The Prince of Wales has described Sir David Attenborough as a “big inspiration” to him growing up, and the motivation behind his new wildlife documentary highlighting the work of rangers.

In an unexpected appearance at a screening earlier this week, Prince William credited the veteran nature presenter with “being able to present wonderful parts of the world to many of us most of us will never get a chance to visit”.

He said he hoped his new six-part series, called Guardians, “does the same kind of thing”.

The prince and Sir David share a passion for conserving the natural world, and have supported each other’s projects in the field.

The heir to the throne has attended screenings of the broadcaster’s documentaries privately, while Sir David has been a champion of Prince William’s environmentally focused Earthshot Prize since its inception.

Now taking a lead from the 99-year-old host of Ocean and Planet Earth, the prince said his new series “reminds people that there are still wonderful parts of the world and there is still hope, and there’s still amazing work being done”.

He surprised those attending the screening of the series when he walked into a central London hotel and sat with journalists to watch the first three episodes.

Guardians will focus on how the work of rangers – who protect endangered animals – has become significantly more risky. Around 1,400 rangers have died in the past decade.

“This is now one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet,” the prince told reporters.

“It shouldn’t be. Protecting the natural world shouldn’t be that dangerous.

“Being a soldier, a police officer, the emergency services – these jobs are dangerous, people put their lives on the line.

“I don’t think people realise it’s the same for these guys and girls around the world.”

He attributed the increased threat to “community conflicts or civil wars, or illegal fishing, or poaching – whatever it might be is just spreading further and further across the globe”.

A friend said the prince turned up to emphasise the importance of the series to him on a personal level.

“The project was driven by him,” the friend told the BBC. “He wanted to show the incredible work rangers do for people around the world.”

Each episode will feature an on-screen introduction by Prince William, who also appears in a trailer for the project.

The prince also spoke about the challenge of recruiting the next generation of rangers.

He said: “They ask, why would I do that? Why would I go and risk my life to do that? No one seems to notice and no one seems to care. I’m not necessarily paid enough, I’m not valued enough by society.”

Prince William stressed that rangers “do so much more than just protecting wildlife”.

“It’s about the community initiatives they do, it’s the education, it’s the teaching, the scientific research,” he said.

“And if we are to reach our goals, and we do generally as a world care about the natural environment, then we need more of these guys and girls.”

Rangers are tasked with overseeing natural areas and the wildlife within them, but increasingly have to fend off poachers, who seek to traffic or kill animals – such as elephants, tigers and rhinos – that have body parts prized by some.

Poachers can be armed and encounters with rangers can prove fatal. In the year to May 2024, 38 out of 140 deaths were homicides, according to the International Ranger Federation (IRF).

In November, the prince announced a new life insurance scheme to cover 10,000 rangers who safeguard Africa’s wildlife.

The screening was also attended by Rohit Singh, vice-president of the IRF, who described rangers as “essential planetary health workers” and echoed the Prince’s concerns.

He said: “One statistic that always comes to my mind is that 82% of rangers say they don’t want their kids to become rangers – so if we don’t change this, how are we going to get more rangers?

“There are more hairdressers in the UK than there are rangers in the world’s protected areas.”

The first episode of the series, launched by the Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife and co-produced by Zandland, is available from Friday on BBC Earth’s YouTube and social channels, with a new episode released every Friday.