Why Andrew Forrest bankrolled David Attenborough’s last great project

London: Andrew Forrest’s voice sharpens with urgency when he talks about the ocean.

“We are right on the brink of extinction of species across our oceanic planet,” the billionaire Fortescue Metals Group chairman warns. “It’s an ignorant race – a short-sighted, policymaker-driven race to fish out the oceans before someone else does.”

John Kerry and Andrew Forrest attend the premiere of Ocean with David Attenborough in London on Tuesday.Credit: Getty Images

That passion for the ocean – rooted in his PhD in marine ecology and a lifetime connection to Australia’s waters – has found a global amplifier in Sir David Attenborough.

Last night, their shared vision came to life with the world premiere of Ocean with David Attenborough at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Backed by Minderoo Pictures, Forrest’s impact film company, the documentary shines a stark spotlight on the devastation caused by industrial overfishing, with Attenborough’s unmistakable narration guiding audiences through the science, destruction and solutions.

Minderoo was the first to invest in Ocean, committing £1.5 million ($3,078,000) of the film’s £3.8 million budget. Forrest says he was motivated not just by the need to finance the film but by its potential to raise awareness about the global issue of overfishing.

David Attenborough (left) and King Charles attend the world premiere of Ocean with David Attenborough in London.Credit: Getty Images for National Geographic

“It’s about using storytelling to shine a spotlight on overfishing, a crisis that demands global action,” Forrest says. “It shows the hideous, wasteful destruction, the short-sightedness of legislators, the lack of science behind decisions to allow bottom trawling anywhere in the world.”

The premiere attracted a high-level guest list reflecting the film’s global significance: King Charles III, former US climate envoy John Kerry, National Geographic’s Dr Sylvia Earle, the United Nations’ Arsenio Dominguez and, of course, the man himself, Attenborough, who turns 99 this week (May 8).

Like every nature-loving adolescent, Forrest says Attenborough’s groundbreaking nature films captured his imagination while growing up. And he, in turn, brought his own children up while ensuring Attenborough was part of their life.

“I just have the deepest of respect possible for David,” Forrest says. “He is an icon in the conservation and communication of nature. We’d already spoken a number of times. We’d communicated on the scourge of plastics in the oceans, on the acidification through warming of the oceans.”

Ocean with David Attenborough highlights threats to the seabed.Credit: Piece of Magic

He didn’t want to play favourites, but he puts hosting the King and Attenborough on the same level.

Attenborough, who has admitted this will probably be his last film, remains hopeful for the future.

“We know the ocean can recover,” he says. “My lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Over the last hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations and dazzling, complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man.”

Ocean’s urgency is clear. With more 90 per cent of the footage filmed in the past two years, Forrest insists: “This is not archival footage. What you see on screen is a stark reflection of the current state of our oceans.”

Malinda Wink, the driving force behind Minderoo Pictures, said the deteriorating situation meant they couldn’t wait the five to seven years for traditional funding models to play out.

“We needed to act now,” she says. “With Minderoo’s support, we were able to fast-track the film’s production in just 2½ years, making sure it reached audiences at a critical moment.”

As financiers, Wink says it’s important that any project the organisation supports has scientific and factual accuracy at its core.

“We were involved in – as were many who were experts in this arena – looking at the narration scripts and giving feedback to the team,” she says. “But obviously, it’s editorially independent. This is Sir David’s legacy, and his words.”

The film’s urgency is underlined by its timing: launching ahead of World Ocean Day and the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, it aims to influence global policymakers – and galvanise public demand for marine protection.

Forrest’s answer is one he says is “scientifically proven and economically smart”: enforceable, no-take marine parks covering at least 30 per cent of oceans by 2030.

A no-take marine reserve is a designated area of the ocean where no fishing or extraction of resources is allowed.

Forrest says these protected zones are vital for preserving marine ecosystems, as they allow fish populations to regenerate and ecosystems to recover without the pressure of human exploitation.

The film highlights how industrial fishing practices, such as bottom trawling, are irreparably damaging ecosystems. Forrest is particularly concerned about Australia’s Exmouth Gulf, where overfishing is destroying vital ecosystems. “We need awareness and action,” he says.

He is also concerned that Australia’s marine parks still allow harmful practices such as bottom trawling.

“When you explain to a fisheries minister that you’re allowing bottom trawling in a marine park, they don’t get it,” he says. “That’s like bulldozing a rainforest and calling it conservation. Unless Australia and the world adopt real, no-take marine parks, we’re just fooling ourselves.”

Echoing Attenborough’s optimism, Forrest says that we still have time, but we must act now.

Ever a man in a hurry, he sees no time to waste. He wants the film shown in schools and to policymakers alike. In Australia, a national community screening tour will run from June 2025 until January 2026.

“It’s scientifically accurate, it’s very entertaining, it’s shocking but leaves you with great hope,” Forrest says.

“But the hope is predicated on honesty of the fishing industry and the political class. We need fisheries and environment ministers and prime ministers and presidents to be responsible for whether or not they allocate 30 per cent.”

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