VIDEO: Watch wildlife presenter Gordon Buchanan talk to Phil Hewitt/SussexWorld about our future

Dates will include March 31 in The Assembly Hall, Worthing and April 12 in Guildford’s G Live. For Gordon, it’s a chance to look back at 30 years working both behind and in front of the camera; for the audience, it will be a rare opportunity to discover what has driven his career and what his favourite wildlife encounters have been: “30 years… and I didn't ever really have the ambition to be in front of the camera. I wanted to be a wildlife cameraman and to be making my own films. The presenting side of it all just seemed to drop into my lap and I thought I would give it a go. Initially it wasn't what I wanted in my career but I got to be comfortable in front of a camera, and the more you do, it the more comfortable you feel.”

The 30-year anniversary is also a chance to reflect on the way things have changed: “Back in the 1980s I don’t think we had any real concerns for our planet. In the 1980s I don't think deforestation was ever really spoken about. And elephant poaching was really bad in the 1980s but you just thought it was dealt with. Looking back of course you can think that we were always going to end up in the situation that we are in now because of what we didn't do back then, but actually it's only really in the last five years or so that we have had the proper breakthrough in terms of concern. You look at someone like Greta Thunberg and all that she has done. When she first started her campaign, I don't think people knew what she was talking about but for a young person to express these things I think that's what really made a difference. The fact was that she had no agenda. She was really just speaking for her generation and for future generations to come about the things that most concerned her about the world right now. I don't actually think it's the fault of people our age. We grew up at a time when growth and consumerism were linked to human prosperity. We were living on this planet exploiting the natural resources but we never had a thought for the fact we were going to wipe out lynx and wolves.”

But the concern of the young generation now has made a huge difference: “And I think you have got to believe that change can happen. A lot of species have been driven to extinction over the last 30 years and there will be more to come in the years to come but you look at the way that people are concerned now, especially young people, and people really are becoming much more aware of their impact on this planet. Of course these are things that should have happened 20 years ago but what dissolves any pessimism I might have is that young people have grown up with fear and concern now for the future of the planet and these young people now are the ones who are going to be taking the decisions in the years to come.”