STEVE BACKSHALL

“This area we live in is so diverse, so varied and so spectacular as well”

Wild at HEART

How Marlow resident Steve Backshall has retained his spirit of adventure during lockdown

By JUDITH HURRELL

After a year of staying put, we’ve all got cabin fever. We’ve been scratching our itchy feet by living vicariously through Marlow resident Steve Backshall.

The TV presenter, naturalist, conservationist and adventurer, has taken to social media during lockdown. His live-streamed lessons about habitats, animals, and nature have inspired homeschooling kids and claustrophobic parents alike.

His e orts were acknowledged in a poll conducted by BT Skills for Tomorrow naming him a Top 10 Digital Lockdown Hero. The poll drew votes from 1,000 UK parents. It recognised ten people who’ve used technology, online platforms and social media to help the needy, vulnerable and elderly during the country’s first lockdown.

The 47-year-old father of three has devoted his career to spreading the word on wildlife. In 2020 Backshall was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Years Honours for services to wildlife conservation and his charity work — some of which benefited our local area. In 2010 he became President of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), commenting:

‘It’s a great honour. I’ve travelled the world visiting extraordinary places, but I think it’s so important to treasure and conserve the natural beauty in our own back yard. It’s our heritage and our responsibility to protect it’.

‘The Chiltern Hills has become my home over the last decade, and it’s somewhere that’s very, very special to me. Almost every day, I go out on the Thames near me and watch hobbies catching mayflies right over the deck of my kayak. I see the kingfishers every single day, and I’ve seen this incredible host of fledgelings going out onto the river and doing really, really well. They all become a part of my life, they’re almost like my personal friends out on the river.’ 2021 will see Steve on another global journey, taking in sun-drenched tropics and mysterious ocean depths for a new documentary — ‘Shark’ — which premieres on Sky Nature in the summer. The documentary is dedicated to celebrating these marine marvels, dispelling the myth that sharks are merely cold-blooded killers.

‘My new series due in the summer of 2021 focuses on the evolution, biology and catastrophic conservation crisis facing the Sharks and rays,’ he says. Depending on what the summer holds, this is perhaps the closest many of us will get to farflung adventure this year. Luckily, for residents of Berks and Bucks, there’s much to discover on the doorstep.

‘Nothing’s more important than the wildlife that we have in our own backyard,’ Backshall reminds us when talking about the work the Wildlife Trust does in conserving these areas. ‘It’s ours, it belongs to us. It’s part of our history and our heritage, and it’s part of our responsibility to protect it really. This area we live in is so diverse, so varied and so spectacular as well.’

Well said, Steve! Bringing wild animals into our living rooms was a feat, but opening our eyes to the wonders of our local area is the real game-changer.