Human Planet

The beginning of the episode contrasts the richness and dangers of the oceans with the adaptability and endeavour of the people attracted to it, and their reliance on oceanic resources with its exploitation. Topics include: goose barnacle collection in coastal Galicia in northern Spain; sperm whale hunting off the Indonesian archipelago island of Lembata; bottlenose dolphin assisted fishing at Laguna in Brazil; the spiritual origins and modern aspects of surfing in Hawaii; shark calling in Papua New Guinea; the dangers of compressor diving around Palawan in the Philippines; and the transient stateless houseboat Bajau people living in the Coral Sea near Borneo.

The second instalment deals with the lifestyles and adaptations of people existing in the unforgiving arid regions of the Earth. Topics include: cattle herders racing African elephants to Lake Banzena for scarce water resources in Mali; sacred Antogo fishing by the Dogon people in a drought shrunken Mali lake; Tubu women in Niger navigating their way across the Sahara with a camel caravan on the way to market; the struggle between wolves and camel and sheep herders in the wintry Gobi Desert; moisture farming for agriculture in the Atacama Desert; mining and networking underground aqueducts in rural Algeria; details of extravagant water usage in Las Vegas; and the annual Guérewol fertility dance of the Wodaabe Fula people in Niger.

The third episode looks at the hunting season of some of the 4 million people eking out a living within the hostile Arctic Circle. Topics include: Inuit hunting Greenland sharks as food for their huskies; using a neap tide to gather mussels under sea ice in North-eastern Canada; hunting narwhals (prized as a source of Vitamin C) using traditional methods in Greenland; in July, using nets to harvest auks in Siorapaluk, Greenland; preparing kiviak, made by fermenting auks in a seal skin; in September, herding and driving of reindeer by Sami people on Arnøya in Norway; and in October, removing migrating polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba Canada.

This episode examines how people survive in tropical forests, where there is often less protein available than in the deserts. Topics include: blowgun hunting canopy monkeys with the Matis in Brazil; hunting goliath tarantula with the Piaroa people in Venezuela; breastfeeding orphaned monkey pets by the Awá Guajá people of the eastern Amazon; hunting birds-of-paradise for plumage used to crown costumes at the Mount Hagen sing-sing in Papua New Guinea; gathering honeycomb with the Bayaka in the Congo jungle; logging timber using Asian elephants in Assam, India; gathering evidence of uncontacted peoples in Brazil; and building a tree house 35 metres high with the Korowai in West Papua, Indonesia. This was later revealed to have been faked.[5]

This show highlights the attraction of mountains for people, such as security or rare resource exploitation. Topics include: ethnic Kazakhs hunting with golden eagles in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia; cliff-farmers battling gelada monkeys in the Semien Mountains of Ethiopia; mining rock sulphur in the active Ijen crater on the Indonesian island of Java; Yangoru-boiken tribe members hunting giant bats in the New Guinea Highlands; avalanche control using dynamite on mountains near Grindelwald in the Swiss Alps; cataracts due to high-UV rates, and free eye surgery provided by Dr. Sanduk Ruit in remote areas of the Himalayas, Nepal; and a Tibetan sky burial using vultures high in the rural mountainside.

The sixth instalment shows humanity's reliance on grass species and the animals they support. Topics include: Dorobo people using guile to steal wildebeest meat from a lion pride in Kenya; bushmen tracking and ambushing kudu in the Kalahari; netting water snakes for food and for market in Cambodia's flooded Tonlé Sap grasslands; Maasai boys and a honeyguide working collaboratively to locate and then harvest African bee honey; protecting rice crops in Tanzania from massive swarms of quelea; mustering horses on the Mongolian steppe in order to make airag (a traditional fermented horse-milk yoghurt); traditional Donga stick-fights of Ethiopia's Suri tribesmen; mustering beef cattle by helicopter in the northern Australian outback.

This episode documents people's attraction to the rich yet unpredictable river systems around the world. Topics include: fishermen traversing the Mekong's cataracts in Si Phan Don, Laos, during the monsoon floods; a 100 kilometre 6-day winter trek to school along the frozen Zanskar River in Ladakh, India; flood control through ice-breaking with dynamite along the Rideau River in Ottawa; moving houses threatened by a collapsing riverbank along the Ganges in Bangladesh; preparing for the annual flood on Brazil's Rio Negro by harvesting baby turtles; fishing in the rapids on the edge of Victoria Falls; Samburu camel herders tracking elephants to locate water below the dry Milgis riverbed in northern Kenya; plastering the mud-walled mosque of Djenné; and the natural living bridges of Meghalaya in northern India.

The final episode concludes the series with an exploration of humans attempts to control urban nature. Topics include: using falconry in Dubai to control the feral pigeon population; local police on Segway scooters controlling wild elk stags in Estes Park, Colorado; the dilemma of selling food in a rhesus macaque-infested market in Jaipur; catching rats and controlling other pests in New York City; dealing with a bedbug infestation in London with a sniffer dog; attracting feral pigeons in Fes in order to harvest droppings for leather tanning; living with and profiting from free-tailed bats in Austin, Texas; Bishnois rescuing and caring for orphaned fawns in Rajasthan; the availability of non-seasonal or non-local foods all over the world; scavenging on a landfill in Mombasa, Kenya; building the green city of Masdar in Abu Dhabi; and urban apiary in New York City.