apparently our habits of cultivating livestock now mean that the total weight of our cattle, hogs, chicken, etc. outweighs all other lifeforms on the planet. That's a weird but provocative factoid. The United Nations forecast a population of 11 billion by the end of the century, but the milestone could be attained earlier. We need to consider alternative ways to feed ourselves without straining our natural resources even more and to do so in a fair way. He endorses Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics framework. He discussed cleaner sources of energy. Attenborough also proposes restoring biodiversity in the world to mitigate the damage created by global warming. He had begun his book with the state of Pripyat, Ukraine, after the disaster of their Chernobyl nuclear reactor; 34 years later, wilderness has overtaken civilization. He included this to illustrate the irony that the planet will survive global warming just fine. It's everybody else who will not fare well.

We often talk of saving the planet, but the truth is that we must do these things to save ourselves. With or without us, the wild will return.

[Maede · Rating 5 out of 5]

گرمایش جهانی، جنگل زدایی، آب شدن یخ های قطبی، از بین رفتن صخره های مرجانی، انقراض حیوانات، کم شدن آبزیان، کشاورزی و دامداری بی رویه

این لیست عذاب آور به نظر بی سر و ته میاد و فقط درست مثل یک سیاهچاله آدم رو به درون خودش می کشه. کاری که دیوید اتنبرو در این کتاب عالی انجام داده اینه که تمام مشکلاتی که طبیعت کره ما باهاش درگیر هست رو به بهترین روش ممکن دسته بندی و خلاصه کرده. احتمالا نویسنده این کتاب رو از صدای جذابش روی بعضی از بهترین مستندهای دنیا مثل "سیاره زمین" بشناسید

این مستندنگار ٩۴ ساله که بیشتر زندگیش رو صرف کشف طبیعت و حیات وحش کرده، این کتاب رو انگار به عنوان یادگاری از خودش و آخرین صحبت های مهمش نوشته. در بخش اول اتنبرو با برش هایی از زندگی و تجربیات خودش، از آسیب های اساسی ای که در طی یک قرن گذشته به محیط زیست وارد شده صحبت می کنه و سعی می کنه این تصویر عظیم که به سختی میشه تمامش رو دید رو به ساده ترین روش ممکن نشون بده

در بخش دوم و [بسیار] ترسناک این کتاب، از آینده ای می خونیم که در صورت ادامه داشتن همین وضع، ما و نسل های آینده مون تجربه می کنیم. اما به
نظرم بهترین بخش کتاب، بخشه سومه که بهمون یک نقشه ی بسیار کلی برای بیرون اومدن از این مخمصه میده. حالا که به اینجا رسیدیم چه باید کرد؟ مهم اینه که حتی هنوز هم برای تغییر دیر نشده

دو دسته خواننده برای این کتاب وجود دارند
١. کسانی که زیاد درگیر مسائل محیط زیستی نیستند و کم و بیش چیزهایی می دونند. برای این افراد این کتاب پر از اطلاعات مهم و جدیده و باعث میشه بفهمند اوضاع چقدر وخیمه و هیچ کس نباید توی این گروه اول باقی بمونه

٢. کسانی که دغدغه محیط زیستی دارند و درباره اش مطالعه هم می کنند. برای این آدم ها این کتاب یک خلاصه ی بی نظیر و یک دید جدیده. به ریسرچ ها و نظراتی اشاره میشه که ممکنه نشنیده باشند و مسیر مطالعه های بعدیشون رو شکل میده. این گروه بیچاره همچنین می تونن با این کتاب حرص بخورند و اضطراب بگیرند و شاید کمی هم امیدوار بشن

مثالی که اتنبرو باهاش شروع می کنه، بهترین مثال برای اوضاع الان ما آدم هاست. همه ی ما انگار ساکنان شهر پریپیات نزدیک نیروگاه هسته ای چرنوبیل هستیم و داریم با بمب ساعتی کنار گوشمون زندگی می کنیم. ولی لحظه ای که این اتفاق بیوفته، دیگه برگشتی ازش وجود نداره. برای من کتاب چهار ستاره یک کتاب عالیه، ولی پنچ ستاره ها یک وجه شخصی دارند. کتابی که باعث بشه به طور متفاوتی فکر یا حس کنم. سادگی لحنش، نگرانی عمیقش و عشق واقعیش به طبیعت باعث شد این کتاب از مقاله های سنگین تری که می خونم، تاثیر بیشتری روی من بگذاره و حالا می خوام یک قدم کوچک دیگه هم بردارم

:پی‌نوشت
١. مستند هم داره که به زودی می بینم
٢. این کتاب برای هرکسی که داره برای آیلتس آماده میشه عالیه
٣. دوباره می خونمش و تکه هاییش رو سر کلاسام میبرم

99.9.23

[H (no longer expecting notifications) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have come to rely on Attenborough for his insights into nature and his identification of factors that are critical to our planet’s health and diversity. This book is his “sum up” or “witness statement” of all that he has experienced and learned over his 90+ years.

