Sir David Attenborough, Britain’s best-known natural history film-maker, once again took to our screens across the UK this week, presenting and narrating the BBC’s latest landmark series Frozen Planet. Unsurprisingly, this latest installment from Sir David drew in viewing figures of around 6.8 million, and critics have been united in their praise for the opening episode. The Frozen Planet website reveals that although Sir David first visited Antarctica 17 years ago, filming for Frozen Planet was his first ever visit to the geographical North Pole.

Now at the age of 85, and having begun his broadcasting career over half a century ago, Attenborough’s spectacular series for the BBC are surely responsible for many people’s passion for wildlife. In 1982, David Attenborough received the Panda Award for Outstanding Achievement at the Wildscreen Festival, and was knighted for his services to broadcasting in 1985.

Life on Earth was the first of David’s epic Life series, and told the story of the evolution of life on the planet within thirteen 50-minute programmes. Universally acclaimed by both press and public, it remains to this day the series that David is the most proud of and that has given him most satisfaction. In 1984, The Living Planet was screened, which surveyed the natural world from an ecological point of view and this was followed by the conclusion to the trilogy in 1990 – The Trials of Life, which dealt with animal behaviour.

Sir David’s passion for the natural world is clear, and Wildscreen is fortunate enough to have him on board as a Patron, make sure you check out his video introduction to ARKive. We are even lucky enough to include a couple of his own photographs in our collection.

You can read more about Sir David’s work on the WildFilmHistory website, another of Wildscreen’s initiatives, where you can explore the history of wildlife filmmaking, with ’behind the scenes’ photographs, essential production information, and a unique collection of oral histories, including one from Sir David himself.

Frozen Planet continues next Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One for viewers in the UK. You can check out our blog on the first episode, and let us know your thoughts by posting comments, or joining in the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Claire Lewis, ARKive Media Researcher

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The exciting big butterfly count takes place in the UK this month from 16^th – 31^st July and invites novices and experts alike to help out in a nationwide survey of some of our spectacular butterflies. By doing this the organisers, Butterfly Conservation, are aiming to create important records of how healthy our butterfly populations, and therefore habitats, are. Last year a staggering 10,000 people took part counting an amazing 210,000 butterflies and day-flying moths.

Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) on flower

With over half of the UK’s 60 resident butterfly species currently threatened with extinction, the big butterfly count has the full backing of Wildscreen patron Sir David Attenborough, who had the following to say:

“Butterflies are one of the stars of the British countryside. Summer just wouldn’t be summer without them. But they continue to be in long-term decline. I urge everyone, young and old, to take part in the Big Butterfly Count to help us assess the fortunes of these bewitching creatures.”

Male common blue butterfly

Meadow brown butterfly

Get Involved

To take part, all you need is 15 minutes on a bright, preferably sunny, day and the free big butterfly count downloadable butterfly ID chart. You then simply count how many of each species you see and record you sightings online! Check out the big butterfly count ‘how to’ section for further details on how to carry out your survey. Some of the star participants of your survey might include the red admiral, small tortoiseshell, common blue or green hairstreak butterfly.

Green hairstreak butterfly

Fancy joining in? Let us know how you get on!

For more information on butterfly conservation, visit the butterfly conservation website.

Fancy finding out more about other marvellous mini-beasts? Take a look at our new education resource.

Becky Moran,  ARKive Media Researcher

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Bonkers about brown bears? Vote for them in our birthday poll!

Crazy for coconut crabs? Love lions? Head over heels for hawksbill turtles? Help us to celebrate ARKive’s 8^th birthday by voting for your favourite species!

Since its launch by Sir David Attenborough in 2003, ARKive has created amazing audio-visual profiles for almost 13,000 species.

To help you decide which species on ARKive you love the most we have pulled together a list of our top 20 most popular animals and plants. But if you are fanatical about fossas or more partial to a prickly pear you can vote for them too!

The winning species will be announced on ARKive’s birthday on May 20^th in a special birthday edition of the enews, on our Facebook page and on twitter.

Will it be birthday ballons for the burrowing bettong or a conga line for the celebrating centipede – you decide!

Vote here for your favourite species.

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 Q: Who thinks that TV is “chewing gum for the eyes”?

 A: Sir David Attenborough

Bet you didn’t see that one coming! Sir Attenborough was talking at Communicate, a conference held in Bristol on the 3^rd and 4^th of November which gathered hundreds of environmental communicators from across the country. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Connecting with Nature’: how do we communicate about and champion the natural world more effectively? How do we make people aware of the brilliance that is biodiversity and turn this awareness into action?

The beautiful greater flamingo in flight

Sir Attenborough said that television has a vital role to play in making people aware of the natural world and that he hoped his programmes had inspired many people. However, he worried that television was “dumbing down” – becoming “chewing gum for the eyes” – due to economic pressures and that, as such, people working in conservation and wildlife film-making should find new and more effective ways of promoting their message. He also believes, as does Ed Gillespie of Futuerra, that a positive ‘love’ message which celebrates the world’s fantastic flora and fauna is much more effective than a negative message that concentrates on doom and gloom. 

Ken Banks, founder of Kiwanja, demonstrated how he shares this belief that a positive message is the most effective way of promoting conservation. He enables non-profit organisations to make better use of technologies, such as mobile phones and online gaming, in their work. This allows charities and other NGOs to reach out to a wide range of people using innovative and engaging methods. Could technology be the solution to our communication problems?

Tiger shark getting up close and personal with new technology

Here at ARKive, we believe that films and photos are powerful tools in raising awareness about the amazing diversity of life on Earth and promoting conservation, something that Sir David echoed in his talk at Communicate. He said, “People won’t…care for an animal unless they know what that animal is”.

So, what do you think? How would you promote your conservation message?

Ruth Hendry, ARKive Media Researcher

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