Sir David Attenborough proved he is still a force of nature on Wednesday, after abseiling down a 15-metre wall to mark the opening of a new centre for conservation efforts in Cambridge.

The famous naturalist, who turns 90 next month, took part in the stunt to launch a centre which aims to bring together “leaders in research, practice, policy and teaching” in the field the of conservation. It took place at the university’s David Attenborough Building, formerly the Arup Building on the New Museums Site.

The creation of the new centre, which will be home to more than 500 conservation experts, was spearheaded by Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI), a partnership between the university and nine organisations focused on conserving biodiversity. It will be the heart of Cambridge’s conservation ‘cluster’, a closely linked group of organisations and researchers.

"The future of our life on Earth is dependent on the natural world – for the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we use – and for the feelings we have of awe and wonder at nature's extraordinary riches,” said Attenborough in a speech.

"In this remarkable age we are learning more and more about the intricacies of our dependence on nature. Yet our natural world is threatened as never before. The threats are both numerous and interrelated, and no one institution, however effective, can hope to address them all alone.

"It is for this reason that the work of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative is so exceptional. By bringing together leaders in research, practice, policy and teaching, we stand the greatest chance of developing the solutions required to save our planet.

"I am enormously proud that these collaborations are occurring in a building bearing my name."

Separately, the university also opened a new science building, the Maxwell Centre, which will be a home for university researchers from the Departments of Chemistry, Material Sciences, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Physics, Metallurgy and Engineering.

The Maxwell Centre, which cost £26 million, will host a wide range of scientific fields on its West Cambridge site. It will focus upon “blue skies” ideas, according to its director Sir Richard Friend, a professor of physics. It will also be the home of the partnership between the university and ARM, a semiconductor company.

The centre was opened today by billionaire businessman David Winton Harding, who studied physics at the university. It is named after James Clerk Maxwell, who was Cambridge’s first professor of experimental physics in 1871. During his career he founded the field of statistical mechanics, and discovered electromagnetism.