“I had believed from a very early age that the most important knowledge was that which brought an understanding of how the natural world worked. It was not laws invented by human beings that interested me, but the principles that governed the lives of animals and plants; not the history of kings and queens, or even the different languages that had been developed by different human societies, but the truths that had governed the world around me long before humanity had appeared in it.”

As he begins by relating his gaining of insights and experiences, here are a few metrics that he shares:
1937
 Human Population 2.3 billion
 Carbon in atmosphere 280 parts per million
 Remaining wilderness 66 %

1954
 Human Population 2.7 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 310 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 64 %

1968
 Human Population 3.5 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 323 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 59 %

1971
 Human Population 3.7 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 326 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 58 %

1978
 Human Population 4.3 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 335 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 55 %

1989
 Human Population 5.1 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 353 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 49 %


1997
 Human Population 5.9 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 360 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 46 %

2011
 Human Population 7.0 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 390 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 39 %

2021
 Human Population 8.0 b
 Carbon in atmosphere 420 ppm
 Remaining wilderness 23 %


I am doing Attenborough a disservice by reducing this book to statistics, no matter how powerful they may be. There is a great deal of joy and some hope in what he relates. His passions are instructive. He knows how to tell stories effectively. And, if you listen to him tell it, you can almost believe that we can make it safe for future generations.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough is written by a 93-year-old man who has seen our planet deteriorate from the beginning of his adulthood until now. Attenborough paints a clear picture of the environment at different decades of his own life. That most of the damage done could be wrought during the length of a human life is astounding. The author also writes about what practices could be brought about to ensure our planet returns to good health in the future. This advice comes from someone who has spent a lifetime in nature and is dreadfully worried about the consequences. But, on the other hand, he is enthusiastic about the future, detailing many ways we can improve. I listened to the audio version, read by the author. I highly recommend this book to all who care about tomorrow.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't imagine the changes he has seen up close, the senseless destruction of our planet becoming ever more clear with each documentary series. The depressing transition is detailed here in his 'witness statement' and even though he finishes with suggestions that could bring us hope if we act now, it's hard to believe. What can we, as individuals, do in the face of corporate greed? It won't stop me trying, of course, but the time for optimism seems way past gone.


ARC via Netgalley

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Attenborough is a treasure. He has lived long enough to witness the devastation of much of the wilderness he has visited and the disappearance of many of the plants and animals that used to thrive there. Still, he remains hopeful. Unlike some books I have read about the sorry state of the world, this book actually offers solutions.

The first part of the book covers the time the author spent at the BBC, and the creation of some of his wonderful nature series. The next part discusses the likely outcome if we continue along our current path. Finally, the author tells what should change and the various ways the changes would benefit us and the planet. For example, eliminate the use of fossil fuels, switch to plant-based diets, preserve or restore biodiversity and level population growth. We’ve heard this before of course, but Attenborough has such a positive attitude that he makes it seem possible.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are all people of Pripyat now. We live our comfortable lives in the shadow of a disaster of our own making. That disaster is being brought about by the very things that allow us to live our comfortable lives. And it is quite natural to carry on in this way until there is a convincing reason not to do so and a very good plan for an alternative. That is why I have written this book.
The natural world is fading. The evidence is all around. It has happened during my lifetime. I have seen it with my own eyes. It will lead to our destruction.
Yet there is still time to switch off the reactor. There is a good alternative.

So this is Sir David Attenborough's account of the change he has witnessed in the natural world since he was born. Considering that he is over 90 years old, he got a good look at a number of really important events in our recent history (from World War 2 and humans landing on the Moon to the Chernobyl disaster and more).

We start in 1937 when Sir Attenborough was a boy.
World population: 2.3 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 280 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: 66%
He takes us on little journeys through rural England. We learn of his early fascination with fossils and thus learn some details about ammonites, their significance for natural history. We also learn of humanity's evolution, the different environmental circumstances which our ancestors had to survive and what has changed until now (this, the Holocene, is the gentlest era thus far). He also talks of mass extinctions.

