A Life on Our Planet

“Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world,”

This is a thought provoking book written by David Attenborough at the grand age of 94 and looks back at the decline of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity and what we can do to help put it right.

I think this book should be on every school curriculum and a must read for everyone who cares about the world that we live in.

This illuminating book gives us some perspective of when and how we humans began to destroy our planet, an account of the changes during David Attenborough's lifetime, and some detail about where we are now, where we are going if radical change does not happen, and what we must do to reverse the damage.

I've read a lot about environmental issues and thought I was quite well-informed, but I learned so much in this concise, beautifully-written, easy-to-understand book. At the same time it is uplifting and deeply troubling. It was encouraging to read that there are so many projects around the world that are making a real difference, but it's the fact that all governments, and indeed all individuals, must act and act right now that is worrying.

David Attenborough is the most eloquent spokesperson for our planet and this book was a joy to read. It should be required reading for everybody, especially parents and teachers whose responsibility is to educate their children/students to enable them to insist on a clean, healthy and fair world.

I honestly believe this book should be added to school curriculum.

The start of the book shows how the world changed throughout David's life. It also ties in a mini autobiography style read, not greatly detailed, but it tells tales of how who became who he is now, and it littered with his great sense of humour along side showing how much the world had changed, and why it had changed. (hint its because of mankind).

Next it covers what could happen if we don’t make changes - which is horrifying, and follows with what changes he thinks we can make.

It has certainly encouraged me to look at my lifestyle and see hat changes I can make.

This is a book that should be mandatory to read. Everyone on the planet should take a look at it. Attenborough is such a loved character worldwide that I hope people would notice, stop what they are doing, take in the information, and let it sink in. This short book is not preachy, but to the point.

Sir David goes back to the days when he was a boy, before the Second World War, and tells short stories from those days, followed by other decades up to 2020, telling the reader how our planet has changed due to human impact. There are many interesting examples of what has happened, how we’ve had a negative impact on the planet, but also several inspiring stories, like the mountain Gorillas and the Maasai conservancies in Kenya.

To be honest, I have lost hope in humans a long time ago, but David and his book gives me some hope. The good thing is that people actually listen to him. I’m not sure the right people listen though, but I hope world leaders and industry hot shots will listen and learn. I hugely admire the steps New Zealand has taken, and I’m happy to see David has pointed it out.

For once it’s extremely hard to pinpoint my favourite things about this book. There are too many to mention. This compact and wonderful book will hopefully have a long shelf life, and function as an educational read and reference book. Highly recommended!