Penyiar legendaris dan naturalis Sir David Attenborough merayakan ulang tahun ke-100 pada Jumat, 8 Mei 2026, dengan sebuah acara konser megah di Royal Albert Hall, London. Tokoh lingkungan ini mengaku sangat terharu atas gelombang ucapan selamat yang datang dari berbagai lapisan masyarakat di seluruh dunia.
Acara peringatan bertajuk perayaan satu abad tersebut disiarkan oleh BBC One dengan menampilkan musik dari berbagai program dokumenternya serta refleksi dari sejumlah tokoh publik. Dilansir dari The Guardian, Museum Sejarah Alam London turut menandai momen ini dengan menamai spesies tawon parasit baru, Attenboroughnculus tau, sebagai penghormatan atas jasanya.
Melalui pesan suara yang dirilis sebelum perayaan, Attenborough mengungkapkan rasa terima kasih yang mendalam kepada publik atas perhatian yang diberikan kepadanya.
"I had rather thought that I would celebrate my 100th birthday quietly, but it seems that many of you have had other ideas. I’ve been completely overwhelmed by birthday greetings, from preschool groups to care home residents and countless individuals and families of all ages. I simply can’t reply to each of you all separately, but I would like to thank you all most sincerely for your kind messages." ujar David Attenborough, Naturalis.
Attenborough juga memberikan pesan penutup dalam rekaman tersebut khusus bagi mereka yang menyelenggarakan acara lokal untuk merayakan hari jadinya tersebut.
"I simply can't reply to each of you separately, but I'd like to thank you all most sincerely for your kind messages, and wish those of you who have planned your own local events: Have a very happy day." tambah David Attenborough, Naturalis.
Dukungan dan penghormatan mengalir dari berbagai tokoh dunia, termasuk Pangeran Harry yang menyebut Attenborough sebagai sosok yang berhasil meruntuhkan anggapan bahwa masalah iklim hanya terjadi di tempat jauh.
"His most significant contribution has been the systematic dismantling of the notion that climate issues are happening 'somewhere else'. Young people continue to listen to him not just for the spectacle of nature, but for a sense of continuity in an unstable world." kata Pangeran Harry, Duke of Sussex dalam artikel Time.com.
Aktor kawakan Ian McKellen turut memberikan pujian dengan menyebut sang naturalis sebagai representasi terbaik dari standar penyiaran yang dimiliki oleh BBC selama ini.
"His ability to communicate his own enthusiasms are very precious and he’s brought such joy to so many people." cetus Ian McKellen, Aktor.
McKellen menambahkan bahwa program sejarah alam merupakan tayangan televisi favorit bagi dirinya dan juga banyak orang lainnya di dunia.
"And I think, along with a lot of people, my favourite television programmes are probably natural history." lanjut Ian McKellen, Aktor.
Kirsty Young, yang menjadi pembawa acara dalam konser berdurasi 90 menit tersebut, menyatakan bahwa hadiah terbesar Attenborough bagi dunia adalah kemampuannya mengungkap keajaiban bumi kepada umat manusia.
"Sir David's gift to the world has been a life spent exquisitely revealing Earth's wonders to us all. The very least he deserves is a big 100th birthday bash at the Royal Albert Hall. I'm very happy indeed, as the host, to be able to invite everyone to the party." kata Kirsty Young, Presenter.
Rekan kerja lama Attenborough, Alastair Fothergill, mengenang bagaimana sang penyiar mengubah persepsi televisi sejarah alam dari sekadar program pendidikan khusus menjadi tayangan yang emosional.
"Working with David over the decades has been one of the great privileges of my life. Before him, wildlife television was often seen as niche or educational programming, but David brought the wonders of the planet into people’s living rooms in a completely new way. Suddenly, audiences everywhere cared about places and animals they’d never seen before. Not only did he bring a unique sense of wonder and emotion to these stories, he also gave audiences a huge sense of responsibility towards the planet." papar Alastair Fothergill, Produser Silverback Films.
Karier Attenborough di BBC dimulai sejak 1952 dan ia telah menghasilkan karya-karya monumental seperti seri Life on Earth yang pertama kali tayang pada tahun 1979.
"It seems really very unfair that man should have chosen the gorilla to symbolise everything that is aggressive and violent, when that is the one thing that the gorilla is not – and that we are." ucap David Attenborough, Naturalis dalam salah satu episode ikonik di Rwanda.
Selain apresiasi atas karya seninya, rekan sesama naturalis Chris Packham menyoroti integritas Attenborough sebagai komunikator yang selalu menyampaikan kebenaran tentang kondisi planet bumi.
"He is the greatest living broadcaster and has been the greatest ambassador for life on Earth the planet has and will ever see. And, equally importantly, he’s a nice bloke, an enthusiast, a passionate naturalist and a clever and considered communicator. And we love him because we trust him because he’s always told us the truth as we know it. And what a legacy that is!" jelas Chris Packham, Naturalis.
Dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, Attenborough semakin vokal mengenai ancaman perubahan iklim, termasuk saat berpidato di hadapan pemimpin dunia pada pembukaan konferensi iklim PBB.
"Right now we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon." tegas David Attenborough, Naturalis dalam pidato di Polandia tahun 2018.
Kecintaan Attenborough terhadap alam dimulai sejak kecil saat ia berburu fosil di Leicestershire, sebuah hobi yang menurutnya tidak pernah benar-benar hilang hingga usia senja.
"When I was a boy growing up in the Midlands in Leicester, the rocks and limestones you found in the east of the country were full of the most magical things. You hit a stone, and it suddenly fell open, and there was this amazing coiled shell. Beautiful and extraordinary, and nobody had seen that for 150 million years except you. So I thought it was very romantic and exciting, and it appealed to the small boy's instinct of collecting things. To be honest, I don't think I've really lost [it]." kenang David Attenborough, Naturalis.
Ia juga menceritakan koleksi museum kecilnya saat masih anak-anak yang berisi berbagai benda unik dari masa perang dan benda pemberian pengungsi.
"I had a small museum as a boy, many boys do. Mine contained a Victorian bun penny, a shed skin of a grass snake, some fossil ammonites, a twisted piece of metal from an incendiary bomb that had been dropped on Leicester, where I lived — for this was during the war — and a small brown object two-and-a-quarter inches long. I can be quite precise about its measurements because I still have it. It is ... a piece of amber, and I was given it by a girl, a refugee from Nazi oppression who, in 1938, stayed in our house for a few weeks on her way to relatives in the United States." kata David Attenborough, Naturalis dalam wawancara radio.
Awal karier televisinya dimulai dengan ketidaksengajaan karena ia bahkan tidak memiliki perangkat televisi saat pertama kali melamar pekerjaan di BBC.
"I had to confess that I hadn't actually seen much television. I had once watched a television play in my wife's parents' house, but they were the only people I knew with a set, and I certainly had not got one myself." tulis David Attenborough dalam memoarnya.
Kini, karyanya telah menjangkau penonton global, termasuk dokumenter mengenai Great Barrier Reef yang mengambil lokasi di tempat favoritnya di luar rumah, yakni Queensland Utara.
"I'm asked, actually, frequently, 'Where is your favourite place in the world?'. I start by saying home, [they say] 'But if not home, where would it be?', and I usually say, not just this occasion but many occasions, 'actually North Queensland'." pungkas David Attenborough, Naturalis.