Soon, we are in 1954, after Sir Attenborough's studies of natural sciences at university and after him doing his national service (it was still a thing back then) in the Royal Navy. It was the year he joined the then "infant" BBC Television Service.
World population: 2.7 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 310 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: 64%

Our next stop is 1960 when he first visited the plains of Africa.
World population: 3.0 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 315 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: 62%

Then it's 1968, the year he produced Zoo Expeditions (aka Zoo Quests, review *here*).
World population: 3.5 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 323 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: 59%

In 1971, he travelled to South-East Asia, New Guinea and other places, and the world could no longer ignore the fact that nature wasn't indestructible, no matter your religious beliefs (very much a thing back then, refusing to accept that nature was as finite as everything else).
World population: 3.7 billion
Carbon in atmosphere: 326 parts per million
Remaining wilderness: 58%

Following that are 4 more chapters, chronicling stops in 1978 when he produced Life on Earth, 1989, 1997 and 2011 when he produced Frozen Planet. Then we get to last year, 2020.
In those years, the world population went from 4.3 billion to 7.8 billion, the carbon in the atmosphere went from 335 parts per million to 415 parts per million and the remaining wilderness went from 55% to a mere 35%.

And he was there, actually seeing the evidence so those aren't just numbers to him.

But even for someone like me, who hasn't witnessed the changes first-hand, the numbers are disconcerting to say the least. Nobody is able to deny that unless they are a complete idiot. Yes, there are different "interpretations", but the fact of the matter is that we're taking up more and more space, are overfishing the seas and leaving behind sheer unimaginable quantities of plastic waste for example.




But this book, while showing us what we've done - no matter how unintentional - serves another purpose: to show what we're also capable of when we put our minds to it. We learn of conservation efforts for pangolins, whales and gorillas; we see the success such efforts have already wielded in the recent past (such as wolves being reintroduced to Yellowstone, the European bison being brought back from the brink, storks re-appearing in Great Britain etc).





All this serves to show that it IS doable and not with too huge a sacrifice. It also serves to show us how important it is that we indeed do something because the eco system is a fragile thing and we need food and water from it so it is in our own best interest to get a move on.

I liked that Sir Attenborough gave a 360° view on what life was like in the 1930s, all the things he got to see and places he got to visit over the years thanks to his job, and that he also talked about other notable people who have blown the whistle decades ago and put in significant efforts to save the wild. Such as the then-director of the Frankfurt Zoo and creator of an academy award winning documentary about the Serengeti back in the 1950s.

The last part of the book gives an outlook on what lies ahead in the decades from 2030 to 2100 (if we do nothing or if we do certain things). Here, Sir Attenborough talks about how to rewild the world (the land and the seas), how to live more balanced lives, e.g. not destroy as much of nature and more.

I'm not one to listen to hysterical people and despise how so many only want attention or money while being entirely hypocritical. However, there is no denying that our mere presence on the planet is having often devastating effects. Personally, I've seen it here in my area: storks were gone for over 15 years, we barely had any amphibians left, the water quality dropped significantly (which, by the way, meant we needed to apply expensive methods to clean it enough to make it drinkable so saving the environment might even be cheaper), foxes and badgers weren't seen, the forests grew sick, a lack of birds of prey meant the place being overrun by vermin or people needing to use terrible poisons to get a hold of the situation. There were more problems, of course, but this is just to give you a taste.
Ever since the implementation of a number of laws and regulations, we're having more amphibians. With them, storks and cranes came back. Birds of prey were re-introduced and are keeping a lid on the vermin populations. Wild boars, deers and other species also recovered, triggering a chain reaction that resulted in foxes, badgers and even lynxes being seen frequently again.
I remember how, as a kid/teen, I noticed seeing less and less wild "friends" and being depressed about it and it brings tears to my eyes whenever I now see them again during my strolls through nature.
Therefore, I can imagine somewhat how Sir Attenborough must feel after all the things he's seen and experienced.

So I hope humanity can get a grip and remember that if nothing else, it’ll save a lot of money (no matter how expensive some conservation efforts might seem at first glance) and it’d serve us well if we protected the very planet that is feeding us.


P.S.: For those interested, they also filmed A Life on Our Planet and in the typical spectacular fashion - the show can be viewed on Netflix.

[Roy Lotz · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know the climate crisis is getting bad when David Attenborough—a man who epitomizes feel-good, apolitical television—is issuing dire warnings about the future of humankind. By now, we do not even need scientists and their graphs to understand the gravity of our situation. Extreme weather events are becoming commonplace. Consider the record temperatures set last month in, of all places, Canada, with thermometers soaring to nearly 50 C (121 F). Welcome to the new normal.

This book has two sections: a “witness statement” and a “vision for the future.” The former is a kind of autobiography, charting both the turning points in Attenborough’s life and charting the climate’s descent into emergency. It is not exactly an intimate memoire. But using the lifespan of a single man (albeit one quite advanced in years) did effectively showcase the enormous rate of change being undergone by the earth. In part two, Attenborough outlines the cascading catastrophe that could unfold in the next 80 years if decisive action is not taken. Ever the optimist, however, he spends more time describing strategies for avoiding such a calamity.

