All language subtitles for The Age of Nature Series 1 3of3 Changing 1080p

♪♪

-Bhutan.

High in the Himalayas.

♪♪

One of the last
Buddhist kingdoms.

♪♪

A country rich
in ancient culture.

♪♪

But also very forward-thinking.

♪♪

Bhutan is carbon-negative.

It's the only country
in the
world

that absorbs more carbon
than it produces...

♪♪

...achieved by looking
after nature.

♪♪

Despite this, Bhutan is now
vulnerable to climate change,

which is impacting our planet
faster than ever before.

♪♪

This is a global problem,
that needs a global solution.

♪♪

We're at a turning point
in history

and moving in a new direction.

♪♪

How we live with nature now
will determine our future.

♪♪

A new age is upon us.

The age of nature.

♪♪

[ Birds chirping ]

-So the fact that we are
carbon-negative today,

perhaps, may be an example
to the rest of the world,

but it's also very important

in the sense that we have
to realize and acknowledge

that this is the result
of decades

of implementation

of enlightened,
but courageous, policies.

[ Birds chirping ]

By law, we are required
to maintain a minimum

of 60% forest coverage,
but, in reality, 70%,

a little more than 70% of our
country is under forest cover.

Why are forests important?

Well, for many reasons,

and I can tell you
two very important reasons.

The first, everybody knows of.

It's because it helps to fight
against climate change.

♪♪

These forests are
a vast reserve of carbon.

It's a carbon sink.

♪♪

The second reason is

that our forests
are largely pristine.

They're natural.
They've been undisturbed.

So our forests today
are a safe haven

for our very rich biodiversity.

♪♪

Trees, plants,

fungi.

This is why it's very important

that you protect the forests
as they are.

♪♪

Our country rises from about
100 meters above sea level

all the way up to about
7,500 meters above sea level.

♪♪

Bhutan is nothing
but mountains and valleys.

♪♪

-Look, look!

[ Birds chirping ]

-70% of the population live
along the banks of rivers.

It's the only farmable land.

-We've always had a very
strong association with water.

In terms of agriculture,
obviously, it's very important.

As you can see,
the paddy fields around here,

they've required water
and, for centuries,

we've been cultivating rice
in these valleys.

-The Bhutanese also harness
the power of their rivers

to generate renewable energy.

It contributes to the country's
carbon-negative status.

But people here still face
an uncertain future.

They are on the front line
of the climate crisis.

♪♪

As a politician,

Tshering Tobgay is concerned
for the future of his country.

♪♪

He's monitoring
the growing threat,

which can only be seen high
up in the mountains.

♪♪

-The entire Himalayan region

is the world's third-largest
repository of ice,

after the North and South Poles,

so this is why some scientists

have called this region
the third pole.

♪♪

Global warming
and climate change

is affecting the glaciers
in the Himalayas,

just like they're affecting
glaciers all over the world.

♪♪

-Over two-thirds
of these glaciers

are expected to melt
by the turn of the century.

♪♪

And the glacial lakes holding
the meltwater are growing.

♪♪

Currently held back
by natural dams,

it's only a matter of time
before the dams will give.

♪♪

And the flooding
will be disastrous.

♪♪

In 2010,

a team of farmers and villagers
were recruited

to lower the water levels

of a lake that was
near bursting point.

♪♪

This involved moving
each rock by hand

to slowly release the water.

♪♪

Working at altitude
with little oxygen

and in freezing conditions,

it took five years in total
to lower it by 15 feet.

♪♪

This has bought some time,

but it hasn't solved
the problem.

♪♪

The glaciers
are continuing to melt

and Bhutan isn't the only
country that's vulnerable.

Eight others would also be
directly affected

by the melting
of the Himalayan ice cap,

impacting
up to 1.6 billion people.

♪♪

-Well, on the one hand,

I know that humanity
will persevere.

We will prevail.

