Humanity has made a “tragic, desperate mess” of the planet, Sir David Attenborough has said.

The veteran broadcaster urged people to “look after the natural world” and waste nothing, as he prepared for his latest series to air this week.

Seven Worlds, One Planet, breaks with the tradition of previous BBC Natural History Unit programmes by putting a conservation message “at its heart”, instead of being tagged on at the end of each episode.

The series, which has been four years in the making, features wildlife firsts and has already been bought by broadcasters around the world.

Producers took drones over “volcanoes, waterfalls, icebergs and underground into caves” to shoot heart-wrenching “animal dramas” in all seven continents, the BBC said.

David Attenborough: Life in pictures Show all 35 1 /35 David Attenborough: Life in pictures David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1957 David Attenborough with his three-year-old daughter Susan, as they cover their ears while sulphur-crested cockatoo Georgie lets out a piercing shriek David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1950 David Attenborough with his wife Jane Oriel and older brother and film actor Richard Attenborough at St. Anne's Church, Kew Green David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1955 David Attenborough, holding his son Robert, whilst looking at an animal called a coatimundi, brought home from the combined London Zoo David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1955 David Attenborough and Jack Lester, curator of London Zoo's reptile house, plan their next expedition to British Guiana with the help of Gregory the parrot David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1956 David Attenborough with six-year-old Michael Webb of Kingsbury pets a Capybara after Sir David had lectured to children on the 'Zoological Expedition to British Guiana' at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1957 David Attenborough, with wildlife photographer Charles Lagus, preparing to depart for New Guinea to make 'Zoo Quest' at London Airport Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1958 Prince Charles with his sister Princess Anne meeting Sir David Attenborough and Cocky, the cockatoo brought back from his last Zoo Quest expedition, at the BBC Television Studios in Lime Grove, London David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1961 David Attenborough with two ring-tailed lemurs during a Christmas lecture at London zoo David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1963 David Attenborough with an armadillo from 'Attenborough's Animals' David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1965 David Attenborough after he was appointed the new head of BBC 2 David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1965 David Attenborough and Michael Peacock, Contoller of the BBC, with soft toy versions of Hullabaloo and Custard, the kangaroo mascots which were used as logos for the launch of BBC 2 David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1980 David Attenborough shows Charlie the Llama to schoolboy Patrick Flynn, the millionth child to attend London Zoo's educational lectures and tours David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1982 David Attenborough feeds orangutan David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1985 David Attenborough after being knighted by the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace, London, with his wife Jane (right) and daughter Susan David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1985 David Attenborough signs his book 'the Living Planet' in a Sydney Bookstore in Australia 2004 Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1986 David Attenborough with Queen Elizabeth II filming the Christmas Message in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1990 David Attenborough poses for a photograph David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1995 David Attenborough watches nature during the filming of Natural Curiosities David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2000 David Attenborough and his wife at the Tate Modern Art Gallery opening party David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2002 David Attenborough with meerkat on his shoulder being filmed for BBC series Life of Mammals David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2003 A python greets Sir David Attenborough during a photo opportunity at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, Australia Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2003 Sir David Attenborough holds a baby salt water crocodile during a photo opportunity at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, Australia Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2005 David Attenborough poses with The Swan Hellenic Oldie of the Year Award at the 'Oldie Of The Year Awards' honouring veteran notables together with Britain's oldest celebrity superstars, at Simpsons in the Strand in London. Sir David Attenborough was announced as the Swan Hellenic Oldie of the Year at the 13th annual awards Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2005 David Attenborough plants a Wollemei Pine at Kew Gardens in London Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2005 David Attenborough signs copies of his latest publication Life In The Undergrowth, published in relation to the BBC One series, at the Natural History Museum in London Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2006 Sir David Attenborough and Lord Richard Attenborough robe up, before they are awarded the title of Distinguished Honorary Fellowships from the University of Leicester at De Montfort Hall in Leicester Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2007 Sir David Attenborough launches National Moth Recording Scheme at London Zoo in London Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2008 Sir David Attenborough sits in The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace in the Amazing Rare Things exhibition in London Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2009 Prince William, Dr Michael Dixon and Sir David Attenborough host the opening of the The New Darwin Centre at The Natural History Museum in London Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2011 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II speaks with naturalist David Attenborough during a special exhibition of artefacts from the Royal Collection and Royal Archives at Buckingham Palace in London Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2011 Sir David Attenborough with the Specialist Factual award at the Philips British Academy Television Awards at the Grosvenor House in London David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2012 Sir David Attenborough poses with a floral sculpture of himself outside the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew Gardens in London Getty Images David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2012 Sir David Attenborough at the UKTV Showcase held at the Saatchi Gallery in west London David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2013 David Attenborough during the filming of "Micro Monsters with David Attenborough," a series about insects David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2016 Sir David Attenborough attends the launch of the London Wildlife Trust's new Flagship nature reserve Woodberry Wetlands in London Getty Images

Dramatic scenes include a lone, grey-headed albatross chick in Antarctica being blown off its nest as a result of increasingly intense storms in the region.

