Wild Isles: The book of the BBC TV series presented by David Attenborough

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Presented by Sir David Attenborough, co-produced by The Open University, the RSPB and WWF, and filmed over three years, the series uses the very latest technology to capture dramatic new behaviour, from battling butterflies to hunting sea eagles and killer whales – revealing a previously unseen wild side of the British Isles.

Do you think people will engage with the extraordinary wildlife on our doorsteps as much as they have with natural history programmes about other parts of the world?

Interview with Alastair Fothergill (Series Producer)

Cooke, Rachel (2023-03-12). "David Attenborough's Wild Isles makes me proud to be British, despite everything". New Statesman . Retrieved 2023-03-12. BBC Radio 2 with BBC Children’s and Education, supported by The One Show and others, are launching Let it Grow – an initiative to turn grey spaces into wild and colourful places, with a focus on tempting even the least green fingered to join in. Blue Peter viewers can earn their Blue Peter Green badges by getting involved and there will also be an OZT Goes Wild in Britain special on domestic wildlife. BBC Sport will be highlighting grassroots clubs up and down the country doing great work in preserving and promoting nature – as well as reflecting what is happening at the elite level – challenging more to get involved.

The BBC will be inviting local communities to Get Into Nature, be that for their mental or physical health, for their community, for the environment or simply for fun. BBC Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will also be reflecting the focus on nature in their output.

The team had to make tiny windows in the sides of the flowers to film the structures within. Thermal cameras captured glowing images of plants heating up to lure in the flies and the team could also feel the heat by placing their face next to the plant. It required carefully timed observation, as each plant heats up for just four hours before it starts to wilt the following day. Wild Isles is a celebration of the wildlife found on a relatively modest collection of islands positioned at a latitude so northerly to be unattractive to many animals and plants. Despite these unpromising foundations, the islands of Britain and Ireland, together with more than 6,000 lesser islets that make up our archipelago, contain some of the most diverse, beautiful and wildlife-rich landscapes and seas on our planet. Britain is listed as the worst country in the G7 for wildlife and wild spaces lost due to human activity [Source: Natural History Museum] Hopefully the series will encourage the audience to interact with their local wildlife – what are your tips for people so they can do this responsibly? We’re also focussed on protecting the natural world around us. Currently, we’re aligning to a framework set out by the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) which guides organisations in reporting on the risks from biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. As part of the project, the BBC is investigating its own operational impact on the environment and we have conducted an initial bio-diversity footprint study, in conjunction with a specialist team from the University of Oxford.

We are still one of least biodiverse countries in the world, making it important that we protect and restore the wildlife we have [Source: Biodiversity Intactness Study]

Interview with Hilary Jeffkins (Series Producer & Episode One Producer)

Capturing the whole hunt required a co-ordinated team of specialist long lens camera people and wildlife spotters. The white-tailed eagles ranged over vast areas, so the team had to keep in close communication working in hides positioned at eagle hot spots around Islay. It took several trips and more than 70 days filming. Filming Feat/Remarkable Behaviour Britain and Ireland have some of the most diverse and beautiful landscapes on Earth. We have more ancient oak trees than the rest of Europe put together; sixty percent of the world’s chalk streams flow in southern England; our remaining flower meadows are a vital refuge for breeding birds and butterflies; and our coasts are home to internationally important numbers of seabirds. Yet our wildlife is increasingly fragmented and fragile – this series explains the challenges nature faces today, and what can be done to make our wild isles even wilder in the future. The RSPB is protecting habitats, saving species and helping to end the nature and climate emergency. Nature is in crisis. Together we can save it. www.rspb.org.uk Singh, Anita (12 March 2023). "Wild Isles, BBC One, review: Attenborough's onscreen swansong is a Great British beauty". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 15 September 2023. Filmed over the course of three years, this new five-part series will investigate how our woodland, grassland, freshwater and ocean habitats support wildlife of all kinds. Using the very latest technology, each episode will capture dramatic and new behaviour across the British Isles, from battling butterflies to mighty killer whales on the hunt.