Now, protecting the glaciers

can't be done
by a single country.

The entire world
must come together

to control global warming.

♪♪

No one country can address
climate change adequately

to reverse its effects

or to prevent
its future effects,

so we must come together
as a world.

♪♪

So, if a small country
can do that,

my submission is

larger, more powerful,
more rich countries,

with a lot more knowledge
and experience,

they can obviously do
a
lot
more, and they must.

♪♪

-Bhutan cannot fight
climate change alone.

♪♪

It is a global problem,
that needs global solutions.

♪♪

[ Birds chirping ]

-Ultimately,
if we're gonna understand how

to stop climate change,

we need to understand our planet
and so that's what we do.

We try to categorize the forests
and the soils around the world

so we can understand
how much carbon is in them

and how much carbon
they could absorb.

-Tom Crowther and his team

collect information
from scientists working

in different
forest environments.

They combine this
with satellite data

to generate world maps
that show where forests are

and their capacity
for storing carbon.

-So, every year,

we emit greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere.

And one of the main ones
is carbon dioxide.

Each year, we emit
about 10 gigatons of carbon

into the atmosphere.

That's like 27,000
Empire State Buildings.

And, over time,
some of that gets absorbed

by the oceans or on land,

but, since the start
of the industrial revolution,

we've increased that number
in the atmosphere

by about 300 gigatons.

So that's
completely
changed our planet

and our climate
across the globe.

This is a NASA simulation
of the carbon cycle

changing throughout the year.

And what's cool is you can see

the high concentrations
of carbon indicated

by the red colors
in the high latitudes.

But as we take on into spring
and then summer,

we see these concentrations fade

and that's caused by one thing.

It's just the emergence
of leaves on trees.

This transforms
the carbon cycle each year.

Just look at the power of trees.

Just imagine what was
possible if we had more.

-The scale of global
forest cover

has only recently become clear.

-So we use a really
brand-new approach.

Our models are made from
peopleon the ground all over the world

actually counting trees
and saying how big they are

and, by sending us in all
of that information,

we use machine learning
and artificial intelligence

to then build the maps
from the bottom up.

So it's
really
so much stronger
that we can build them

from real,
on-the-ground information.

So this map actually shows

where the existing trees are
around the planet.

But, by characterizing
which ecosystems store trees,

we can also say how many
trees there could be,

and that's indicated
by the yellow colors.

See, before the expansion
of human civilization,

there was almost twice
as many trees on the planet

as there are today.

There's about 5.8 trillion
trees across the planet.

Now, obviously, we've
depletedthat by about almost 3 trillion,

so there's
huge
areas that
are available for restoration.

Obviously,
we can't use the areas

that we're using for agriculture
or urbanization,

but there's still

almost a billion hectares
of forest area

around those spaces

that we could actually
use right now.

♪♪

It's degraded ecosystems
that aren't being developed,

so, if we were to make
the most of those regions,

we could go a
long
way in the
fight against climate change.

♪♪

-We've known, for a long time,

that trees draw down carbon
from the atmosphere.

But it's only now that we can
really see their potential.

♪♪

-So the key is that we
restore these ecosystems

in the right,
ecologically minded way.

That means we don't plant trees

in ecosystems that would
naturally be grasslands

and we also restore trees
in a very biodiverse mixture.

We don't just want plantations,

monocultures
of the same species.

You need all the different
interacting species

which help one another

- to grow and capture  huge
- amounts of carbon.

♪♪

There are
no
downsides.

As long as we restore
in the right ecosystems,

that would naturally be forests,

and we restore good,
healthy biodiversity,

then, we get strong
carbon capture

and all the other thousands
of ecosystem services

that forests provide.

♪♪

We absolutely

need nature
to survive on this planet.

If humanity is gonna
have a chance,

- we're gonna need to restoreecosystems
all  - across the globe.

♪♪

So there are people
restoring ecosystems already.

