Dr. Sanjayan Muttulingam takes a fresh look at human influence on nature and the works of conservationists around the globe. He is not the usual white British presenter. There are five episodes.
Home shows the Chinese effort in raising pandas and Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees in Tanzania. In Bangladesh, Bengal tigers are feared. In India, vultures are lost leading to unintended consequences. Various predators around the world keep harmful pest in check.
Plains shows a new way of thinking about conservation on the plains. It's about concentrating larger herds by the use of predators or doing a similar style with cattle. The larger bunched up herds are able to work the land to its benefit.
Forests shows people trying to coexist with the forest. There is a small jungle tribe in The Intangible Zone in Ecuador. There is cork harvesting in Portugal where rabbit extermination went too far but is now recovering. Forest is lost in Indonesia where people and elephants are struggling for space. Research in the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada connects the land to the waters.
Oceans shows how human activities such as overfishing, coastal developments, run-offs, and climate change is affecting the world's oceans as slime takes over. People are trying to recover even the polluted harbor of New York City.
Water shows how animals effect the water humanity rely upon and how our use of the resource is effecting the natural world. The most compelling individual is the old 'uneducated' African man who stopped the desert and revived his village's agriculture by working with nature for the last four decades.
Each episode is trying to show a general habitat when in fact, it needs to state a thesis and present each case. The best episode has to be Plains because it has a specific thesis and every part of the episode returns to that thesis. The other episodes are too general in their theme. On the plus side, this is something a little different than the modern beautiful nature shows without humans. Plains actually taught me something new and the old African villager is very compelling. It just needs a better structure.
