Prince William: He presents series about wildlife protection officers

The British heir to the throne Prince William (42) will present its own documentary series from May 23. “Guardians” is the name of the format that will be shown on the YouTube channel of “BBC Earth” in six episodes. William and his team worked on the project for 18 months, which portrays wildlife protectionists in the most dangerous areas in the world.

“Many think of being a soldier or a policeman is dangerous and these people risk their lives,” said William in a panel discussion about his project. “But I don’t think people understand that it is the same for these men and women around the world.” The rangers are “particularly unknown and invisible,” said the prince. “They are the unsung heroes of the natural world.”

William’s own idea was to tell six different places and six stories to raise awareness of this work. His wish is that the episodes about “the brilliant men and women who are at the forefront of nature conservation all over the world and put them in the spotlight”.

TV icon David Attenborough (99) was a “great inspiration” for him, reveals William. Like the natural film pioneer, he also wants to show places that most people can never visit. But while Attenborough’s programs focus on the animals, William’s series illuminates those who work in the background and offer the camera teams for the films and show them their way to the animals: “Without them, there is nothing to see.”

The first episode leads to the Congo-Regenwald to the Dzanga-Sangha reserve and shows a former poacher who became a protector: Modiki Claver is fighting for the wild animals that he once chased. “I was lucky enough to travel to Africa many times, and the continent always had a special place in my heart,” says William in his introduction to the episode.

The other six- to ten-minute episodes, which are published on Friday, show snow-minded protectors in Himalaya in Indian, a former illegal fisherman in the Mexican Gulf of Cortez and the struggle of indigenous communities for their ancestral countries in Brazil, “if the fighter of illegal wildlife crimes on your front door”.