- All  - over the world,
there's thousands of projects,

but this
has
to increase,

both in the scale
of those projects

and in the number of projects.

♪♪

So the really
fascinating thing is

the areas that are most
important for carbon storage

are also the most important
for biodiversity.

And biodiversity
isn't just a magical thing.

It's the life support system
for our planet.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-The Olavsoka, in Poland,

is the oldest forest
in Europe...

♪♪

...one of the last ancient
woodlands left standing.

♪♪

It's a rare example of nature
in good condition.

♪♪

The perfect place
to study biodiversity.

♪♪

-This forest is unique.

You don't have second forest

like this in the world.

♪♪

It's also irreplaceable.

We humans cannot recreate it.

We cannot do anything
to get it back if it...

if it's just gets damaged,
if it gets cut down.

♪♪

What we know, that the more
species there are

in an ecosystem, the more
stable and resilient it is.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Bird cawing ]

[ Creature whooping ]

-This ancient woodland

is made up
of a great variety of trees

and an even greater
variety of fungi.

-So, in the whole
Olavsoka forest,

it's estimated that it's about

between 4,000 and 5,000
of species of fungi.

And it is also said that it's
probably an underestimation.

It can be much more, but they
still haven't been discovered

and there can be
many more species

that we don't know about.

-The diversity of fungi shows
this is a healthy forest.

♪♪

Another indicator
is the presence

of a very rare keystone species.

♪♪

-[ Snort ]

[ Rumbling ]

-This is the last place
in Europe where European bison

can be seen roaming free
in the forest, in the fields.

[ Insects buzzing ]

And I think you can call it
a success story,

European bison disappeared
from this area.

The last one was shot
about 100 years ago.

But people realized
that this is a problem

and they made efforts
to reintroduce the species.

♪♪

So, now, we have
about 700 bisons

roaming the Olavsoka forest

and I think they have quite
a large role in the ecosystem.

♪♪

♪♪

-Bringing the bison back

has helped make the Olavsoka

as natural as possible.

♪♪

They spread seeds
over
long
distances

and maintain open spaces...

♪♪

...creating a variety
of habitats for other species.

♪♪

This is how biodiversity works.

♪♪

-So, the more complex
a forest is,

the more resilient against
different changes it will be,

against different
environmental pressures,

which is really important now,
in relation to climate change.

Because, the more
complexity there is,

it's easier to adapt
to new conditions

because, even if one species

with some particular function
in an ecosystem

disappears
because of climate change,

there will be other species
that take over this function.

-This complexity gives the whole
ecosystem a natural buffer,

helping it to cope
with
any
disruption.

A forest like this is likely
to stay healthier.

-And natural forest
is not a stable forest.

It's not that you always have,
let's say, 20% of spruce,

10% of pine, and 30% of oak.

It is changing with time.

It's a very long process,
but it's changing.

I think also that's why
it's quite important

to keep the forest like this,
as a place of research

where you actually can learn
how things work

and the different connections
between species.

♪♪

And I would say that this is why

biodiversity decline
is such a worrying thing,

because, if you have
less biodiversity,

the ecosystems will be simpler.

They will not be that complex,
as they should be,

to be able to withstand

different pressures,
like climate change.

♪♪

We humans are realizing
that we have done

quite many bad things to nature
and we see our mistakes.

We also realize that nature
gives us so much

and can give even more
in the future

and I guess we'll definitely
learn from this,

learn from what we have done,

and so I look brightly
into the future,

[ Laughs ] I guess.

♪♪

-Nature
is one of our best allies

in the fight
against climate change.

♪♪

And scientists
are discovering new ways

of working with it
in our modern world.

♪♪

Dr. Joanne Chory works at the
Salk Institute in California.

Her project genetically
modifies crop plants,

to see if they can store
more carbon.

-We're looking for the plants
to be better at three traits.

The three traits are...
Make more of this,

make more of a carbon storage
kind of molecule,

and that molecule's
called suberin.

