Saving Planet Earth
Encyclopedia
Saving Planet Earth is a season of nature documentaries
with a conservation
theme, screened on BBC Television
in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of its specialist factual department, the BBC Natural History Unit
.
The series featured films contributed by a number of celebrities on the plight of various endangered species, and coincided with the launch of the BBC Wildlife Fund, a charitable organisation which distributes money to conservation projects around the world. The television series culminated in a live fundraising telethon on BBC Two
, hosted by Alan Titchmarsh
, which raised over £1 million for the charity.
The BBC broadcast a second live telethon in 2010. Wild Night In was presented by Kate Humble
, Chris Packham
and Martin Hughes-Games
and featured conservation projects which had benefited from the support of the BBC Wildlife Fund. This helped to raise a further £1 million.
The season began with a special hour-long programme on BBC One
entitled "Sharing Planet Earth", a clarion call for action to conserve nature, presented by David Attenborough
. It was followed by nine documentaries broadcast nightly over the course of a fortnight, in which celebrities investigated the plight of endangered species. Each programme was introduced by Alan Titchmarsh
and featured a short narration by Attenborough to provide some background information on the featured species.
Along with the BBC One programmes, a five-part series entitled Saving Planet Earth - UK was broadcast in parallel on BBC Two
. Presented by Michaela Strachan
, it aimed to show audiences the threats facing British wildlife, and how they could help by becoming directly involved in conservation.
A second five-part series on the CBBC Channel
followed seven young competition winners on their own personal journeys to destinations including Brazil
and Borneo
to report on threatened species.
The season culminated with a live fundraising evening to raise money for a newly-established conservation charity, the BBC Wildlife Fund.
travels to Cameroon to report on the plight of the lowland gorilla. Although more numerous than its mountain-dwelling cousins, its numbers are declining fast due to habitat loss and poaching.
reports from Bandhavgarh National Park
, where acclaimed wildlife cameraman and tiger expert Alphonse Roy has been watching and filming them for 20 years.
travels 6,000 miles to Cambodia
on the trail of the very rare Siamese crocodile
, which was hunted to brink of extinction. Now, conservation charities such as The Wildlife Conservation Society and Fauna and Flora International are working in partnership with the Cambodian government and have established a crocodile farm to increase the population size.
flies to the Falkland Islands
to find out why the black-browed albatross
and its relatives are under threat. Albatross numbers have plummeted in recent years due to long-line fishing practices.
reports from Assam
in India
, one of the last remaining homes of the Indian rhinoceros
. Fewer than 2,000 are left in the wild due to poaching for their horns.
, Graham Norton
discovers that encroachments by the ever-expanding human population is threatening the wolf's survival.
journeys to northern Namibia
to investigate the plight of the desert elephant. Although saved from extinction by the banning of the ivory trade
, the desert elephants now face a new threat. Local people once roamed the land as migrants, but their recent conversion to farming has brought them into conflict with elephants over precious resources.
, six are seriously threatened with extinction. Saira Khan
travels to Sri Lanka
, one of the best places in the world to see turtles, but even here commercial fishing practices and pressure on the turtles' nesting beaches are driving numbers down.
reports from Borneo
, where orangutan
numbers are being decimated due to the deforestation
of the island and the growth of palm plantations. He visits a sanctuary where more than 600 orphaned young apes are cared for. Their mothers are usually killed by plantation workers, because the orangutans are attracted to the palms for food and can damage the crops. Their young are taken for the pet trade or are simply left to die, but those lucky enough to be rescued are brought to the sanctuary. Now, it simply can't cope with the number of apes being brought in and desperately needs extra funds. This programme was incorporated into the live fundraising broadcast (see below).
, Kate Humble
, Simon King
, Steve Leonard
, Jonathan Scott
, Chris Packham
and Charlotte Uhlenbroek
. A registered charity, the BBC Wildlife Fund, was established to direct funds raised by the programmes to conservation charities in the field to help save the featured animals, and other species, from extinction. Saving Planet Earth enabled the Fund to raise £1 million on the night, a total which had almost doubled by the end of 2010.
Nature documentary
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat...
with a conservation
Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
theme, screened on BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of its specialist factual department, the BBC Natural History Unit
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
.
The series featured films contributed by a number of celebrities on the plight of various endangered species, and coincided with the launch of the BBC Wildlife Fund, a charitable organisation which distributes money to conservation projects around the world. The television series culminated in a live fundraising telethon on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, hosted by Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Fred Titchmarsh, MBE DL is an English gardener, broadcaster and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a garden journalist, he established himself as a media personality through appearances on gardening programmes...
, which raised over £1 million for the charity.
The BBC broadcast a second live telethon in 2010. Wild Night In was presented by Kate Humble
Kate Humble
Katherine 'Kate' Humble is an English television presenter, mainly for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes...
