Sir David Attenborough says we need to ‘rewild the world’ by creating more forests and become vegetarian to save earth in new Netflix documentary A Life On Our Planet
- Sir David Attenborough called for ‘radical change’ to safeguard the planet
- He warned that the world’s ‘pristine’ ecosystems could collapse without help
- Netflix documentary film will appear in cinemas on September 28 this year
Sir David Attenborough has said we need to ‘rewild the world’ by planting more forests and switch to a vegetarian diet in order to save the Earth.
Speaking ahead of his new Netflix documentary film A Life On Our Planet, the 94-year-old naturalist warned it ‘cannot support millions of meat eaters’.
Calling on his decades of experience chronicling the natural world, he called for action to be taken immediately to save the global ‘pristine’ ecosystem that is ‘heading for disaster’.
The film, which will be released in the cinemas on September 28 before appearing on Netflix in the Autumn, will explore the defining moments of Sir David’s lifetime and the devastating changes he has witnessed.
Sir David Attenborough has said we need to ‘rewild the planet’ and switch to a vegetarian diet in order to save the Earth. He was speaking ahead of his new Netflix documentary film
The documentary, to be released on September 28, will explore the 94-year-old naturalists defining moments and the changes he has observed. He is pictured above in younger years
Speaking ahead of the launch, he said: ‘We must radically reduce the way we farm. We must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat eaters.
‘If we had a mostly plant-based diet we could increase the yield of the land. We have an urgent need for free land. Forests are fundamental to recovery – bio-centres of diversity.
‘The wilder and more diverse the more effective. We must grow palm and soya on deforested lands. Nature is our biggest ally.’
Explaining how he still hoped radical change was possible, Sir David said the ‘true tragedy’ of our time is still unfolding.
‘The living world is our unique marvel,’ he said. ‘The natural world is fading. This film is my vision of our future – our greatest mistake.
‘If we act now, we can put it right. This pristine of ecosystems is heading for disaster. Our imprint is global.
The minute-long video features archive footage of the 94-year-old broadcaster traversing the globe as a young man
Sir David made many stark warnings about the future of the planet ahead of the launch
‘Our blind assault on the planet has come to affect the very fundamentals of the world.
‘The ocean is unable to absorb heat. The temperature is one degree higher than when I was born. We cut one billion trees a year and over fish. We are replacing the wild with the tame.
‘Half of fertile land on Earth is now farm land, 70 per cent of birds are domestic, majority chickens. We are one third of animals on Earth. This is now our planet run by – and for – humans.
‘There’s little left for the world. We have completely destroyed it. That is my witness statement, the story of global decline during a lifetime. If we continue on our current course the damage will be eclipsed by the damage that comes next.
‘Scientists predict by 2030 the rainforest turns into a dry savanna, altering the global water cycle. The Arctic becomes ice-free, global warming increases, frozen soils release methane and accelerate climate change dramatically.
‘By 2080 global food production enters crisis, soils overused, weather more unpredictable. The planet becomes four degrees warmer, large parts of the world uninhabitable.
‘A sixth mass extinction is well underway. Our garden of Eden will be lost. I wish I wasn’t involved in this struggle. I wish I wasn’t there.
Sir David is hoping that by highlighting the changes he can encourage more action to save the planet and its pristine ecosystems
‘I would feel guilty if I saw what the problems are and ignored them.
‘We must rewild the world. Rewilding the world is easier than you think. A century from now our planet could be a wild place again.
‘We have to do what nature has always done. It worked out the secret of life long ago.
‘A species can only survive when everything around is surviving.’
Cinema screenings of the film will feature a conversation between Sir David and Monty Python star Sir Michael Palin, who shares a love of the natural world.