The second is make plants
that have more root biomass.

And then, the third thing is

make the plants have
longer roots.

And that's because
we want the plant

to bury that fixed carbon
into the ground for us.

♪♪

-Plants need carbon to grow.

They draw it from the atmosphere
during photosynthesis.

♪♪

The roots take some
of that carbon underground,

where it remains for as long
as the soil is undisturbed.

♪♪

Dr. Chory's ambition is
to create crops

that will lock away
three times the carbon.

♪♪

And around the world,
there's 4
billion
acres

of arable farmland
to plant them in.

♪♪

-I think the main benefit
of our solution is that

it's gonna happen
in a time-frame

that will make a difference

as we try to relieve ourselves
of our carbon dependence.

This work is so important
because we face

an existential threat
with climate change.

♪♪

Our hope for this project
is that, you know,

we can be part of the solution,

of the changes that are
happening in temperature,

which are causing
all these climate extremes.

I don't know if there is
a right place

to find the answer
to problems of climate change.

All I think, though,
is that nature itself

can play a big role
in this process.

But, in addition to that,
we need to get rid

of our dependence
on fossil fuels

and so humans have to get back
into the equation.

We can't just say nature
can do it for us,

while we sit back
and do nothing.

So I think, together,

humanity and nature
will solve the problem.

Whether or not I will see
my plants out in the field,

I can't say, you know,
because I'm 64 years old

and I may or may not be around

when that will have
its big impact.

But that doesn't bother me,
that, you know,

I might not be there
for the impact.

I just hope that, you know,
someone will carry it on.

♪♪

♪♪

-Fighting climate change
is a race against time.

Nowhere is this clearer

than in the Great Barrier Reef
of Australia.

♪♪

It's the largest coral reef
in the world,

extending over 400 miles
along the Queensland coast,

home to more than
3,000 individual reefs

and more than 600 islands.

♪♪

Coral reefs cover less than 1%
of the planet's surface,

yet, a quarter
of all ocean species

depend on them
for food and shelter.

♪♪

The whole reef is sustained
by an annual event

that scientists have been
studying for 40 years...

♪♪

...the spawning of the coral.

♪♪

-In 1981, I was workingwith
some friends and colleagues

and discovered something
quite extraordinary...

...the mass coral spawning
on the Great Barrier Reef,

where many different types
of corals

and literally hundreds
of thousands of colonies

all spawn together
on just a few nights each year

after full Moon periods
in late spring or early summer.

♪♪

Corals are incredibly
beautiful creatures.

They have these amazing,
microscopic

architectural masterpiecesthat
they create, the skeletons,

and their tissues are
extraordinarily beautiful.

♪♪

At present,
the Great Barrier Reef is
in trouble.

When corals become stressed

by high temperature
and high light,

this beautiful symbiosis

between the millions
of algae in their tissues

and the coral tissue itself
starts to break down.

As a result of that,

they're expelled
from the coral tissue

and therefore the corals
turn white,

which is why it's called
coral bleaching.

The problem for corals is
that they, in many cases,

rely, to a very large extent,

on the energy that's
provided by those algae

and, when those algae are
nolonger present in their tissues,

they run out of energy
really quickly.

But if they don't reacquire
some of that energy,

then, the coral tissues start
to dissolve and the coral dies,

leaving a dead,
bare skeleton behind.

I'd seen one of the first
bleaching events

on the Great Barrier Reef
way back in 1982

and that was itself
a bit of a shock

and a bit of a wake-up call.

But the 2016 and 2017
marine heat waves were

at a scale and severity that
had not previously been seen.

♪♪

-As the temperature
in the ocean continues to rise,

there is a real danger

that the Great Barrier Reef
could be lost forever.

♪♪

In an effort to stop
these corals going extinct,

Peter is leading the
largest project of its kind.

♪♪

-It's an idea that I first
had back in 1982.

