Living Planet: A new, fully updated edition of David Attenborough’s seminal portrait of life on Earth

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Humanity now overspends its biological budget every year by 56%. This means that the human enterprise currently demands 1.56 times more than the amount that Earth can regenerate. It’s like living off 1.56 Earths. In the chapter titled ‘ The seas of grass’, the reader gets a ringside seat to life forms, which live, in harmony with the vast open habitats provided by open plains covered with grass. In these unique habitats, which are formed by the tangled roots, matted stems and clumps of growing leaves we meet a variety of small inhabitants like termites, ants, worms, grass hopers etc and a variety of other bigger animals which thrive either on the grass and roots or on these small inhabitants. I liked learning about capybara and other types of rodent. Capybara are chubby. Another rodent was a "portly spaniel" where capybara are pig sized.

A beautiful and wide ranging work. The breadth of natural history covered is extraordinary and mesmerising. Life on Earth is still breathtakingly rich, and we would know far less about it were it not for Attenborough's wonderful skills of communication over the years: our cultural and scientific lives would be poorer without him' - New Scientist The book composes of ten more chapters like these two, which we sampled, and the clarity and great detail with which they are drafted makes this a worthy volume to pursue. The effect of climate change on species is studied in a further report, Biodiversity In A Warming World , available here. And it’s funny because, speaking about the sound more broadly, I got to work with my oldest and closest friend on this series, sound recordist Zubin Sarosh. Many many years ago, we were sitting on a beach and we decided we both wanted to work in telly. It was so amazing to be on set with him, and not just any set, on a David Attenborough documentary. That really is a dream come true - it doesn’t get much better!Population numbers of Grauer’s Gorilla in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, DRC have seen an estimated 87% decline between 1994 and 2015, mostly due to illegal hunting. A beautiful and wide ranging work. The breadth of natural history covered is extraordinary and mesmerising. Life on Earth is still breathtakingly rich, and we would know far less about it were it not for Attenborough’s wonderful skills of communication over the years: our cultural and scientific lives would be poorer without him’ New Scientist A beautiful and wide ranging work. The breadth of natural history covered is extraordinary and mesmerising. Life on Earth is still breathtakingly rich, and we would know far less about it were it not for Attenborough’s wonderful skills of communication over the years: our cultural and scientific lives would be poorer without him” - New Scientist

His writing is as impressive and as enjoyable as his TV programmes and there can be no higher praise” - Daily Express However, the most time-consuming sequence involved red-breasted geese in flight – not in terms of actual filming, but in preparing for it. The birds had to be reared by hand from birth so that they would respond to the voice of their 'mother', and this eventually enabled them to be photographed as they flew alongside a moving open-top car. Only by p utting the environment at the heart of our decision making can we build a safe and resilient future for nature, people and our planet.” Like much of Attenborough/BBC's other work, each episode doesn't feel like an episodic stringing of scenes, but instead like the best nature documentaries each feels like their own story and journey, with real, complex emotions and conflicts. We do not shy away from the impact that humanity has had on the natural world. This impact has been felt across every ecosystem and by the countless creatures that we share this planet with – someThe first series of Planet Earth was about witnessing the wonderful spectacle and awe-inspiring beauty of our planet and taking the viewer to the last remaining areas of wilderness that were still untouched by humanity. The music for this series is composed by Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers, in collaboration with Bastille. What does the music bring to a natural history series like this? The grey partridge has declined by 85% between 1970 and 2004 in the UK, likely due to the effects of agricultural intensification.

The lead essay is written by WWF ambassador Sir David Attenborough, who highlights that humanity is now in a new geological age, the Anthropocene . Sir David says: “The Anthropocene could be the moment we achieve a balance with the rest of the natural world and become stewards of our planet. Nowhere on our planet is devoid of life. Plants and animals thrive or survive within every extreme of climate and habitat that it offers. Single species, and often whole communities adapt to make the most of ice cap and tundra, forest and plain, desert, ocean and volcano. These adaptations can be truly extraordinary: fish that walk or lay eggs on leaves in mid-air; snakes that fly; flightless birds that graze like deer; and bears that grow hair on the soles of their feet.Mike Gunton is the Creative Director of Factual and The Natural History Unit for BBC Studios. Within this role, Mike works as an executive producer on titles for the BBC, Apple, NBC, and Nat Geo/Disney+, and is responsible for bringing new and pioneering stories about the natural world to global audiences. Mike’s recent series include the record-breaking Planet Earth II, winner of four BAFTAs and two Emmys, followed by the ground-breaking animal behaviour series Dynasties. In 2022 he turned his attention to the world of plants in The Green Planet, and the world of dinosaurs with Prehistoric Planet.