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

by David Attenborough, Jonnie Hughes (With)

Overview

*Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Science & Technology Book of the Year* 

In this scientifically informed account of the changes occurring in the world over the last century, award-winning broadcaster and natural historian shares a lifetime of wisdom and a hopeful vision for the future.
 
See the world. Then make it better.

I am 93. 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538719985
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	5,265
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sir David Attenborough is a BAFTA and Emmy-Award winning broadcaster and natural historian. He is the internationally bestselling author of over 25 books, including Life on Earth. He also served as controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s, and as the President of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation in the 90s.

Jonnie Hughes is a science writer and documentary director, who has produced science and natural history films for the BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, and Netflix, as well as working on BAFTA award-winning BBC series The Hunt and the Emmy award-winning production Our Planet. He is the author of On the Origin of Tepees, and his writing has appeared in The Times, The Guardian,The Independent, BBC Wildlife Magazine,and Geographical, among others.

Table of Contents

Introduction Our Greatest Mistake 1

Part 1 My Witness Statement 9

Part 2 What Lies Ahead 103

Part 3 A Vision for the Future: How to Rewild the World 123

Conclusion Our Greatest Opportunity 213

Glossary 223

Acknowledgements 241

Picture Credits 245

Notes 247

Index 260

Editorial Reviews

"The eminent traveler and naturalist delivers a combination of memoir and manifesto, the first leisurely, the second earnest....Recognizing that we are at a tipping point, Attenborough is refreshingly optimistic, noting that one thing humans do well is solve problems. Anyone concerned with the planet's ecological future will want to spend time with this excellent book."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

From the Publisher

11/01/2020

In this companion to the 2020 documentary of the same name, filmmaker, natural historian and best-selling author Attenborough recounts a life spent exploring and documenting wild places. Describing his first job at the BBC and his desire to show animals outside of studios and zoos, Attenborough explains how he first ended up in front of the camera. The first sections of the book detail many of the scientists, artists, crew, and individual animals that Attenborough worked with during decades of award-winning nature TV series. Later chapters look ahead to the economic, political, and environmental devastation possible within the next several decades if drastic changes aren't made by individuals, groups, companies, and governments. Attenborough proceeds to map out sustainable actions and concludes by considering optimistically the innovative possibilities of life in the Anthropocene. VERDICT Attenborough's iconic sense of narration is present throughout this career biography and testimonial. Longtime devotees as well as newcomers will find much to learn about the man and his mission.—Catherine Lantz, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib.

Library Journal

★ 2020-09-09
The eminent traveler and naturalist delivers a combination of memoir and manifesto, the first leisurely, the second earnest.

Now 94, Attenborough, longtime nature documentarian and a fluent, always interesting writer, recounts growing up in the countryside of Leicester, “in the middle of England,” the kind of place where a kid could hop on a bicycle and spend a day poking around. While his older brother, later a distinguished filmmaker and actor, got involved in local drama societies, the author found himself fascinated by “turning over a stone and looking at the animals,” and he determined that “the most important knowledge was that which brought an understanding of how the natural world worked.” Little did he know that the natural world even then was on the edge of precipitous decline, with catastrophic loss of species, habitats, and biodiversity—and, he notes, “for life to truly thrive on this planet, there must be immense biodiversity.” The converse is true: Diminish biodiversity, and life does not decline but instead begins to go pear-shaped. “We have a choice to make,” he insists: We can pretend that nothing is happening, live out our lives as best we can, and leave it for the next generations to worry about, “or we could change.” The recipe for change constitutes a plan of attack for returning to the Holocene from the Anthropocene, from biological impoverishment to wealth. A critical ingredient is that biodiversity, a critical habitat the forests of which humankind “is such a determined and effective destroyer.” Another critical ingredient is “to change the way in which we power our activities,” building a world in which carbon-free energy technologies replace fossil fuels. We are far along in terms of engineering and economics but far behind overall because of “the abstract force we might call vested interests.” Recognizing that we are at a tipping point, Attenborough is refreshingly optimistic, noting that one thing humans do well is solve problems.

Anyone concerned with the planet’s ecological future will want to spend time with this excellent book.

Kirkus Reviews

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