George Monbiot meets David Attenborough: ‘You feel apprehensive for the future, of course you do’

He will be 90 in May, but David Attenborough has no intention of retiring - his latest film, about the world's biggest dinosaurs, is broadcast this weekend, and his excitement and concern about the natural world remain undimmed

You cannot meet David Attenborough without reflecting on the lottery of life. He bounces into the room unaccompanied, a little stiff in the lower back perhaps, but otherwise breezy and lithe. He is sound in wind and limb, vision and hearing, his eyes sparkle, his face is scarcely rumpled by time. Yet in three months he will celebrate his 90th birthday.

While other people's worlds tend to shrink with age, his seems to expand. His curiousity ranges as widely as ever. His ability to understand and assimilate new information seems unabated. "Oh, I forget things," he claims. When I press him for examples, he tells me, "Well, where I put my glasses - I had them about three minutes ago and they have simply evaporated, they've dematerialised. Oh yeah, and I forget engagements."