♪♪

I was swimming
in a sea of sexual soup

after one of these
great spawning events.

♪♪

And I was literally surrounded

by
millions
of eggs
and sperm in the water

and I was thinking,
"It must be possible

to capture some of these,

grow larvae,
and retain them on the reef,

rather than having them
disappear in currents."

♪♪

And, if we could do that,
we could put them back

onto the damaged reef systems

and kick-start the recovery

of the coral communities.

The initial experiments
were done at small scale

on the highly degraded
reef systems.

We've proven
that it can be effective

and we can rapidly restore
breeding populations

on these reef systems.

The challenge now is to take
what we know and scale it up.

Within the next few years,

we have to be operating
at kilometer scales

if we're going to have an impact

and start to reverse
the decline of corals.

♪♪

So we're in a race against time
to make this meaningful

and to try and protect
and preserve

as many corals as we can.

-With scientists like Peter
fighting for it,

the Great Barrier Reef
still has a chance.

♪♪

But, in 2020,
it's bleaching again.

Our best hope of saving it

is if we can find ways
to slow climate change

by drawing down as much carbonas
possible from the atmosphere.

♪♪

The reef itself
is not a carbon sink.

♪♪

But right next to it,

there's an ecosystem that could
make a real difference.

♪♪

-So here we are
on the Great Barrier Reef

and we discovered,
about a decade ago,

that one of the world's largestsea
grass meadows is right here.

It's an area about the size
of Switzerland.

And we've started taking samples

to measure carbon sequestration
by this meadow.

And we've learnt
that this meadow is

storing
enormous
amounts of carbon.

We estimate it is storing
274 million tons.

And, to put that
into perspective,

it is about equivalent
to the yearly emissions

of 200 million cars on the road.

♪♪

-Sea grass meadows are found
in shallow water.

♪♪

They, along with other
coastal ecosystems,

like tidal marshes...

♪♪

...and mangrove forests...

♪♪

...all lock massive amounts
of carbon underwater.

♪♪

This is known as blue carbon.

♪♪

-Yeah, blue carbon is definitely
one of the new heroes

in the climate change
mitigation scene.

They're really seen
as like a new weapon

we've just discovered in the
fight against climate change.

And it's not just their ability
to sequester carbon

and help mitigate
climate change.

- They provide these other,
amazing  - co-benefits.

They really give a lot of bang
for our carbon buck

because, in addition
to the carbon sequestration,

they're protecting our coasts.

They can mean the difference
between life and death

in many parts of the world.

They support about half
the world's fisheries,

providing valuable
nutrition to people.

-Blue carbon could make
a huge difference.

But, here, too,
nature is out of balance.

-Now, when there's
too many herbivores,

like turtles, in a landscape,

they can destroy
sea grass meadows.

Whether or not turtles
are removing a lot of sea grass

has been quite
a contentious issue.

So we said,
"Well, let's test this out.

Let's put some cages out here,

to restrict the ability
of turtles

to eat the sea grass
and let's see what happens."

Sure enough, in areas where the
cages had been put in place,

we started to see
that sea grass flourishing.

We've removed a lot of apex
predators from the oceans...

sharks, for example...
And what we've started to see

is that the sharks
and their removal

can affect even
the sea grass meadows.

For example, out here
in the Great Barrier Reef,

we've shown that removal of the
sharks affects turtle behavior.

There's been about a 75% to 90%
loss of sharks in this area.

[ Squawking ]

One of the things that amazes me

bout these apex predators is

they're not eating
many turtles...

[ Squawking ]

but they have remarkable ability

to affect the
behavior
of turtles

and other organisms,
through fear.

It's called the ecology of fear.

Through fear, they affect
how much turtles breed,

where they forage,
where they move around.

And so we're studying
the possibility

of rewilding our oceans
and bringing back

that natural food web,
with apex predators at the top,

turtles in healthy balance,
and sea grass meadows thriving.