, Chris Packham
Chris Packham
Christopher George "Chris" Packham is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author. He is the brother of fashion designer, Jenny Packham...
and Martin Hughes-Games
Martin Hughes-Games
Martin Hughes-Games is a natural history programme producer and presenter. He graduated in Zoology in 1978 with a 1st Class honours from Reading University, and has worked in television for 30 years. He is passionate about wildlife and an active conservationist – even going so far as planting his...
and featured conservation projects which had benefited from the support of the BBC Wildlife Fund. This helped to raise a further £1 million.
Background
The format of Saving Planet Earth was something of a departure for the Unit, using celebrities not normally associated with natural history programmes rather than selecting a familiar face from its pool of specialists.The season began with a special hour-long programme on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
entitled "Sharing Planet Earth", a clarion call for action to conserve nature, presented by David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
. It was followed by nine documentaries broadcast nightly over the course of a fortnight, in which celebrities investigated the plight of endangered species. Each programme was introduced by Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Fred Titchmarsh, MBE DL is an English gardener, broadcaster and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a garden journalist, he established himself as a media personality through appearances on gardening programmes...
and featured a short narration by Attenborough to provide some background information on the featured species.
Along with the BBC One programmes, a five-part series entitled Saving Planet Earth - UK was broadcast in parallel on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
. Presented by Michaela Strachan
Michaela Strachan
Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan is an English television presenter.-Personal life:Strachan attended Claremont Fan Court School, Esher, a Christian Science school. Later, while at college, she briefly held jobs as an Avon lady and as a kissogram...
, it aimed to show audiences the threats facing British wildlife, and how they could help by becoming directly involved in conservation.
A second five-part series on the CBBC Channel
CBBC Channel
CBBC is a BBC television channel aimed at 6 to 12 year olds. It complements the CBBC programming that continues to air on BBC One and BBC Two. Launched on 11 February 2002, it broadcasts from 7am to 7pm on Freeview, cable, IPTV and digital satellite, occupying the same bandwidth as, but a different...
followed seven young competition winners on their own personal journeys to destinations including Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
to report on threatened species.
The season culminated with a live fundraising evening to raise money for a newly-established conservation charity, the BBC Wildlife Fund.
1. Sharing Planet Earth
The opening programme, presented by David Attenborough and featuring footage from many of his earlier series and some of the BBC's most successful natural history productions, takes a global view of the threats facing wildlife. Attenborough ponders the question of whether there is enough space and resources to accommodate the rapidly growing human population and all of the other species on our planet, and poses that we will need to change our wasteful ways if we are not to lose a significant number of species to extinction.2. Saving Gorillas
In the first of nine 30-minute films focussing on particular threatened species, pop star Will YoungWill Young
William Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
travels to Cameroon to report on the plight of the lowland gorilla. Although more numerous than its mountain-dwelling cousins, its numbers are declining fast due to habitat loss and poaching.
3. Saving Tigers
Tigers have been a protected species for many years, but despite this they are increasingly threatened by extinction due to poaching and increasing conflict with humans. But can the spiritual and deeply felt respect for tigers held by ordinary Indians offer a lifeline for the species? Newsreader Fiona BruceFiona Bruce
Fiona Elizabeth Bruce is a British journalist, newsreader and television presenter. Since joining the BBC in 1989, she has gone on to present many flagship programmes for the corporation including the BBC News at Six, BBC News at Ten, Crimewatch, Call My Bluff and, most recently, Antiques Roadshow...
reports from Bandhavgarh National Park
Bandhavgarh National Park
Bandhavgarh National Park is one of the popular national parks in India located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968 with an area of 105 km². The buffer is spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni and totals 437 km²...
, where acclaimed wildlife cameraman and tiger expert Alphonse Roy has been watching and filming them for 20 years.
4. Saving Crocodiles
DJ Edith BowmanEdith Bowman
Edith Eleanor Bowman is a Scottish music critic, radio DJ and television presenter. She is mostly known for hosting the weekday afternoon show and from September 2009 weekend morning on BBC Radio 1 and for presenting a variety of music related television shows and music...
travels 6,000 miles to Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
on the trail of the very rare Siamese crocodile
Siamese Crocodile
Siamese crocodile is a freshwater crocodile native to Indonesia , Brunei, East Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam...
, which was hunted to brink of extinction. Now, conservation charities such as The Wildlife Conservation Society and Fauna and Flora International are working in partnership with the Cambodian government and have established a crocodile farm to increase the population size.
5. Saving Albatross
Carol ThatcherCarol Thatcher
Carol Thatcher is a British journalist, author and media personality. She is the daughter of Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, a former British Prime Minister, and Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt....
flies to the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
to find out why the black-browed albatross
Black-browed Albatross
The Black-browed Albatross or Black-browed Mollymawk, Thalassarche melanophrys, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae, and it is the most widespread and common albatross.-Taxonomy:...
and its relatives are under threat. Albatross numbers have plummeted in recent years due to long-line fishing practices.
