The natural historian has joined Instagram to raise awareness about the dangers impacting the future of our planet and the possible solutions.

This week, David Attenborough joined Instagram with the aim of spreading awareness about the devastating effects of climate change and urging people to help save the planet’s ecosystem, it’s extraordinary biodiversity, and all its inhabitants.

The move to “explore this new way of communication” despite social media not being Attenborough’s ‘usual habitat’, comes “because as we all know, the world is in trouble.”

In the first video on his account, Attenborough addressed his followers and said: “Continents are on fire, glaciers are melting, coral reefs are dying, fish are disappearing from our oceans; the list goes on and on.

“But we know what to do about it. And that’s why I’m tackling this new way, for me, of communication.”

Urging people to partake in saving the planet, he added: “Join me, or as we used to say in those early days of radio: stay tuned.”

View this post on Instagram

David Attenborough has spent a lifetime travelling, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. He’s also witnessed the damaged caused. Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will. That’s why we want to share this message on Instagram. Because there is hope and together, we can inspire change. Social media isn’t David’s usual habitat so while he’s recorded messages solely for Instagram, like the one in this post, we're helping to run this account. In case you’re wondering, ‘we’ are Jonnie and Colin and we worked with David on A Life On Our Planet. So, as well as sharing the messages he’s recorded especially for this account we’ll also post some exclusive clips and behind the scenes content. Stay tuned.

A post shared by A Life On Our Planet (@davidattenborough) on Sep 24, 2020 at 2:00am PDT

‘Inspire change’

The caption of the video further explains the motive behind the veteran naturalist joining Instagram.

After highlighting Attenborough’s life long campaign of exploring wild places of our planet, documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder and witnessing the damage caused, the caption reads: “Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will

“That’s why we want to share this message on Instagram. Because there is hope and together, we can inspire change.”

The day-old account, which has already garnered 2.8 million followers, will be managed by Jonnie Hughes and Colin Butfield, who’ve worked with the historian on the upcoming series A Life On Our Planet.

They detail in the caption that the account will post exclusive messages from the broadcaster recorded solely for the platform, as well as behind the scenes footage from the upcoming Netflix series.

• Read: 10 Times Sir David Attenborough was hilarious, inspiring, terrifying and adorable

‘Earth is finite’

The second video already up on the account has Attenborough sharing some reflections of when he witnessed seeing the earth from space for the very first time.

View this post on Instagram

Over half a century ago, man went to the moon. David was watching from a television studio at the time and was fascinated at seeing our world from space for the very first time. These pictures changed the mindset of many across the world: we realised that the earth is finite. A Life On Our Planet film is produced by @silverback_films and @wwf_uk

A post shared by A Life On Our Planet (@davidattenborough) on Sep 25, 2020 at 3:45am PDT

He mentions in the video that he was in a television studio when the Apollo mission launched in December 1968 and seeing shots of the planet “vulnerable and isolated” in space changed the mindset of many across the world.

“When we first experienced our remarkable home in a completely new way, millions of us suddenly learnt an essential truth,” he said.

“The Earth is finite and we need to look after it.”

His new film, David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, will debut in cinemas on September 28 before arriving on Netflix on October 4 while his new book, titled A Life On Our Planet – My Witness Statement and Vision for the Future, will be released on October 1.

• Read: David Attenborough says eating free-range meat is ‘middle-class hypocrisy’ because of its effect on the planet

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