♪♪

I think we're learning
that blue carbon ecosystems

are a form
of life support for us.

We depend on nature.

We depend on these
blue carbon ecosystems

and, now, these blue carbon
ecosystems are depending on us.

So we've got a lotta work to do

to try and protect them
going forward.

♪♪

♪♪

-Even the very smallest plants,

microscopic phytoplankton,

can lock up carbon
through photosynthesis.

♪♪

In Antarctica, under 24 hours
of daylight in summer,

they turn the water green.

♪♪

When they bloom,
it can be seen from space.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Wind whistling ]

These phytoplankton areat
the bottom of the food chain.

They feed krill,

one of the most important
animals on the planet.

♪♪

They, too,
can live in vast shoals,

supporting a
huge
web
of marine life.

♪♪

[ Squawking ]

♪♪

[ Groans ]

[ Trilling ]

[ Chattering ]

- [ Growl ]
- [ Squeak ]

♪♪

♪♪

These whales are
consuming the krill.

♪♪

But they're also
sustaining them.

Their feces provide
essential nutrients,

like nitrogen,
phosphorus, and iron,

that feed the phytoplankton.

And the circle of life
begins again.

These humpback whales
are a good-news story.

Whaling had taken almost
95% of their population.

But, with protection,
they're making a comeback.

[ Rumbling ]

The more whales there are,

the more phytoplankton
there will be.

To help the great whales
of the ocean recover further,

it's important
to protect their home.

-I've been coming to Antarctica
for the last 15 years and,

ever since my first
trip here, I've felt

such a visceral compulsion
to protect this place.

It's such an extreme
environment,

but it's incredibly beautiful

and no place I'd ever been

had made me feel
so tiny and insignificant.

-The need to protect the
Southern Ocean seems obvious.

The political will to do so
is complicated.

-Antarctica is a global commons.

It simultaneously belongs

to no one and everyone
at the same time.

There are no states that have
sovereignty over Antarctica

and so it becomes
a global responsibility

to come together
to protect this place.

-The Ross Sea lies

in the southwest corner
of Antarctica

and it has the largest
ice shelf in the world.

[ Chattering ]

Adélie penguins are one
of 16,000 species

thought to live here.

-The Ross Sea, in particular,
has been deemed to be

perhaps the last
intact marine ecosystem

we have left in the whole world.

[ Squawking ]

-If protected,
it would be a sanctuary...

[ Rumbling ]

...a place where animals
can breed safely

and then disperse...

...replenishing the wider ocean.

-And,
over the course of 10 years,

a marine protected area proposal

was formulated
and came to the table

and, after many years of intense
political negotiations,

the protected area
was adopted in 2016

and I'll never forget
that feeling in the room.

In the moment
when we came to consensus

and the Ross Sea Marine
Protected Area was adopted,

the entire room exploded
in applause.

My husband and I were
in the room during that moment

and it was one of the most
amazing moments of our life.

[ Groan, rumbling ]

♪♪

[ Squawking ]

♪♪

We know that marine protected
areas can conserve biodiversity

and they're more
important than ever

because, in the face
of climate change,

they may be one
of the only things

that can provide resilience
to our system.

Our system is undergoing
incredible stress

and it's one thing
that we can help with,

is set aside areas
that we know are important,

that we know are vulnerable,

and give them a chance
to be resilient

in the face of climate change.

♪♪

- [ Trilling ]
- [ Cheeping ]

♪♪

-The Ross Sea
protected area shows

that we
can
successfully cooperate

on global environmental issues,

putting nature first.

♪♪

There are now plans to protect

30% of the world's
oceans by 2030.

♪♪

But there are landscapes
on Earth

that have suffered almost
a century of human destruction.

[ Flames crackling ]

Every year,
fires burn out of control

across the island of Borneo.

♪♪

In 2019, the blazes were
as bad as ever,

putting farmers
in a desperate situation.

