Watch out for….. Wild Isles

Did you know that we have 85% of the world's chalk streams in Britain?  Or over 50% of the world's common bluebells?

On Sunday 12^th March 2023 at 7pm, the great Sir David Attenborough started a wonderful new series and he narrates a very special programme about the incredible wildlife we have in the UK and you can find out more about the natural history in Britain and Ireland.  We’ll see everything from butterflies and kingfishers to sea eagles, puffins and killer whales.  The latest technology enables Sir David and the crew to show us a wild side of the British Isles.  Over three years, the crew filmed in 145 places.

Don’t miss it!  There are five episodes and there are three must-see moments here.  Watch for the time of day it's shown - on the 19th March, the programme is on at 7pm. 

The series has been produced by the RSPB, WWF and the Open University.  A number of Wildlife Trusts locations feature in it. 

After the introductory programme, the series features Woodland, Grassland, Freshwater and Ocean.  It has behaviour that was previously unseen from a staggering 96 species.  

The programme’s website is here.  It has a trailer you can watch in advance of the series, and you can also delve behind the scenes here.

Despite the UK’s wildlife, Britain is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and one of the questions Sir David will be asking is how we can restore our wild isles for future generations.

There’s a list of UK Conservation charities here (by no means does it list all of them!) and species specific charities here.

If you want to make a start in helping wildlife, one of the things you could do is to visit the Wildlife Trusts.  There are 46 Wildlife Trusts around the UK, from Alderney in the Channel Islands right up to Scotland, from north west Wales to Norfolk, and they have lots of ways in which you can get involved and help wildlife to make a difference.   Find your local Wildlife Trust here.

Whatever it is that you do, please do something.   Our wildlife need us to get up and take action. Britain is the worst country in the G7 for wildlife and wild spaces that have been lost because of human activity.  So we need to work hard to put this right, as Paul Whitehouse's Our Troubled Rivers....shows on BBC2 on Sunday 12 March at 8pm.
 

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