Sir David Attenborough: the inspiring voice of nature

Between the 1970s and 1990s he would establish himself with his series about life on the planet, with episodes as memorable as that encounter with gorillas in central Africa, where he showed the world that this species could also be intelligent and tender. “For the first time, you could think that ‘I’ll shoot a sequence in Australia or in the north of Canada’ and you knew you could do it. The fact that we moved from the Sahara desert to the Australian coral reef caused a great sensation among the public. It created the impression that, for the first time, you could see the Earth as a globe, as a world,” said the English conservationist himself in an interview with Spanish professor and researcher Bienvenido León.

The devotion with which Attenborough has defended natural life on the planet has inspired generations of scientists. One of these people motivated by her documentaries is the Peruvian biologist and conservationist Fanny Cornejo: “Like many,” he says, “I grew up with David Attenborough’s voice, and in that sense there was always that inspiring relationship.”

One of the things that most surprises her about the English naturalist is how throughout his centenary life he has been able to adapt his speech to the demands of the times: “From that pre-conservationist view on nature, a little more romantic, he went on to worry more about the scientific aspect, and from there he became an activist by recognizing the impact of human beings on nature. I feel that in his career he has made that journey that today’s society has undertaken with respect to the natural world,” says Cornejo, who is the founder of the Civil Association Yunkawasi dedicated to defending endangered species, such as the yellow-tailed woolly monkey.

She highlights, therefore, how Attenborough’s message has been able to “navigate that fine line of telling inspiring stories, without losing its ability to provoke a reaction in people about situations as dramatic as the crisis of ecosystems due to climate change.”

In recent times, the legendary naturalist – winner of the Prince of Asturias Award in 2009 – has been able to make the leap to streaming with productions for Netflix as evocative as “Our Planet” (2019) or his personal testimony “David Attenborough: a life on our planet” (2020) or “Life in Color” (2021). His words continue to resonate with us. At COP26 he stood before world leaders and called for a new industrial revolution powered by millions of sustainable innovations. “If separately,” he said, “we are a force powerful enough to destabilize our planet, surely working together we will be powerful enough to save it.”