NHU sets off on new Expeditions

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BBC1 is to examine the landscapes and wildlife of Guyana and Papua New Guinea in two major new series for its Expedition strand.

In Expedition New Guinea (working title) a team of experts will visit the tropical island. One group will investigate the series of large caves on the island that have been largely unexplored until now.

Another will venture up the Sepik river to visit the "Crocodile People" and search for the world's largest butterflies, Queen Alexandra birdwings, which are facing extinction.

Filming has not yet begun and Expedition New Guinea is likely to air towards the end of next year or in early 2009.

In Expedition Guyana, a team of experts will live rough for a month in the country's jungle, which is under threat from loggers and oil explorers. As well as searching for animals such as jaguars, giant turtles and the harpy eagle, the programme hopes to discover some previously unknown species.

Series producer Steve Greenwood said: "We have got all the latest camera technology to help us - thermal cameras, remote cameras, micro and underwater cameras - but in the end it will be old-fashioned field skills that are most needed to survive and find the animals in this tough jungle."

The series is expected to air in spring or early summer next year. Both 3 x 60-minute series will be made by the corporation's Natural History Unit in partnership with Discovery.

The executive producer on both series, Tim Martin, said: "The observational style of our Expedition brand, as seen on Expedition Borneo, Amazon Abyss and Pacific Abyss, captures the dramas of expedition life and gives a real sense of what it's like to explore some of the world's last great -wildernesses.

"Tourists and film crews tend to visit the same well-known national parks and our approach is to go much deeper into the wilds, to places that haven't yet felt the impact of humans."

BBC commissioner for daytime and early peak Emma Swain ordered both shows, which will be filmed in HD. The series producer on both is Steve Greenwood.

The 5 x 30-minute Expedition Borneo aired early this year and averaged a respectable 4.1 million viewers (18.6% share) at 7pm.

The Bristol-based NHU is expected to be hard hit by the current BBC cutbacks, after proposals that it should lose 57 staff out of 180.