Toronto, April 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the long-awaited eight-part documentary series Our Planet, voiced by Sir David Attenborough, becomes available globally on Netflix. This series, created in collaboration with WWF and produced by Silverback Films, focuses on the breadth of diversity of habitats around the world and what can be done to protect remaining habitats and wildlife.
Media availability:
World Wildlife Fund Canada experts will be available to talk about the state of wildlife loss in Canada as well as iconic Canadian species featured in the series.
- Megan Leslie (Toronto, ON), president and CEO
- James Snider (Toronto, ON), vice-president, science, research and innovation
- Sophie Paradis (Montreal, QC), director, Quebec
- Emily Giles (Toronto, ON), senior species specialist
- Brandon Laforest (Iqaluit, NU), senior specialist, Arctic species and ecosystems
- Simon Mitchell (Fredericton, NB) lead specialist, freshwater
About the state of wildlife in Canada
Canadian wildlife are not exempt from this global biodiversity crisis. WWF’s recent Living Planet Report Canada found that half of monitored vertebrate species in this country are declining, and of those, the decline is 83 per cent. This report also found that federally protected at-risk species have continued to decline since the Species at Risk Act became law.
- 90 per cent of the global narwhal population - the most vulnerable of all Arctic marine mammals to the threats posed by climate change - call Canada home.
- Threatened barren-ground caribou have experienced dramatic declines, some up to more than 90 per cent of their peak numbers.
- Two thirds of the world's polar bear population live in Canada. They are threatened by loss of sea ice habitat through rapid climate change, reduced prey (as reduced sea ice and snow cover impacts seal health and abundance), increased industrial activities (primarily oil and gas exploration and development, which can disturb denning females).
About the Netflix Our Planet series
The series launches on April 5, 2019. From the creator of Planet Earth, Silverback Films and in collaboration with WWF, the eight-part series features never-before-seen footage of wildlife and their habitats while also revealing why the natural world matters to us all and what steps must be taken to preserve it.
The ambitious four-year Our Planet project has been filmed in 50 countries across all the continents of the world, with over 600 members of crew capturing more than 3,500 filming days, and will focus on the breadth of the diversity of habitats around the world, from the remote Arctic wilderness and mysterious deep oceans to the vast landscapes of Africa and diverse jungles of South America.
In the first episode, “One Planet,” viewers will travel from the Brazilian rainforest to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, discovering how each fragile habitat is connected and why they are all essential for life to thrive on this planet. Subsequent episodes capture Earth’s key biomes, or habitats: the icy frozen worlds, jungles, coastal seas, deserts and grasslands, high seas, freshwater regions and forests.
Thanks to an extensive team that includes some of the world’s best wildlife cinematographers, researchers and scientists — and the latest in 4K camera technology — each episode features several stunning sequences that have never been filmed before.
Our Planet is produced by Silverback Films, Ltd. Series producers are Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey.
The series is live on Netflix, go to Netflix.com/OurPlanet. The series promotes the shared responsibility we all have to protect the health of our home, highlighting that we may be the last generation that has the chance to address the challenges humankind has created.
About World Wildlife Fund Canada
WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca .
For interviews with WWF-Canada experts
Rebecca Spring, senior communications specialist, rspring@wwfcanada.org , +1 647-338-6274
Rebecca Spring WWF-Canada 6473386274 rspring@wwfcanada.org
