Copyrighted imageCredit: BBC Series Presenter Chris Packham In this series from the BBC and The Open University, naturalist Chris Packham reveals the natural world in a way that you’ve never seen it before.

For him, what is really beautiful about nature, is not the amazing animals and plants that we share the planet with - but the hidden relationships between them. These relationships may sound bizarre but without them, no life would be possible.

Chris reveals:

  • Why a crab in the swamps of Bangladesh needs a tiger
  • Why the mighty Brazil nut tree needs a rare orchid and a small rodent
  • Why a small gecko in Kenya needs a giraffe
  • Why the North American lynx needs a tiny moth caterpillar

In this, his first truly global series, Chris will travel to some of the planet’s most awe-inspiring ecosystems, in order to reveal the real beauty of nature.

The last episode of the series, Waterworlds, wasn't shown on Sunday 8th July due to Wimbledon. It can now be seen on BBC Two and BBC HD on Tuesday, 17th July at  8.00pm.  

You can watch Secrets Of Our Living Planet on BBC Two and BBC HD, starting Sunday 17 June at 8pm. The entire series is being shown nightly on BBC HD Channel at 7pm from Monday, July 9th 2012. For further broadcast details, and watch online where available, please visit bbc.co.uk.

Read more about each episode

OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - The Emerald Band Creative commons imageCredit: Billtacular under CC-BY-NC-ND licence

Why are the rainforests so vital to supporting life on the planet? Chris Packham finds out.  Read more : OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - The Emerald Band

OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - The Secret of the Savannah Copyrighted imageCredit: BBC

Chris Packham travels to Kenya, Australia and Brazil to witness how grasslands, one of our most important ecosystems, work  Read more : OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - The Secret of the Savannah

OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - The Magical Forest Updated content Creative commons imageCredit: Magic Foundary under CC-BY-NC-ND licence

The ecosystems of seasonal forests have to cope with drastic change twice a year. Chris Packham visits the vast forests of North America to investigate  Read more : OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - The Magical Forest

OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - Waterworlds Creative commons imageCredit: Rift Zone Stream, Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, Iceland / Christopher Schoenbohm / CC BY-NC 2.0

Chris Packham's epic journey comes to an end, from the mountain streams of Iceland to the deep of the Indian Ocean, via the wetlands of...  Read more : OU on the BBC: Secrets Of Our Living Planet - Waterworlds

In the United Kingdom there are also many fascinating examples of unexpected and intriguing links between animals and plants. Below you can explore four different habitats, brought to you by our expert academic team and iSpot, a website where you can learn more about species and share your discoveries.

Get closer to how nature works

Secrets of Our Living Planet Featuring: Activity Copyrighted imageCredit: Mike Dodd

Explore the twists and connections of natural life in four different habitats around the United Kingdom.  Launch now: Secrets of Our Living Planet

Get your free 'How Nature Works' booklet Copyrighted imageCredit: The Open University

Order a free booklet that illustrates the complex connections in four different UK habitats  Read more : Get your free 'How Nature Works' booklet

iSpot: your place to share nature Featuring: Activity Copyrighted imageCredit: iSpot

Get started with sharing your wildlife observations through the iSpot community  Launch now: iSpot: your place to share nature