BBC nature blockbuster labelled 'wildlife porn'

Sir David Attenborough has hit back at allegations that his latest blockbuster series is "wildlife porn" because it does not highlight dangers to the world's environment.

The distinguished natural history broadcaster said Planet Earth, which began screening in Britain on Sunday "will help persuade people that this planet is worth conserving".

But top environmentalists say that the biggest series the BBC's Natural History Unit has ever made has missed a vital opportunity to convey to a worldwide audience the message that humanity is driving countless species to extinction.

The series, which took four years to make at more than 200 locations, contains some awe-inspiring new wildlife footage. But, in his script, Sir David, who has campaigned for countless environmental causes, says little about the threats to species.

The first episode opens with shots of a polar bear emerging from hibernation, but does not say, as the Independent on Sunday reported last month, that the creatures are at risk from global warming. It also contains unprecedented film of a snow leopard hunting, but does not say that the big cat is itself endangered by poaching and the destruction of its habitat.

"We are doing damage to our world," Sir David said. "But there is still a vast amount of uncharted and untouched wilderness.

"This series shows what is still there and will help persuade people this planet is worth conserving."

But Friends of the Earth executive director Tony Juniper said: "The [conservation] message needs to be spelled out much more clearly. Sir David is one of the few people who can get it across around the world."

Robert Napier, chief executive of WWF-UK, praised Sir David, who has been a trustee of the organisation for 20 years, for his commitment to the environment. But he called the series "a missed opportunity to get across to millions of people what is happening to the wildlife species on which we all depend, and what they can do to save it".

Paul Toyn, director of the environmental group Article 13, called the series "wildlife porn", because the species were being exploited by being depicted as if they were not under threat.

"We need just one or two sentences to make people more aware of the fact that these animals are threatened by man," he said.

Alastair Fothergill, the executive producer of the series, replied: "I just don't believe that 9pm on a Sunday is the time for heavy environmental messages."

He pointed out that Sir David was to present two programmes on global warming on BBC1 later this year, and that a second series of Planet Earth will be accompanied by conservationist programmes on BBC4. Environmentalists say these will not reach a global mass audience.

- INDEPENDENT