We got on a speedboat, and as we arrived at the island, these guys all jumped off their boat, took one step and literally dropped about four feet into the mud – it rose up to their chests. I looked at my cameraman and at my director and thought: how the bloody hell am I going to get across that island? We decided to take a run up in the boat, going as fast as we could, and slide about 50 feet through the mud, as close to where the guys were planting the mangroves as possible.
Then, obviously, I couldn’t get out in my wheelchair, so we found a massive piece of tarpaulin, laid it out on top of the mud and I lay down on it. I spread my weight out so that it wouldn’t sink. We then had someone grab each corner of the tarpaulin and drag me to where the bemused guys were planting the mangroves. Even then, the piece of tarpaulin was slowly sinking into the mud as I interviewed them and planted some mangrove trees. Then they dragged me back onto the speedboat. You know: where there’s a will, there’s a way and you just improvise.
You’ve seen quite a few examples of climate change. Do you think it will alter the way we travel?
Yeah, we have to in all reality. I’ve been travelling non-stop for almost 20 years for various TV programmes, starting with a children’s show called Tiger Tiger, where I travelled the world telling the stories of endangered animals. And over the years, I’ve seen clear signs of climate change: countries getting hotter, droughts lasting longer, animals and humans coming into conflict because of these droughts and the lack of food.
And so it’s really important that we, first of all, understand this and acknowledge our part in it, and then we have to find a way to travel more sustainably because I don’t think there’s any way of stopping people travelling. We just have to find a way of doing it better.
Maybe taking fewer flights, finding alternative ways to travel, but also putting pressure on the travel industry, especially the aviation industry, to come up with new technology.
Let’s travel in a sustainable way. Let’s go out there and let’s acknowledge the indigenous people, the locals, and let’s make sure that they benefit from the travel industry. And then, when you travel, travel for a reason. Let’s make sure that’s its a special trip.
I’m no longer looking at travelling thousands of miles every month because, right now, it would be irresponsible to do that until the industry changes – and the industry has to change because we need to travel as human beings.
That’s what has made us into who we are. You know, we travelled out of Africa and spread to all parts of the globe, and it’s made us this incredible race of people. But what we now need to understand is that we can’t just take the planet for granted anymore.