NHM’s Broken Planet hits one million visits

The Natural History Museum (NHM) has reported that one million people have visited its new planetary emergency gallery.

About 250,000 people a month have been to see Fixing Our Broken Planet since it opened in April. The museum says 43% of its visitors have headed to the new gallery to see the 200-plus specimens on display, including new species from the deep sea, and the associated scientific findings.

Fixing our Broken Planet gallery explores how we can help rejuvenate the natural world in the context of the climate crisis.

Its popularity cements the gallery as a hub for the public to learn and have conversations about the science-backed, hopeful solutions to slowing climate change and restoring biodiversity.

That gallery encapsulates much of the new research that the NHM’s team of 400 scientists do behind the scenes.

The museum reports that since the gallery opened, 165 research papers have been published by NHM scientists with many related to exploring solutions to our current climate crises, around anything from food security, protecting global seaweed populations, to resourcing the green economy.

To date, 82% of visitors to the gallery said that they were more likely to take action to protect the natural world following their visit to the gallery.

Doug Gurr, the director of NHM, said: “This incredible milestone is a clear sign that there is a real public appetite to engage with addressing the planetary emergency and that cultural institutions have a vital role to play in driving that conversation forward.

“In a world where climate anxiety, apathy and misinformation can feel overwhelming, Fixing Our Broken Planet shows that people have cause to feel hopeful and to feel part of a larger community taking action for the planet.” 

Fixing our Broken Planet is a central to the NHM’s mission to inspire over 100 million advocates for the planet.

To support this vision ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2031, the museum has launched NHM150, a campaign to raise an additional £150m in the hope of producing two more new galleries and transforming four existing ones in time for the celebration.