Why DO we prefer wildlife shows to real nature, asks Kate Humble
WILDLIFE and nature shows do not persuade people to go outside and experience nature for themselves, TV’s Kate Humble has said.
Miss Humble, 50, praised Springwatch, which she used to host, and BBC’s extremely popular Planet Earth.
But the naturalist said: ‘What we need to encourage people to do is then, once they have watched the telly, is to step out into the real world – not just watch everything remotely. That’s what we seem to fail to be doing at the moment.
‘We, as wildlife programmemakers, are trying to do everything we can to connect people with the natural world but somehow we haven’t cracked it yet’. Describing herself as a real ‘country bumpkin’, Miss Humble said: ‘I really don’t understand what the barrier is.
‘We have got wonderful access to wild spaces, we have got nature reserves, parks, natural parks, all of which are very accessible to everybody.’
Speaking at the launch of a shopping centre initiative to connect people with nature, she said we have become ‘increasingly urbanised’ and added: ‘We tend to listen to music rather than listen to the natural music of birdsong.’
Shoppers can listen to a tenminute track featuring birdsong at Intu shopping centres nationwide throughout May.