Attenborough is a naturalist, and he sees the climate crisis as, first and foremost, a crisis of biodiversity loss. It is a compelling view. An ecosystem can be thought of as a complex web, where each species depends on many others, each of which depends, in turn, on many others still. It is not simply a food chain—which implies a linear flow of energy—but a dense fabric, spreading in many directions, with each node bound up with every other. As in a a rope hammock, if you cut one thread, the entire thing can come undone.

It is human activity that seeks to simplify this complex arrangement into something approximating a line—petroleum fertilizer, to corn, to animal feed, to cow, to steak—a process that boosts short-term yield at the expense of long-term sustainability. Attenborough’s contention is that, by seeking to dominate nature in such a way, we have destroyed the intricate network that stabilized our climate. When energy flows in a single direction through a system, we use up fuel on one end and create a lot of waste on the other—somehting that cannot go on forever. In a natural ecosystem, on the other hand, virtually all waste becomes fuel for another process, creating a stable arrangement.

The only way out, then, is to try to “re-wild” the world. Attenborough has some concrete suggestions for this. We can prevent over-fishing by only permitting the practice in certain parts of the ocean, leaving others undisturbed to recover their populatioins. We can vastly reduce our need for farmland by switching to a mostly plant-based diet, and adopting better farming practices, thus leaving more space available for wildlife. We can stem human population growth by promoting economic development throughout the world, which leads to demographic transition. And we can, of course, stop emitting carbon into the atmosphere by switching to renewable energy like solar or wind. This way, the biodiversity that helped to stabilize the climate can return.

I finished this book feeling cautiously optimistic. Attenborough succeeds in convincing the reader that these changes are possible. Partly this is because, with his characteristic grace, Attenborough manages to tiptoe around politics. He does not have much to say about disinformation campaigns, vested interests, or free-market fundamentalism. He points no fingers. This is wise, in that it makes the message palatable to as many people as possible. But I also think that this problem is so deeply rooted in our economy, and so bolstered by our politics, that it will require more than a bit of utopian vision to solve. It is going to be a struggle.

On the whole, however, I found this book (and the accompanying documentary) both moving and inspiring. Attenborough is uniquely well-positioned—by his age, reputation, and experience—to be making this warning. And I should mention that, for a man of 95, he is looking and sounding remarkably good. Clearly, this man has unlocked the secret of life somewhere along his travels. We would do well to listen.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir David Attenborough is someone who makes everything interesting and in this book full of statistics and scientifically described information he still holds my attention where many others would fail.

The book opens with a brief description of how he got into the position he held in the BBC mentioning some of his experiences such as the encounter with the gorillas which is one of my fondest television memories. He then goes on to give his account of the world has changed over the last century, his lifetime. It's not great news and work needs to be done to safeguard the future of our loved ones and the planet itself. David tells of some of the work that is already taking place and other work that needs to be done.

A fascinating read that does not overcomplicate the facts and makes a lot of sense. A book that everyone should take note of.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House Publishing for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Cher 'N Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars = Fantastic and easy to recommend.

We are causing a rate of biodiversity loss that is more than 100 times the average, and only matched in the fossil record during a mass extinction event.

Plastic is invading oceanic food chains and over 90% of seabirds have plastic fragments in their stomachs.

96% of the mass of all the mammals on Earth is made up of our own bodies and those of the animals that we raise to eat...The remainder - all the wild mammals, from mice to elephants and whales - account for just 4%.

Lots of depressing information is laid out as Sir Attenborough drops truth in this book, truth that the entire world desperately needs to listen to and begin to understand. It’s not all doom and gloom as he also lays out very achievable ways we can start to reverse course if we act now. Please read and then educate the people around you. Tick tock.

Humankind now uses up the equivalent of 1.7 times what the Earth can regenerate in a single year.

Give and take, that is the essence of what balance is all about. When humankind as a whole is in a position to give back to nature at least as much as we take, and repay some of our debt, we will all be able to lead more balanced lives.

-------------------------------------------
First Sentence: Pripyat in the Ukraine is a place unlike anywhere else I have ever been.

Favorite Quotes: Among all of these social improvements, one in particular is found to significantly reduce family size - the empowerment of women. Wherever women have the vote, wherever girls stay in school for longer, wherever women are in charge of their own lives and not dictated to by men, wherever they have access to good healthcare and contraception, wherever they are free to take any job and their aspirations for life are raised, the birth rate falls. The reason for this is straightforward - empowerment brings freedom of choice and when life offers more options for women, their choice is often to have fewer children.

