Wild at heart: Liz Bonnin’s mission to wake us up to the natural world
In April, Liz Bonnin returned from a three-month stint of island-hopping around the Caribbean in a surprisingly upbeat mood. The science and wildlife presenter, 47, is well aware that statement could sound a bit ridiculous. She is careful never to describe her job – which often takes her to exotic locales in pursuit of the world’s rarest and most awww-inducing animals – as a grind. But it does come with a Faustian price: loss of innocence. It’s impossible to work in the environment, to read the academic papers, to witness the degradation of nature first-hand, without reaching the conclusion that our planet is on the precipice of being kind of screwed.
But this trip was different. “I came home full,” she says, over coffee in west London. “All my friends were like, ‘Normally when you come back from shoots, you’re just wrecked and a bit grumpy. You can’t put two sentences together. But look at you: you’re just shining! What happened?’ I’m like, ‘Wait till I tell you…’”
The glow, weirdly, had little to do with swapping winter in the UK for Belize, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Venezuela. Instead, it came from spending time with local conservationists and naturalists who devote their lives to protecting the native species and imperilled ecosystems of the region. Bonnin’s encounters with these individuals and the, which started last Sunday.
