Building on the Biodiversity Legacy of David Attenborough: A Proposal for Integrating Natural History Media into Socio-Ecological Data Infrastructures

Authors

Keywords:

David Attenborough, Biodiversity informatics, Natural history media, Socio-ecological data infrastructure, Anthropocene, Attenborough-LLM, Indigenous knowledge, Green librarianship

Abstract

Abstract

The evolving scenario of biodiversity knowledge is characterised by a core contradiction: the most visible global representations of nature are produced by a handful of natural history media institutions, while the most granular and historically grounded records of socio?ecological change remain dispersed across local archives, Indigenous knowledge systems, governance documents, and scientific databases. While the filmography of Sir David Attenborough has become one of the primary ways global publics encounter biodiversity, ecosystems, and planetary change, this contradiction in biodiversity knowledge creates an implicit tension. This article attempts to problematise this feature as a means of linking complex human histories, resource conflicts, and governance regimes that structure the filmed landscapes to the corpus of work left behind by Attenborough. 

Author Biography

  • Amruth M, Kerala Forest Research Institute
    Amruth M is Senior Scientist at Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, India. Has PhD in Social Sciences from Mahatma Gandhi University with specialization in environmental history policy studies and institutions for sustainable management of natural resources. His research engagements include critical evaluation of the Idea of development and changing organization of development in the context of governance, management of natural resources and rights of the indigenous population. These explorations also trace the trajectories of mutable conceptions of nature as reflected in the relations between Human Society and Nature. Currently working on a Monograph titled Governing ‘Man’ and ‘Nature’: Colonial Travancore, 1860s-1940s. Has numerous published papers, monographs, technical reports and conference presentations to his credit.

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Published

2026-06-22

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2026): Sir David Frederick Attenborough: The Voice that Archived the Living Earth

Section

Articles

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