‘There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla,’ I said quietly, ‘than with any other animal I know. Their sight, their hearing, their sense of smell are so similar to ours that they see the world in much the same way as we do. We live in the same sort of social groups with largely permanent family relationships. They walk around on the ground as we do, though they are immensely more powerful than we are. So if there were ever a possibility of escaping the human condition and living imaginatively in another creature’s world, it must be with the gorilla. The male is an enormously powerful creature but he only uses his strength when he is protecting his family and it is very rare that there is violence within the group. So it seems really very unfair that Man should have chosen the gorilla to symbolise everything that is aggressive and violent, when that is the one thing that the gorilla is not - and that we are.’

[Alan Cotterell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House and Sir David Attenborough for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“We humans, alone on Earth, are powerful enough to create worlds, and then to destroy them.”
This is part memoir, part dire warning about the decline of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity and what we must do to help put it right. A relatively short book, but it is possibly the book we must all read especially world leaders and decision makers. Part one is a run through of what has gone wrong over the past 70 odd years. Part two was a short but depressing, almost dystopian, 'what-if' we don't change anything now. And part three discusses possible ways of reversing the decline. Some of the scientific solutions he proposes need further development, but a lot of the technology already exists. The main problem is convincing people that they need to change, and to change quickly.

I don’t think anyone other than Sir David Attenborough could have written this book and made it so powerful and enlightening. His voice, (yes you do hear him speaking as you read) makes everything interesting in this, a book full of statistics and scientifically described information. He manages to hold your attention and get his stark message in an easily understandable way, that very few others could manage.

A Life in our Planet is extremely well written and presented in a way that clearly outlines what is happening and why it is so catastrophic. To sum it up, it is a fascinating, emotive, rewarding, shocking, thought provoking and informative read, that is far more terrifying a read than any horror story I have read.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

As most things Attenborough does, this was very interesting.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first adult book I've read in one sitting for this year! I wasn't planning to read it cover to cover, I actually had a pile of books I've was going to switch between, but I was completely hooked. I have to admit that I haven't seen many of the documentarys he has narrated as me and tv have it complicated. This book !Ade me forgot about most things for a while and I was completely engrossed into it. But that being said it wasn't that most easier of reads as it deals with a very important and scary subject. The future of the planet. The first section was about his life and that was all very interesting and I was glad it started like that before talking about the future of the earth. An very informative and fascinating read.

[TS Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC received from the publisher, Random House UK, in exchange for an honest review

Brilliance was what I've expected from Attenborough, and brilliance was exactly what I got.

As a book which I thought was remarkably compact for one on environmental and climate awareness/sciences, A Life on Our Planet was an immensely well-written, concise and insightful narrative. Attenborough's 'Witness Statement', a summarised memoir of sorts, outlined the changes wrought on the planet from the time when he was just eleven and through the intervening years of his illustrious career as a broadcaster, natural historian and writer, up until 2020. With just three statistical numbers - world population, carbon in atmosphere, and remaining wilderness - he was able to portray such a shockingly drastic deterioration of life on our planet that occurred just within the span of a human life. The world's population has more than tripled, carbon in the atmosphere increased by almost 50% and remaining wilderness almost halved. The picture is thoroughly depressing.

The next two sections talk about what lies ahead of us if we continue living as we do in the present and his vision for the future with proper and sustainable efforts to rewild the world. Biodiversity is what keeps Earth stable and balanced, with its resources constantly renewable to sustain life on the planet. However, the demands of the human race have far outstripped Earth's capacity to renew. As depressing as it may all appear to be, it is heartening to note that there have been progress made in certain sectors or countries, with notable impact in the targeted areas. I've seen both ends of the spectrum when it comes to awareness of what is happening and the impact of our choices in our daily lives on the planet that we live in. What truly infuriates is when some seem to be deliberately ignorant or obtuse about environmental or climate issues, and I've definitely come across such behaviour from personal experience.

I certainly will recommend this book as an authoritative, and easily digestible narrative to raise awareness for everyone. There's also the excellent audiobook read by the author himself, as well as a new documentary available on Netflix for those less inclined to read.

You can purchase a copy of the book from Book Depository (Free Shipping)  | Bookshop.Org (Support Independent Bookstores | Amazon US | Amazon UK

You can find this and my other reviews at Novel Notions.

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home, a tiny corner (although it is not so tiny, afterall). It is so comforting to us that even in its lack and/or absence, we often find ourselves delving into it. Home is often our first reaction to intense emotions. If I have to express home in brief, it is our everything. However, why is it that when our home is in pain, we are unable to see its bruises and gnashes? Why is it that our home is crying and instead of succumbing to our love for home, we are growing aloof from it? Why is it that the pain is not bringing us together but instead, is pushing us so away from each other that in my mind, we are never going to be together again? Home, alas my home, our home!

