Inspiring tales of species brought back from the brink
Wildlife conservation remains an uphill struggle, so it’s good to see success stories acknowledged alongside all the warnings of how humanity is bent on destroying our planet. Last night’s documentary Natural World: Puerto Rico – Island
of Enchantment (BBC Two) was a celebration of how one Caribbean nation has seen the light and is fighting to preserve its natural glories. Peter Fison’s film even won the ultimate wildlife documentary seal of approval – narration by David Attenborough.
Enthusiasm was the key here, and fairly simple storytelling. After grabbing attention with tales of how early European sailors were so taken by Puerto Rico’s profusion of natural riches they named it the “Isle of Enchantment”, we learnt how the past century’s steady encroachment of industry, agriculture and property development left this paradise in serious danger of being lost.
The fact that for many Puerto Ricans their national symbol is the coquí, a tiny frog that emits a sleep-shattering 100-decibel mating call, might suggest a higher tolerance than most for the creatures they share their island with. But the issue here was that fondness does not equal protection, and the focus was on three other species that were equally loved by islanders but still pushed to the verge of extinction.
The first and most critically endangered was the beautiful green and blue Puerto Rican parrot whose once abundant population had been reduced, shockingly, to just 13 birds by the 1970s. Fortunately one man, Jafet Velez-Valentin, had been determined to save it, and by developing an extraordinary elaborate and dedicated captive breeding programme he has, over the intervening decades, boosted numbers into the hundreds, and potentially thousands. If ever a film showed the hard, detailed slog that goes into bringing a species back from the brink, this was it.
A similar reversal of fortune applied to two marine species; the endearingly gentle native manatee, and the giant leatherback turtle. Once again, the point was made that the crucial difference was down to the unstinting work of dedicated individuals who were capable not just of doing conservation work but of rousing local communities and politicians to long-term action.
Overall, this was a quietly uplifting film that, while focused on the fragility and beauty of nature, really pushed home the point that the continued survival of any endangered species is something to be roundly celebrated. Crime dramas have an unfortunate tendency to sag in the middle, but not the reinvigorated third series of
Broadchurch (ITV) which gets stronger with every episode. Last night’s fourth (of eight) was a great example of how to sustain interest midway through a long narrative, with writer Chris Chibnall starting out by taking us back to the series’ beginning to remind us of the horrible emotional impact of the initial crime, and ending with a jolt that made us think the bigger picture might be even more horrific than we thought.
In between, he revisited almost every male character in the story and managed to cast subtle suspicion on each one in turn. It is all such a huge improvement on the second series, with a cast that works as a tightly wound unit of ensemble talent.
Julie Hesmondhalgh, in particular, again brought palpable emotional credibility and power to the role of rape victim Trish Winterman, especially in the traumatic opening scenes where she revisited the location of her assault.
Meanwhile leads David Tennant and Olivia Colman as detectives Miller and Hardy seemed to be accessing an even higher actorly plane. Colman, we know, can convey oceans of compassion with the merest slackening of her jaw, but Tennant matched her all the way, their chemistry crackling with seriousness and good humour.
There were plenty of scenes to disturb – notably those involving new character Aaron Mayford (Jim Howick), a convicted rapist with the power to make skin scrawl every time he appears. But entertainment, too, as the story moved relentlessly forward, dropping clues, developing lines of inquiry. The closing revelation, of a previously unreported assault, was perfectly pitched to both shock and intrigue. A cast-iron guarantee of our willing presence on the sofa next week, dying to know more. Natural World: Puerto Rico – Island of Enchantment ★★★★ Broadchurch ★★★★