♪♪

♪♪

The fires are typically lit

to clear land
for commercial plantations,

but, once burning, they
arealmost impossible to extinguish.

This has consequences
for the whole planet

because it's not just
the vegetation that's on fire.

It's also the ground beneath it.

♪♪

[ Birds chirping ]

♪♪

This is how forests should be...

lush, wet, tropical jungle.

♪♪

♪♪

Taryono is a scientist

who works at the
Katingan Mentaya project,

studying the soil
beneath the trees.

♪♪

It's this soil that has
huge
significance for the climate.

It's called peat.

-[ Grunts ]

-Peat is an unusual
kind of soil,

which only forms
in wet conditions.

The water slows the
decomposition of plant matter.

That's what makes it
such a good carbon sink.

But these wet forests
are being drained

by canals that were made by the
logging industry for transport.

[ Creatures croaking ]

Although logging is now illegal,
the waterways are still here...

[ Creature calling ]

...slowly drying out the peat...

...making it vulnerable to fire.

There is so much carbon
locked up within the peat,

when it burns, it escapes
into the atmosphere.

[ Wind whipping ]

The Borneo fires of 2015
released more carbon

than all of North America's
industry that same year.

[ Flames crackling ]

Destroying nature is
directly
contributing to climate change.

Protecting these peat forests
will help slow it down.

And that protection is coming
from an unlikely place.

Companies that want to offset
their carbon emissions

can buy carbon credits

from projects that restore
and protect rainforests.

[ Horn honks ]

We are the project developers
of Katingan Mentaya project.

It's the largest forestry
carbon credit project

in the world registered today.

♪♪

So, when I started this in 2007,

I was actually on the brink

to go into palm oil
or to go to this project.

♪♪

And, you know, now,
here we are, 12 years later.

We are the largest project
in the world,

so I think it's sort of like

a dream-come-true
scenario for us.

♪♪

-Dharsono's carbon
credit project

protects an area
of peatland forest

almost twice the size
of New York City.

♪♪

Businesses across the world
pay to look after nature,

in order to offset
their carbon footprint.

♪♪

As well as protecting
the forest that's left,

they are planning to block the
drains and re-wet the peat...

♪♪

...starting the long process
of restoration.

♪♪

Peatlands only cover 3%
of the land on Earth,

but they absorb twice the carbon
as all the world's forests,

which are 10 times the size.

♪♪

Not only is this peatland
forest a vital carbon sink,

it is also home

to an extraordinary
biodiversity...

♪♪

...including critically
endangered species,

like orangutans.

♪♪

♪♪

For these peatland forests

to absorb carbon again
on a large scale,

a
huge
amount
of restoration is needed.

♪♪

Awareness is growing

and there's
a grassroots movement

that's crucial to the future
of Borneo's forests.

♪♪

The first time
I experienced the fires

is 23 years ago.

It was when I was
five years old.

But, at the time,
I didn't realize

that it was something
that should not be accepted.

[ Speaking foreign language ]

I believe in the power
of the youth.

I believe in youth power.

I believe in the power of unity

to stop the forest fires now

and to protect what is
left now in Kalimantan.

Climate emergency.

I was born here
and it's not okay

to see your own home burning.

It's not okay to see
your own home being destroyed.

♪♪

-Emmanuela Shinta works closely
with local youth groups

to promote indigenous rights.

Together, they begin
the long journey

to restore the forest
they have lost.

She sees the people
of Kalimantan

as the guardians of the forest.

- They
- are the people to protect it.

-What we see in the news,
it's always

[ Speaking foreign language ]

money,

dollars.

It's really annoying, actually,

and, for me,
it's really emotional

because you have to see
forest more than that.

♪♪

Take the strength to continue
walking and make a change.

I think that's
the only way you can live.

♪♪

-Our natural ecosystems
not only absorb carbon.

♪♪

We depend on them
for everything.

