April 22 is Earth Day, where we celebrate our beautiful planet and what we can do to conserve it. One huge step towards figuring out how we can help our planet is to educate ourselves. Sitting down with a nature documentary is one of the simplest and easiest ways to do that.
So, in light of that, here’s a bunch of great documentaries celebrating our planet that you can watch on local streaming services.
Nature documentaries to watch on Earth Day and beyond
The Year The Earth Changed
David Attenborough’s nature documentary The Year The Earth Changed gives us potentially one of the only upsides of the pandemic. After humanity locked down, nature rose up, which proves just how much of a problem we are for mother nature.
The Year The Earth Changed shows some truly incredible natural sights and is well worth a watch on Earth day to remind us how big of an impact we have on our planet. It also has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is reason enough to watch.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
2040
Damon Gameau’s documentary is one of few to actually share a positive look at our planet’s future. Gameau envisions multiple different strategies to reduce climate change and then envisions how our world could look if we acted on them now.
As it turns out, we have everything we need to actually reverse climate change but we just need people to do it. It’s well worth watching to learn how we can get involved as individuals.
Where to watch: stream on DocPlay or Prime Video.
Secrets of the Whales
Secrets of the Whales is a nature deep dive from National Geographic. Featuring narration by Sigourney Weaver and executive produced by James Cameron, the series is a stunning look at the lives and culture of five different whale species.
Long story short: whales are the best and we do not deserve them.
Where to watch: Disney+
My Octopus Teacher
Celebrate Earth day and knock off an Oscar winner off your list with My Octopus Teacher. The documentary shows one man’s quest to become best friends with an octopus living in the kelp forests off the coast of South Africa.
It’s heartfelt, inspiring and a great reminder of the wonders of nature.
Where to watch: Netflix
An Inconvenient Truth
A classic tale, An Inconvenient Truth was probably the first time most of us had even heard of climate change. We may have come a long way since 2006 but it’s still interesting to see the beginning of the climate change movement. It’s not surprising to see that a lot of the things Al Gore was pushing for then are still an issue today.
The sequel, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is also worth a watch.
Where to watch: An Inconvenient Truth and An Inconvenient Sequel are available to rent digitally.
Polar Bear
Disney has announced a new suite of nature documentaries coming to the service in time for Earth Day 2022, and the first of the bunch is Polar Bear. It will be available to stream from April 22, 2022.
The synopsis for the feature documentary reads as
Narrated by two-time Academy Award® nominee Catherine Keener, Disneynature’s Polar Bear tells the story of a new mother whose memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today. Polar Bear is helmed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, and produced by Fothergill, Wilson and Roy Conli.
Bear Witness will also be released alongside this documentary, showcasing the behind the scenes journeys of the filmmakers behind Disneynature’s Polar Bear.
Where to watch: Disney+
The Biggest Little Farm
Another Earth Day release for Disney+ is The Biggest Little Farm. Coming to screens in April, the heartwarming original movie follows life on an urban farm.
The synopsis for the film reads:
The Chesters leave urban life to revive barren land. By living in harmony with nature and maximizing biodiversity, they create a magical working farm.
Where to watch: Disney+
Explorer: The Last Tepui
This original nature documentary film follows Alex Honnold (Free Solo) and a climbing team led by National Geographic Explorer and climber Mark Synnott as they take a journey into the Amazon jungle and attempt a first-ascent climb up a 1000 foot sheer cliff.
High octane stuff.
The synopsis for the upcoming film reads:
An elite climbing team attempts a climb up a sheer cliff to deliver a renowned scientist to the top of a tepui to search for undiscovered species.
You’ll be able to catch the doco on Disney plus as of April 22, 2022.
Where to watch: Disney+
Where to watch more David Attenborough
Yes, David Attenborough is already on this list, but really any of his documentaries are worth a watch on Earth Day. As one of the world’s greatest natural historians, David Attenborough has enlightened us about so many different animal species and habitats on Earth and we can all continue to learn from him.
There’s an endless number of Attenborough’s nature documentaries to watch, but here’s where you can find just a few.
- Planet Earth I and Planet Earth II – Stan
- Our Planet – Netflix
- Blue Planet – Stan
- Frozen Planet – Stan
If you want to see some of the other ways you can get involved this Earth day, check out the official website.
This article has been updated since its original publish date.