Book review: A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough.

If we’re not going to listen to Sir David Attenborough about saving our planet, then who?

‘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.’ – Sir David Attenborough

SIR DAVID Attenborough is 94 years old and over the course of his life he has written, directed and narrated more than 100 documentaries. He’s an international treasure as well as one of the most welltravelled people on the planet.

He’s seen a lot over the last century and, quite frankly, much of the change he’s witnessed hasn’t been good. In summary, we’ve taken far more from the planet than what we’ve given back. We’ve ripped down rainforests, polluted the seas, overfished and over-farmed. We consume fossil fuels that have raised carbon emissions, and all of this combined is having a devastating effect planet-wide. The point at which we find ourselves now is unsustainable, but there is still hope.

A Life on Our Planet is Attenborough’s witness statement, his trip down memory lane and a call to action. Released alongside a Netflix documentary of the same name, this book is about changing for the better and ultimately leading humankind in a different direction. This new direction must be one where we rewild the land, let the oceans rest to replenish marine life, and where we move away from dirty fuel to clean renewables. Recycling waste, encouraging innovation to remove plastics from the seas and living in a gentler, fairer way is the only way to halt the damage we’ve inflicted.

Written in an easily understood and accessible way (you can almost hear Attenborough’s comforting voice as you flip through the pages), this is a fascinating book, and one that should be considered compulsory reading for generations to come. It’s an alarming subject and Attenborough’s startling anecdotes and statistics can become depressing, almost dystopian, on occasion. He doesn’t overcomplicate things, but merely explains some of the work that is already taking place and what else needs to be done. And he offers solutions, many of which could be implemented today.

Thankfully, he is hopeful that together we can change: see the world, then make it better.

/ BY TIANA CLINE / A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and Vision for the Future by David Attenborough (Penguin Random House) is now available in-store and online.