In Series 3 of Unearthed, we delve into the critical issue of biodiversity loss, exploring its causes, consequences and the urgent need to protect what remains. The series examines the devastating impact of climate change and habitat destruction on ecosystems and human life, emphasising the interconnectedness of these different systems – soil, seeds, insects, trees. It traces how human actions have driven these environmental challenges, affecting the future of the planet and the balance of life on Earth. Despite the gravity of the situation, the series conveys a message of hope, showing how scientific research, innovative solutions and coordinated action across society can help slow or even reverse these destructive processes. As usual, very interesting.
“I have seen things become so limited in their natural diversity that there are almost certainly going to go extinct in the wild. There’s a plant called the African violet, which many people will know as being a houseplant that is sold regularly in the garden centres. And I have seen the site where the first African violet was collected from Tanzania, and I’ve seen that site decimated down to a handful of individual plants in my working life. Having been up mount Kenya, in the Aberdares and Kilimanjaro, there are such iconic plant communities at the top of those mountains and that’s where they live, at the top of the mountain and as climate increases and as those vegetation zones move up the mountain because the top of the mountain gets slightly warmer, those plants don’t have anywhere to go. They fall of the top of the mountain, as it were. So those are the kind of species that are in absolute peril, and we bank them and let’s hope we can find a way to reverse this climate change and get those back on to the habitats where they belong.”
Six episodes of approximately 1 hour each
Episode 1: What is the biodiversity crisis?
Episode 2: Why does soil matter?
Episode 3: Why do we save seeds?
Episode 4: How can we protect pollinators?
Episode 5: What does successful regeneration look like?
Episode 6: How does nature network?