6. Saving Rhinos
Former England cricketer Phil TufnellPhil Tufnell
Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell is a former English cricketer turned television personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, "Tuffers" as he was known played 42 Tests and 20 One Day International matches for England, as well as playing for Middlesex from 1986 to 2002...
reports from Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, one of the last remaining homes of the Indian rhinoceros
Indian Rhinoceros
The Indian Rhinoceros is also called Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and Asian One-horned Rhinoceros and belongs to the Rhinocerotidae family...
. Fewer than 2,000 are left in the wild due to poaching for their horns.
7. Saving Wolves
In the southern part of the Ethiopian Highlands, a remote mountain region and the last home of the Ethiopian wolfEthiopian Wolf
The Ethiopian wolf , also known as the Abyssinian wolf, Abyssinian fox, red jackal, Simien fox, or Simien jackal is a canid native to Africa...
, Graham Norton
Graham Norton
Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton , is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist...
discovers that encroachments by the ever-expanding human population is threatening the wolf's survival.
8. Saving Elephants
Adrenaline junkie Jack OsbourneJack Osbourne
Jack Joseph Osbourne is an English media personality, best known as the son of musician Ozzy Osbourne and music manager Sharon Osbourne, and brother of Aimee and Kelly Osbourne.-Early life and family:...
journeys to northern Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
to investigate the plight of the desert elephant. Although saved from extinction by the banning of the ivory trade
Ivory trade
The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, Asian and African elephants....
, the desert elephants now face a new threat. Local people once roamed the land as migrants, but their recent conversion to farming has brought them into conflict with elephants over precious resources.
9. Saving Turtles
Of the seven remaining species of sea turtleSea turtle
Sea turtles are marine reptiles that inhabit all of the world's oceans except the Arctic.-Distribution:...
, six are seriously threatened with extinction. Saira Khan
Saira Khan
Saira Khan is a British television personality and was the runner-up on the first UK series of reality TV show The Apprentice in 2005.-Television career:...
travels to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, one of the best places in the world to see turtles, but even here commercial fishing practices and pressure on the turtles' nesting beaches are driving numbers down.
10. Saving Orangutans
TV presenter Nick KnowlesNick Knowles
Nicholas Simon Augustine Knowles is an English television presenter. He is best known for presenting DIY SOS on the BBC. He has also presented Mission Africa, UK's Worst, City Hospital, Coast to Coast, Five's Company, Departure Lounge and Real Rescues.-Early years:Knowles was born in Southall,...
reports from Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, where orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
numbers are being decimated due to the deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
of the island and the growth of palm plantations. He visits a sanctuary where more than 600 orphaned young apes are cared for. Their mothers are usually killed by plantation workers, because the orangutans are attracted to the palms for food and can damage the crops. Their young are taken for the pet trade or are simply left to die, but those lucky enough to be rescued are brought to the sanctuary. Now, it simply can't cope with the number of apes being brought in and desperately needs extra funds. This programme was incorporated into the live fundraising broadcast (see below).
11. Saving Planet Earth - Live
The series culminated in a live fundraising event broadcast from Kew Gardens, hosted by Titchmarsh and featuring interviews with many of the BBC’s natural history presenters, including Attenborough, Strachan, Bill OddieBill Oddie
William "Bill" Edgar Oddie OBE is an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who became famous as one of The Goodies....
, Kate Humble
Kate Humble
Katherine 'Kate' Humble is an English television presenter, mainly for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes...
, Simon King
Simon King (television)
Simon Henry King OBE is a British television presenter and cameraman, specialising in nature documentaries.King has been working in the field of natural history film making for over 30 years...
, Steve Leonard
Steve Leonard
Stephen "Steve" Leonard is a British veterinarian and television personality.-Early life:Leonard's family moved to Cheshire, from Northern Ireland, when he was six weeks old....
, Jonathan Scott
Jonathan Scott (zoologist)
Jonathan Scott is an English zoologist and wildlife photographer specializing in African wildlife. He spends much of his time in the Masai Mara National Game Reserve in southwest Kenya and the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania.He and his wife Angie, who is also a wildlife photographer,...
, Chris Packham
Chris Packham
Christopher George "Chris" Packham is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author. He is the brother of fashion designer, Jenny Packham...
and Charlotte Uhlenbroek
Charlotte Uhlenbroek
Charlotte Jane Uhlenbroek is a British zoologist and BBC television presenter.-Early life:Her Dutch father was an agricultural specialist with the United Nations who took his English wife and their family round the world with him. Uhlenbroek was born in London, but her parents moved to Ghana when...
. A registered charity, the BBC Wildlife Fund, was established to direct funds raised by the programmes to conservation charities in the field to help save the featured animals, and other species, from extinction. Saving Planet Earth enabled the Fund to raise £1 million on the night, a total which had almost doubled by the end of 2010.