Forests
Sir David Attenborough journeys into the forests, where dogs communicate with whistles, treehoppers fight assassin bugs, ‘spirit bears’ fish, and hornbills imprison themselves in trees.
Sir David Attenborough journeys into the hidden world of forests, where lives are entwined in the most unexpected of ways. From the temperate rainforests of Canada, where rarely seen ‘spirit bears’ fish for salmon, to the teak forests of India, where whistling wild dogs work together to bring down prey three times their size, the forests of planet Earth are full of unseen connections.
To stand out in the misty mountainous forests of China, male tragopan have developed a comical dance routine, whilst in the dense tropical rainforest, treehoppers form surprising alliances to fight off assassin bugs, and oriental pied hornbills go to incredible lengths to protect their young.
Even though we are only now beginning to understand how deeply interconnected life in the forest is, we do know that those connections are threatened by deforestation. Each individual tree is an intricate ecosystem in its own right, yet humans cut down 15 billion of them every year. In the Amazon, they are being replaced by plantations of a single species of tree – eucalyptus – which turn rich and complex worlds into little more than green deserts. In the small patches of remaining forest, animals like chimpanzees, our closest relatives, are forced to carve out an existence in the human world.
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In pictures: Forests
By Sarah Whalley, producer & director for Forests
Play the C91Èȱ¬ Forests quiz
Visit the C91Èȱ¬ website and test your knowledge
Clips
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Learning to live alongside humans
Duration: 02:26
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Making Planet Earth III: An inquisitive tapir joins the crew
Duration: 01:00
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Treehopper insects pay bees to protect them
Duration: 03:17
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | David Attenborough |
Production Manager | Bronwen Thomas |
Executive Producer | Michael Gunton |
Series Producer | Matt Brandon |
Series Producer | Jonny Keeling |
Producer | Sarah Whalley |
Broadcasts
- Sun 19 Nov 2023 18:20
- Sun 26 Nov 2023 14:0091Èȱ¬ One except Wales & Wales HD
- Tue 9 Jan 2024 08:00
Explore AR animals and their habitats in ‘Habitat Explorer’ or download a poster ‘Our Changing World’ to make origami animals!
Visit The Open University website to learn about fascinating animals in their habitats