David Attenborough has always been a voice that I absolutely love and respect and when he speaks, I give all my attention to him because he is someone who knows what he is talking about. A Life on Our Planet is his witness statement, as can be discerned from the book's subtitle. The book is divided into two parts. The first part is about the changes Attenborough has witnessed while living through the years. He is 94 at the moment, so, he has seen quite a lot. He explains the problems we have created, both for ourselves and for our home (are they even separate?!) and all I was wondering was how could he have any hope left in himself after seeing everything he did! But when it comes to love, when have we ever been logical? How desperately we cling on to any hope we can find! The second part of the book tells us about his hopes for the future and what we, as a community of homo sapiens (do we really deserve to be called that?), could do to avert the disaster we have wrought upon ourselves and thus, on our home.

Attenborough has left me with a very deep thought to ponder upon and likewise, I will leave you with the same: "Are we, like those poor people in Pripyat, sleepwalking into a catastrophe?"

[Tan Markovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could I give this man any less?

[Loredana (Bookinista08) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ascultată ca audiobook, tratată în mod pertinent (deh, e vorba de Attenborough), prezintă principalele probleme cu care ne confruntăm, dar și soluții pe termen scurt și lung. Ce m-a dezamăgit, să spunem, a fost tonul mult prea optimist al autorului... Nici un ton apocaliptic nu ar fi fost potrivit, e adevărat, dar aș fi preferat și mai multe semnale de alarmă. Iarăși un lucru pe care Attenborough îl menționează doar în treacăt e de fapt buba omenirii. Ceea ce ne va aduce sfârșitul fără îndoială. Faptul că bogații planetei nu sunt interesați de o standardizare a populației planetei, mai ales pe plan economic, astfel încît să ajungem la plafonarea populației globale în mod natural. Attenborough spune că țările mai dezvoltate ar trebui să le ajute pe cele mai puțin dezvoltate și mai sărace în resurse cu mijloace care să le permită să facă agricultură sustenabilă, să crească animale în mod sustenabil etc. Bine bine, dar atunci, când pe la 2050 se va ajunge la așa ceva, cine îi va mai face pe bogați...bogați? Când nu vor mai exista exploatări exagerate ale forței de muncă (fiindcă teoretic nivelul de trai din acele țări sărace va crește), cine va mai pompa averi în buzunarele bogaților? Până la urmă, lăcomia ne va veni de hac. E un impediment în calea dezvoltării noastre ca specie. De zeci de mii, ba chiar o sută de mii de ani, avem același creier. Oricât de mult ne dezvoltăm în exterior, în interior tot creier de maimuță rămâne. Se pare că Attenborough a uitat să menționeze asta...

[Hákon Gunnarsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been following the climate change debate for some time now, and a couple of years ago I realised something interesting, or perhaps peculiar is better word for it. In groups where people deny climate change is real, I kept coming across people saying they used to like Attenborough when they were kids, but now he had become all political with his support with the climate change nonsense so they couldn't stand him. Right on the other side of this debate, in groups that are radical in their fight against climate change, I kept coming across people that really disliked Attenborough because he knew all this about what was happening, and he wasn't even vegan, and that he was part of the problem as he had taken so many flights in his life. The peculiar thing about this is how these people that were on either side of this debate, the people that would argue the loudest about climate change, could unite in their common dislike of David Attenborough.

So where do I stand when it comes to David Attenborough? Well, I grew up watching his TV programs, and films about nature. He has basically been there my entire life, opening a window into nature in faraway places, and I adore him for it. In fact, I have nothing but respect for the man. I think he has done more in his professional life to ignite interest in nature, animals, plants, basically in this planet we live on, than anyone else I know of. He's got this infectious fascination for life on this planet that I can never help being swept along with.

This book does nothing to detract from that feeling. This book is released when Attenborough is 93 years old, and it is still up to the standards one expects from him. It's partly David Attenborough's work biography, which for someone that has watched as much of his work as I have is fascinating. He's been doing this for so long that he probably could have written a whole book on that subject alone, and it would have been a great read, but it is also his witness statement on what is happening with our planet, and he is in a good position to give evidence on that as he has seen so many thing through his work. He has seen how the planet has been changing due to climate changes.

It is well written, well researched about what is happening, and he does offer some solutions as to what we could do to deal with this mess we've made. Perhaps not surprisingly they revolve to a certain degree around regenerating nature, or re-wilding it, and I think he's got a point. We've not only got ourselves into this climate crisis, but we've also started the sixth extinction event with our behaviour, and it's going to hurt us as well if we don't manage to turn this around. Thats's the other thing of what Attenborough does here. He shows us pretty well what will happen on this planet if we don't manage to make the changes before it is too late. So this book isn't a cheerful read all the way through. It has its difficult parts, but I think it is very well worth the read, even a reread, which I think I'm going to do later this year. I would recommend it to anyone interested in life on this planet.

