Exclusive: Australian billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest says it was a ‘privilege’ to be involved with Sir David Attenborough’s new documentary Ocean, which explores the damage done to our seas by industrial overfishing and trawling.
Forrest combined his passion for conservation with business by part-funding Attenborough’s latest documentary.
It was a “pinch me” moment for the 63-year-old, even after many business deals the world over.
“I grew up with David Attenborough, my kids grew up with David Attenborough,” he told 9news.com.au at the world premiere for Ocean, referencing his four children with ex-wife Nicola Forrest.
“If ever I wanted to put them to bed quietly – that was hard – I’d put on David Attenborough, and they’d be mystified by this beautiful melody, a non-political, non-ideological, scientific voice who could communicate in a way we could all listen to.”
Forrest says Attenborough inspired his own PhD, which was a thesis titled Pelagic ecology and solutions for a troubled ocean.
“To have David’s voice behind the reasons why I went back to school for four years in my mid-50s, and to have him come out and say, ‘we must save the ocean’, I thought, ‘yes, thank you, Sir David’.
“Now, David’s most important mission he admits today was not on land, it’s where 98 per cent of the world’s liveable space is – it’s our oceans, and that’s what he’s out to protect in his final mission and I’m so proud of him.
“And so the opportunity to fund this film, to bring it into reality, was just a massive privilege.”
The funding of the film – widely tipped to be Attenborough’s last, as he turns 99 – came through Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation offshoot, Minderoo Pictures, which put in £1.5 million ($3.1 million) of the total £3.8 million ($7.85 million) budget.
But the billionaire tells 9News.com.au businesspeople need to do more than just focus on their bottom line.
“I think if you’re really good at business, you’re going to be really good at the environment,” Forrest says.
“If you’re really bad at business, you’re not going to survive long. Your shareholders won’t stay with you if you don’t protect the environment – that’s the bottom line.”
He believes those in the fishing industries in particular need to do more.
“If you’re in the fishing industry and you don’t advocate for 30 per cent of the exclusive zone (EZ) of your country to be in a no-take marine park, you know you’re not there for the long term – you’re there for the short term, to get in and get out.
“But if you’re a real fisher person, if you’re a real business person, you’re going to ask for a no-take marine park for 30 per cent of your country’s EZ as no-take. If you do that, call it a ‘park of love’, you will keep your ocean flourishing forever.”
Ocean with David Attenborough director Colin Butfield says he too was surprised by the effect marine protected areas can have.
“I think the thing everybody involved in the film learned was just how big some of the marine protected areas are [and] just how much the ocean can recover,” he tells 9News.com.au.
“Nobody had ever really filmed them before and so we did it for the first time and just got to see, it was incredible how good they were.”
Dr Enric Sala, executive producer and science advisor on Ocean with David Attenborough shares a similar view, especially with Australia’s unique biodiversity.
“The Great Barrier Reef is probably the most known ocean feature from Australia,” Sala tells 9News.com.au.
“Unfortunately, global warming [and] ocean warming is really hitting the corals hard and even though there are areas that are well protected, we still have this global threat that is affecting the risk. But, as the film will show, we can bring ocean back to life if we protect at least a third of the ocean by 2030.”
Another director and producer on the film, Toby Nowlan, who has worked with Attenborough for 16 years, tells 9News.com.au everything “the great godfather of the industry” has worked on up to now has led to this production.
“The idea was to create a seminal film to drive change in our ocean and help save this planet – it really is that big,” Nowlan says.
“This is his most important story … he’s drawn everything together to this point. So, it’s very different to what’s gone before, this is not another TV episode, this is an Attenborough event to make change.”
‘You made me proud’
Forrest has also spoken about Labor’s landslide election win, warning business leaders their shareholders will desert them if they don’t take the environment seriously.
The mining magnate, who had previously criticised defeated opposition leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear power plans, stressed the importance of fighting climate change when asked about the election result.
“All I’m saying is, ‘Australia, thank God, you made me proud’,” he said.
“I am on record to say, any government of the world who turns its back on climate change [and] the fact that the climate has already heated by half a per cent, half a per cent [in the] last two years, they do so at their ignorant peril.”
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