Episode Information

One hundred and sixty species have become extinct over the past decade, and the rate of loss is increasing rapidly. FaithInvest’s Martin Palmer leads a service to mourn them: he believes humanity must go through a grieving process to acknowledge the harm done, before it becomes possible to reforge a deeper link to the natural world of which we are all a part. In an echo of the Christian tradition of tolling the bell for the dead, Martin rings the bell of his local Somerset church once for each lost species, to mark their passing. Like it or not, human beings have to power to destroy or protect life on Earth, and Martin asks us all to consider what the future will be for those plants and animals with whom we share the planet. Will we allow more species to vanish, never to return? Or together, can we turn the tide?