Barack Obama Narrates Docuseries on National Parks, ‘Hotbed for Scientific Research’

The soothing voice of former President Barack Obama will help tell the story of the world’s most famous national parks. On Tuesday, Netflix released the trailer for Our Great National Parks, an inside look at the beauty, nature and importance of parks in places such as Chile, Indonesia, and Kenya. The docuseries arrives via Netflix on April 13.

“A fish that can walk. Surfing hippos want to catch the waves. Species found nowhere else on Earth,” says Obama in the trailer, before he’s seen walking on a beach. “Join me in a celebration of our planets’ greatest national parks and wilderness.”

The five-part docuseries will travel from Monterey Bay in Northern California to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Tsavo National Park in Kenya, and Patagonia in Chile. A nature protection campaign will also launch alongside the series, per Deadline.

This is the first time the former president appears on screen for a show produced by the production company he launched with Michelle Obama, Higher Ground Productions. The series was announced last year, but never mentioned the former President’s involvement. The docuseries is being executive produced by James Honeyborne, Tonia Davis, and Obama.

“When humanity started to protect these wild places, we did not realize how important they’d become,” Obama narrates as clips of sloths (“This sleepy sloth might save us all,” he says), elephants, and icebergs are shown backed by Skip Marley’s “Faith.” “They’re a haven for endangered species and a hotbed for scientific research.”

Obama co-hosted Renegades: Born in the USA podcast on Spotify in 2021 alongside Bruce Springsteen. He also executive produced Ada Twist, Scientist, We the People and Waffles + Mochi last year as part of Higher Ground Productions.

From Rolling Stone US.