Speaking at the launch, Sir David, who presents the programme, said: “We are now universal, our influence is everywhere. We have it in our hands, and we made a tragic, desperate mess of it so far. But, at last, nations are coming together and recognising that we all live on the same planet ... and we are dependent on it for every mouthful of food we eat and every breath of air we take.”

Asked what we can do to save the planet, Sir David, 93, said: “The best motto ... is not to waste things.

“Don’t waste electricity, don’t waste paper, don’t waste food – live the way you want to live, but just don’t waste.”

The broadcaster added: “Look after the natural world, the animals in it and the plants in it too. This is their planet as well as ours. Don’t waste.”

The seven-part series will reveal “new species and behaviours,” producers said.

Highlights include “a new species of jumping spider, in Australia, with dance moves that need to be seen to be believed”, and “the most extraordinary gigantic gathering of great whales” in Antarctica.

BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall said there had “never been a more important time to bring nature’s wonders to everybody”.

He said: “This series has conservation at its heart. Each one of the seven episodes takes on some of the major threats facing the world today. “

Blue Planet II – in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Blue Planet II – in pictures Blue Planet II – in pictures Broadclub cuttlefish "A broadclub cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) in Indonesia. Its skin contains millions of pigment cells with which it can create ever-changing colours and patterns to apparently mesmerise their prey." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures Coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia "Once a year, responding to cues from the cycle of the moon and the temperature of the water, corals simultaneously release their eggs and sperm into the ocean. Tiny coral larvae drift in the ocean currents, some for days, some for weeks, before sinking back down to the ocean floor and settling to become new corals." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures An aggregation of marbled grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion), French Polynesia "Thousands of groupers gather here in one of the few pristine spawning aggregations for this species remaining in the world. By taking up the position closest to a female, the male stands the best chance of fertilising her eggs." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures Saddleback clownfish (Amphiprion polymnus) "A male saddleback clownfish uses all the strength it can muster to push a coconut shell to its anemone in Borneo. Unlike their reef relatives, saddleback clownfish live around anemones that are found in the sand, far away from the solid structure of the coral reef. Male saddleback clownfish must use their ingenuity to find a hard substrate upon which the females can lay their eggs." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures Peters' monocle breams (Scolopsis affinis) "A group of Peters' monocle breams blow water-jets onto a hiding bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois) to expose its ferocious jaws. In so doing, they alert other fish to the worm's location, ruining the predator’s chance of a surprise attack. This new behaviour was published for the first time by Jose Lachat and Daniel Haag-Wackernagel in 2016." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) Green turtles in Sipadan, Borneo, jostling for their place at a cleaning station. Here, turtles are serviced by blennies and surgeonfish who rid them of algal growth, parasites and dead skin. In return, these fish receive a nutritious meal. BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures Bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) "Bumphead parrotfish feeding on coral and algae in Borneo. These parrotfish use their large forehead to ram corals, thereby breaking them into pieces that are more easily ingested. Each fish ingests over 5 tons of structural reef carbonates per year and after they digest the edible portions from the rock, they excrete it as sand, helping to create small islands and the sandy beaches." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures Coral garden "A fish's-eye view of a coral garden on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. New underwater probe lenses, developed for Blue Planet II, allow the viewer to immerse themselves into the coral reef city like never before." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures A coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus) "A coral grouper on the Great Barrier Reef in Northern Australia. Groupers use a gesture dubbed the ‘headstand signal’ to reach across the vertebrate-invertebrate divide and encourage another species to help it hunt. Gestures such as this are thought to only occur in the largest-brained species. The discovery of this behaviour in groupers indicates that some fish are able to think flexibly to achieve their goals." BBC Blue Planet II – in pictures Bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) "A school of Bigeye trevally gather at the outer edge of the reef wall in Sipadan, Borneo. These trevally are a schooling species, widespread in the tropics and usually found in large- slow moving schools during the day. They eat a variety of smaller fish, crustaceans and marine invertebrates." BBC

Sir David suggested he was perceived as a “crank” when he and the Natural History Unit began broadcasting programmes with an underlying message about caring for the natural world.

“But as it’s gone on, and we’ve repeated it on and on and on – not wasting things, not polluting things – then suddenly, for no reason that I can understand ... suddenly you hit the right note," he said.

His 2017 series, Blue Planet II, raised awareness around the world of the environmental damage caused by plastic pollution.

“We don’t understand how it happens but with Blue Planet II, suddenly the world was electrified about the crime of chucking plastic into the ocean that can throttle creatures, that can poison creatures, including ourselves,” Sir David said.

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However, some scientists have accused Sir David’s programmes of “actively misleading audiences” by showing nature as pristine and seldom damaged by man.

The new programmes, the result of 92 film shoots in over 40 countries, features “grave-robbing hamsters” in Austria and polar bears in a never-before-seen hunting strategy to catch beluga whales.

Antarctica, North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia will feature over different episodes in the seven-part series.