This week our greatest naturalist, Sir David Attenborough reaches his 100th birthday. His extraordinary career and unparalleled contributions to the understanding of the natural world, and the pressures we have forced upon it, are an astonishing legacy and a warning we cannot afford to ignore.
This morning I saw a hare. Poised by the hawthorn hedge to the side of the field path, framed by the explosion of pale frothy blossom, it was an instant of stop-the-world magic. I held my breath, willing him to stay. The dark tips of his ears twitched slightly, and he seemed to be gazing at a fixed point on the horizon with intense concentration, exuding a sense of self-possession and grace, an aura of calm surrounding him. It was what’s known in our household as an Attenborough moment, when with a lifetime of being transfixed by that instantly recogniseable voice, having watched and listened to almost everything the great man has broadcast, it seems as if the soundtrack of joy and wonder is inside your head.
Sir David is above all a communicator and storyteller, with multiple awards for his natural history programmes, over 40 animals and plant species named after him, plus a constellation (shaped like a blue whale). He has explored remote lands and met the most isolated people on Earth, and has a double knighthood, having first been knighted in 1985 and then again in 2022 (as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George). He is rightly feted for both his broadcasting and his relentless advocacy.
So in May 2026, with this milestone centenary to celebrate, what is the state of nature on our home planet? Well, regrettably the 100th birthday reality report is not where Sir David or any of us should want it to be. Whilst extinction rates over the last 100 years have slowed slightly compared to a peak in the early 1900s, they remain up to 1,000 times higher than natural background levels. We are currently in what’s often called the "sixth mass extinction". Any geologist can tell you about the previous five, with probably the most well-known one being the end of the dinosaurs, annihilated 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, when a huge asteroid (approximately 10km in diameter) struck the Earth, leaving the 180-km wide Chicxulub crater in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.
But let’s be clear, in a mass extinction, at least 75% of species go extinct within a relatively (by geological standard) short period of time, typically less than two million years. Whereas, by contrast the background rate of extinctions, which are a normal part of evolution, is generally accepted to be 10% of species lost every million years, 30% every 10 million years, and 65% every 100 million years. It is incorrect to assume that species going extinct is abnormal. Evolution occurs through the balance of extinction – the end of species – and speciation – the creation of new ones.
Human pressures generating habitat loss and climate change, and the illegal wildlife trade, are pushing thousands of species toward extinction. Among those now red-flagged are the cao vit gibbon, Saint Lucia fer-de-lance, European eel, Indian rainbow tarantula, Temminck’s pangolin, clouded leopard, and saker falcon. Even tulips, once the unlikely drivers of a 17th-century economic disaster akin to the depression of the 1930s and the 2007-8 financial crash, are under threat in Central Asia, where overgrazing and urban expansion endanger several species.
In the UK, this “green and pleasant land,” the outlook is equally stark. More than 130 species could disappear from Great Britain by 2080, with birds, butterflies, and plants most at risk. Now ranked among the world’s most nature-depleted countries, the UK retains less than half of its biodiversity, and around 16% of species face extinction, largely due to industrialisation, habitat loss, and intensive agriculture. 2026 marks the 5th anniversary of the UK Environment Act, which legally commits the UK to targets for land, water, and sea by 2030. The long-delayed Environment Improvement Plan (EIP), published in December 2025, should outline how these targets will be met. Yet the Office for Environmental Protection warns that the Government is “largely off track” to meet its targets on biodiversity and its 30 by 30 commitments. 2025 was the warmest year on record globally, increasing threats from floods and drought, even in temperate regions like the UK, and the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Risks Report highlights that environmental risks incorporating climate change and nature depletion are now the primary threat to global economic stability.
The natural world underpins everything we do. It shapes and sustains the delicate balance of life on Earth, from stable ecosystems that regulate the climate to the intricate networks that allow all species, including us, to thrive. At the venerable age of 100, Sir David Attenborough continues to be a powerful voice for urgent change. He calls for bold action: rewilding our oceans, restoring forests, and rebuilding the natural carbon sinks that protect our planet’s future.
His message is clear-eyed about the challenges we face, but it is not without optimism. Alongside the gravity of environmental decline, he offers a vision rooted in possibilities; one where thoughtful stewardship and immediate action can still turn the tide. Above all, he reminds us that hope is not misplaced: if we act now, the next generation may yet witness a remarkable and “wonderful recovery” of the natural world.
And as well as all this he commissioned Monty Python’s Flying Circus – genius.
In 2016, while serving as a Trustee and Board member of The Conservation Volunteers where Sir David was a deeply committed Vice-President, I experienced a lifelong dream come true. As we planted a tree to celebrate his 90th birthday, I had the chance to chat with him about our shared love of geology and the natural world. It still gives me goosebumps to this day. And continues to galvanise my actions more than ever to protect nature and drive positive action for the planet.
JS
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