Digital Advocacy and Invisible Archives: Discoverability in Biodiversity Knowledge Systems - The Case of David Attenborough

Digitisation is often viewed as a technical solution for preservation and access. This paper argues instead that it functions as a form of advocacy that actively shapes archival visibility, interpretation, and authority. Drawing on scholarship in digital history, community archives, activist archiving, and information ecology, it introduces the concept of “invisible archives”—collections that exist yet remain marginal within dominant systems of discovery and use. Through a conceptual and example-driven analysis of selection, metadata, multilingual description, interface design, and access models, the paper demonstrates how digitisation can either reinforce or challenge existing knowledge hierarchies. Extending the concept, it examines the documentary heritage of David Attenborough as a globally visible yet academically under-discoverable environmental archive, highlighting the need to integrate such audiovisual biodiversity resources into scholarly, educational, and conservation infrastructures. The paper proposes an advocacy-oriented framework for digitisation that promotes equitable visibility, ethical access, and stronger connections between archival resources, environmental knowledge, and public engagement.