[Katya]

Nós, seres humanos, sozinhos na Terra, somos poderosos o suficiente para criar mundos, e para depois destruí-los.

Se eu pensava que David Attenborough nada teria a dizer para a história da arte e o urbanismo, foi desta que me enganei redondamente. O que prova duas coisas. Por um lado, que subvalorizamos os contributos interdisciplinares. E por outro, que as ciências naturais são absolutamente fundamentais para olhar o mundo, independentemente de acharmos que podemos compartimentar e hierarquizar o conhecimento. Talvez, em parte, se possa assim explicar porque é que, desde o momento em que me sentei e abri este livro, até ao momento em que o fechei e me levantei, passaram cerca de quatro horas. Em parte. Porque a realidade é que escutar Attenborough é um prazer que me acompanha desde que me lembro (são bem boas as memórias das manhãs de fim de semana assim partilhadas). A realidade é que não faz falta justificação para ouvir o que tem a dizer este homem/instituição do alto dos seus quase quase 100 anos. Sobretudo porque o nos tem a dizer é das coisas mais prementes neste momento:

(...)o nosso planeta é pequeno, isolado e vulnerável. É o único lugar que temos, o único lugar onde existe vida, tanto quanto podemos dizer. É precioso de um modo único. As imagens enviadas da Apollo 8 haviam transformado a mentalidade da população mundial. O próprio Anders afirmou: Viemos tão longe para explorar a Lua, e a coisa mais importante é que descobrimos a Terra.

Partindo de uma posição de humildade, em que a humanidade não ocupa mais do que um ínfimo ponto no espaço (tanto quanto sabemos) infinito, Attenborough inicia uma ronda pelas suas aprendizagens à laia de aviso sustentado na experiência de largos anos de contacto privilegiado com a natureza:

Os seres humanos tinham-se afastado cada vez mais do resto da vida na Terra, vivendo de um modo diferente e sem paralelo. Eliminámos praticamente todos os nossos predadores. Quase todas as nossas doenças estão controladas. Desenvolvemos formas de produzir alimentos por encomenda e de viver com grande conforto. Ao contrário de todas as outras espécies da História da vida na Terra, vimo-nos livres da pressão da seleção natural evolutiva. O nosso corpo não mudou de forma significativa em 200 mil anos, mas o nosso comportamento e as nossas sociedades tornaram-se cada vez mais desligados do ambiente natural que nos rodeia. Já nada nos restringe. Nada nos faz parar. A não ser que nos paremos a nós mesmos, iremos continuar a consumir os recursos físicos da Terra até os esgotarmos a todos.

Em Uma vida no nosso planeta, embora tantas vezes lhe fuja a pena para a beleza natural que tão bem sabe descrever, o objetivo, ainda que sempre dentro dos trâmites educativos, não se descola do ativismo:

Não podemos continuar a abater florestas tropicais para sempre, e tudo o que não podemos fazer para sempre é, por definição, insustentável. Se fizermos coisas que são insustentáveis, os danos acumulam-se até um ponto em que todo o sistema acaba por entrar em colapso. Nenhum habitat, por maior que seja, se encontra seguro.

E neste ativismo, sustentabilidade é a palavra de ordem. Quer se faça mais ou menos por ela, quer se ria a bandeiras despregadas ou se engula em seco perante as admoestações contra o consumo de recursos e a ameaça da insustentabilidade, não há como fazer ouvidos moucos às evidências:

Registos e relatos anteriores à memória viva, no século XIX e no início do século XX, descrevem um oceano que não reconheceríamos. Fotografias antigas mostram pessoas enterradas em salmões até aos joelhos. Relatos da Nova Inglaterra falam de cardumes de peixes tão grandes e tão próximos da costa que os locais iam apanhá-los com facas de mesa. Na Escócia, os pescadores recolhiam uma linha de 400 anzóis e encontra vam linguados em quase todos. Os nossos não muito distantes antepassados pescavam simplesmente com anzóis e redes de algodão. Agora, dispondo de tecnologia que lhes cortaria a respiração, temos dificuldade em apanhar algo comestível.
[...]
O rio Mekong, no Sudeste Asiático, por exemplo, fornece um quarto de todos os peixes de água doce apanhados no mundo e dá a 60 milhões de pessoas uma proteína preciosa. Contudo, uma combinação de barragens, extração excessiva, poluição e sobrepesca conduziu a uma diminuição da captura, ano após ano, não só em volume, mas também em termos do tamanho dos peixes. Nos últimos anos, alguns pescadores tiveram de usar redes mosquiteiras para apanhar algo comestível.
[...]
Quando hoje revejo os meus primeiros filmes, percebo que, embora eu sentisse estar no meio da natureza selvagem, a passear por um mundo natural puro, isso era uma ilusão. Aquelas florestas, planicies e mares já estavam a esvaziar-se. Muitos dos animais maiores já eram raros. Uma referência em mudança distorceu a nossa perceção de toda a vida na Terra. Esquecemo-nos de que outrora existiam florestas temperadas que demoravam dias a atravessar, manadas de bisontes que demoravam quatro horas a passar e bandos de aves tão grandes e compactos que escureciam os céus. Essas coisas eram normais há apenas algumas gerações. Deixaram de ser. Nós habituámo-nos a um planeta empobrecido.