♪♪

Protecting them is essential.

♪♪

In Belize, in Central America,

the second-largest
barrier reef in the world

was under
threat
from the oil industry.

♪♪

[ Explosion ]

In 2016,

seismic survey shipswere
spotted just off the coast.

[ Explosion ]

♪♪

In their search for gas and oil,

they release explosions
that penetrate the seabed.

These sounds
disrupt life underwater

and can deafen marine animals,

-You don't kill the goose
that lays the golden egg.

I'm a third-generation
fishing guide

and this only came
because of sustainable fishing,

responsible fishing,
catch and release,

things like this,
where we protect what we have.

Drilling in that reef
is the same thing.

We don't...
There's no benefit to it.

It's not even about me.

It's about the next guy
that wants to fish after me,

or his son or his grandson,
you know.

It's the bigger picture.

One spill,
and it's stuck on the reef

and let's say goodbye
to the second-largest

barrier reef in the world.

-With the threat
of drilling looming,

11-year-old Madison Edwards
joined the movement.

-We depend on the
Belize Barrier Reef so greatly.

We depend on it for food,
for tourism.

We depend on it
for everything, really.

♪♪

-Madi. [ Laughs ]

Madi's my little hero.

I look at Madi and I say,

"I wish that,
when I was her age,

I would've had
the courage she has."

♪♪

-Inspired by the uprising
around her,

Madison began
a social media campaign.

♪♪

-When they were fighting
to stop the offshore drilling

and the seismic ship
was out there

and a lot of people, I think,
were asking questions

and people were not sure what it
is that they were protecting,

Madi, her family,
jumped in a sailboat

and they sailed
the entire length of the reef

in front of Belize.

♪♪

-I went on a reef swim

from north to south
of the Belize Barrier Reef

and we did this to spread
awareness and it really worked.

People really paid attention

and they realized
how important the reef was.

♪♪

-Everybody knew who Madi was.

Not just they knew who Madi was.

They were listening to Madi.

They were listening
to what she was saying

and I think
that's the big thing.

She's given people
some courage to say,

"If Madi can stand up
to Big Oil,

then we all need
to stand up behind her.

-[ Chanting ]

-It made a big difference
into how much pressure

was then put on the government.

People signed the petitions.

She made a big impact

on getting that offshore
drilling stopped.

♪♪

-In late 2017,

Belize officially ended
oil activity in its waters.

-I think that people
of the world

should really look up
to the people in Belize.

They fight for something
that they really believe in

and something that they love

and, if the entire world
does that,

then, we have a really
bright future ahead of us.

♪♪

-This is a moment where,
you know,

the truth had to come out
and the action has to be taken.

I'm quite hopeful

the world is actually moving
to a better place.

I think we are smart enough,
humanity is smart enough,

to figure out
if we want to do it.

♪♪

-With the
massive
energy that we
have behind the climate crisis,

I honestly think that it's
possible to stop this thing,

if we all get behind
these powerful solutions.

Even if you've only got
a tiny little garden,

just think, "Is there space
for nature on your land?"

Every little helps,
if we all pull together.

-We are not powerless.

I think this is the message
that's sort of

very, very important.

We are not powerless.

We showed the world
this is what we can do.

♪♪

-Nature is a finely
tuned system.

♪♪

When we upset the balance,
the consequences can be severe.

♪♪

♪♪

Events like the COVID pandemic

can show us just how
vulnerable humanity really is.

♪♪

Now, more than ever,

we need to give nature
space and protection.

♪♪

What it does for us
has never been clearer.

♪♪

What we can do for nature
is our next challenge.

♪♪

A global movement is happening.

-[ Chanting ]

-People are calling for change.

♪♪

This is the age of nature.

♪♪

-To order
"The Age of Nature" on DVD,

visit shopPBS or call
1-800-PLAY-PBS.

This program is also available
on Amazon Prime Video.

♪♪

♪♪

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