Os cientistas são muito claros e Attenborough não se cansa de reforçar o seu esforço para comunicar o nível de perigo a que nos expomos:

Durante algum tempo, os climatologistas haviam avisado de que o Planeta iria aquecer se continuássemos a queimar combustíveis fósseis, enviando mais dióxido de carbono e outros gases com efeito de estufa para a atmosfera. Esses gases eram conhecidos por reter a energia do Sol junto à superficie da Terra, aquecendo o Planeta num fenómeno chamado «efeito de estufa». Uma grande mudança no nivel de dióxido de carbono na atmosfera é uma característica de todas as cinco extinções em massa da História da terra.

Para si, continuamos a rumar em direção à extinção por uma razão muito simples: alienação.

Substituímos o selvagem pelo domesticado. Encaramos a Terra como o nosso planeta, governado pela Humanidade para a Humanidade. Sobra pouco para o resto do mundo vivo. O mundo verdadeiramente selvagem - o mundo não-humano - desapareceu. Nós devastámos a Terra.

Focados nos chavões de crescimento, expansão e retorno económico, permitimo-nos alimentar um sistema que não é só desigual para uns e outros como injusto para todos:

O cerne do problema é que, hoje, não há maneira de calcular o valor da natureza e dos serviços ambientais a nível mundial e local que proporciona. Cem hectares de floresta tropical intacta têm menos valor no papel do que uma plantação de óleo de palma. Assim, o abate da natureza é considerado proveitoso. O único modo prático de mudar tal situação é mudar o significado de valor.

Os tempos da humilhação gloriosa de Al Gore já lá vão (pelo menos gosto de pensar que sim). Hoje já haverá mais espaço e consciência para acatar evidências científicas (embora, ao escrever isto, me ocorra de imediato que estamos a viver na era da desinformação e do "homem forte" que manipula as notícias como se tivéssemos entrado para a realidade alternativa de 1984). De todas as formas, se ainda há alguém capaz de se fazer ouvir, esse alguém é Attenborough que tem o seu lado a experiência de um século, dois períodos geológicos, e uma porrada de quilómetros de mundo selvagem nas veias. Se não fazemos da sua obra um estandarte que chegue a todos - estou a pensar nos imensos clubes de leitura que ignoram literatura de divulgação, nas escolas que se furtam a este tipo de iniciativas por falta de financiamento e vontade, e até nas livrarias que normalmente não destacam o que não seja bestseller (embora Attenborough se possa gabar de uma margem de leitores bastante alargada) - se assim não for, estamos completamente dependentes de agendas políticas desligadas da realidade que não nos irão valer num futuro próximo - e, depois, já não valerá a pena nada.

O Homo sapiens, o ser humano inteligente, tem agora de aprender com os seus erros e fazer jus ao seu nome. Nós, que estamos vivos hoje, temos a gigantesca tarefa de garantir que a nossa espécie o faz. Não podemos perder a esperança. Temos todas as ferramentas de que precisamos, os pensamentos e as ideias de milhares de milhões de mentes notáveis e as energias incomensuráveis da natureza para nos ajudarem no nosso trabalho. E temos mais uma coisa, uma capacidade, talvez única entre as criaturas vivas do Planeta: imaginar um futuro e trabalhar para alcançá-lo.

[Dan Graser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though citizens of the UK claim David Attenborough as a national treasure, the planet needs to embrace him as an international treasure. No one in my lifetime has done more to educate the public on the miraculous workings of the natural world and as such, no one is a more potent voice about the urgency with which we must address what it is our species has done to this natural marvel in the last century. Even those skeptical of the possibilities of addressing the dramatic changes occurring and bound to occur to our planet would do themselves a great service in reading Attenborough's final section entirely on what we can do, from the level of the individual through the level of international cooperation between governments. The average diet of India, the reimagining of national wealth from New Zealand, the overhaul of fisheries from Palau, the integration of cities into their natural surroundings of Singapore, the switching from fossil fuels to renewables from Iceland, etc...There are incredible things being done now that need to be brought to the international table and made real and there is no better Cassandra for this issue than the most famous naturalist in the world. A powerful, short work that will re-inspire your own efforts in this regard.