All language subtitles for Wilderness with Simon Reeve - 1x04 - Kalahari

We live on a crowded planet.

But there are still vast areas.

where nature has the upper hand.

It looks like another planet.

I'm heading to the
last great wildernesses.

I'll try to cross four of
these rugged landscapes.

Oh, my God!

on my toughest journeys yet.

I have to be honest - things
are not going brilliantly.

A bit of a medical situation.

Help is a long way away.

- Well done.

- I want to meet the people for
whom the wilderness is home.

Testicles for breakfast,
lunch and dinner.

to see how they
live alongside nature.

Whoa!

I can stay down there
for a minute or so.

He's still down there
now walking around.

And in this critical
time for our world.

Huge carcasses of great trees.

seek out the rare and majestic
creatures that still survive.

My heart is racing.

in some of the most
hostile environments.

Are you OK, Jonathan?
- Yeah, yeah.

- and the remotest regions.

Bloody hell!

of our wild planet.

Ssh!

- Coo-coo!
- Coo!

Big cats roaming free.

This surely is the absolute
definition of a real wilderness.

I'm travelling across
the Kalahari Desert,

a huge area of wilderness that
stretches across Southern Africa.

It's one of the wildest
places on Earth.

I'm heading into a
very remote region.

For mile after mile here,

there's just scrub,
shrub and dusty dry land.

Everything here is
growing in the largest

basin of sand on planet Earth.

At points here, the sand
sinks 1,000 metres deep.

But despite the harsh terrain,

the Kalahari is
bursting with life.

- Simon, close, elephant.

- Elephants!

Wow!

Here in the Kalahari,

in this very dry
part of the continent,

there are still giant beasts
walking through the sandy desert.

A vast wilderness the size
of Germany, long eulogised

and romanticised, the
Kalahari is a semi-desert

where seasonal rains ensure
there's now food for wildlife to thrive.

But the Kalahari is just
as famous for its people.

I'm travelling with Darm Debai.

He's one of the San - the
indigenous people of the Kalahari.

There's a jackal.

- Cairee.

In our language
we call it cairee.

Cairee. Say cairee.

- One more time.
- Cairee.

- Airee.
- Cairee.

- I can't do it, Darm, I can't!

The San have been in the Kalahari
for tens of thousands of years

as trackers, hunters
and gatherers,

famous for their
extraordinary survival skills.

Humans have always live here
shaping and protecting the Kalahari

as much as any
wilderness on the planet.

The Kalahari sits in the
middle of Southern Africa,

straddling six countries.

I'm travelling
through its dry centre

heading for the spectacular
wetlands of the Okavango Delta.

I'm starting in the north-west,
in Namibia, on my way to

a traditional San village.

Then I'll journey east into
Botswana, travelling through

the vast emptiness of the
Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

I'm hoping to end my
journey at one of the greatest

concentrations of
wildlife on this continent.

I'm heading to a remote village
that is home to some of the last

great wildlife
trackers and hunters

in any wilderness on the planet.

Denui is a small San village in
Namibia's Nyae Nyae Conservancy.

People here live mostly
in traditional San dwellings

made of wood and clay.

They have some
livestock and crops,

but, far from any town,
they also hunt to survive.

Darm has brought me
to meet an old friend.

This is old Tui?
- Yeah!

But he's still young.

- He's still young.

You're not that old!

Tomorrow we'll
head into the bush.

But now the sun's going
down, it's time to rest.

Oh, my goodness.

I'm all right, thank you.

Oh, my God.

It's like being in the forest.

Look at this.

It's like a work of art.

Oh, right, I'll get my little
mozzie net up and sort my stuff

and have a little.
a little camping faff,

while I organise my things.
- Yeah.

Tui and the hunters have offered
to take me deep into the Kalahari.

It's still wild out there.

The San have been a
crucial part of this eco-system

for tens of thousands of years.

Old Tui and the other trackers
have an intimate understanding

of the wilderness and wildlife here,
learned over endless generations.

We head out.

First task -
hunting for a beetle.

For the San, the Kalahari is a
pharmacy, pantry and armoury.

Tui is searching for the larvae
of a beetle that lives only under

a certain type of bush.

Do you want me
to do more of this?

Yeah?

The larvae contains poison
they need for their hunting arrows.

Is that one?

Oh, my gosh.

It looks like the
size of a jelly bean,

and it does look as
though there's something.

larvae or something inside.

- Yes, see this is the larva.
- Yeah, just there.

- Yeah.
- Wow!

Historically, the
complex San language,

with its dozens of click
consonants wasn't written down,

so knowledge and skills are
passed down through the generations

by word of mouth.

Tui is keen to teach the
younger lads the skills

and the secrets of making
deadly poison arrows.

So, Tui, how many of these
could kill a human being?

Wow!

You've got to stop to think how
the hell did people discover this

in the first place?

And then he's going to squeeze
it out like a pimple or something.

To avoid accidentally cutting
and poisoning themselves,

the hunters don't apply the toxin
directly to the sharp arrowhead.

It's coming out in droplets now.

So, that is now a very
potent poison arrow.

It's a gruelling trek across the
desert to reach the hunting grounds.

We're getting ready
and we're heading out.

All right?

We're off.

The Kalahari
is full of wildlife,

everything from small
birds to spindly antelope

and burly wildebeest.

But animals here are wary.

They've spent thousands of
years dodging human predators

and they know to keep well away
from the San villages and San hunters.

So, we need to trek to reach
the best hunting grounds

in the burning heat.

Yeah, make no mistake, this
is a very harsh environment.

At last, there's
signs of animals.

The tracks of a kudu
- a large antelope.

So, can we see the tracks?
- Yeah, it's this one.

- You can see, it's
very distinct here,

but they can see so much
more than just the track,

they can see the direction,

the weight and they can tell that
it came through here this morning.

With evidence of
wildlife all around,

old Tui decides
it's time to hunt.

They've decided they're going
to put a snare, a little trap, here,

to see if they can
catch anything.

Traditional hunting methods used
by indigenous wilderness people

generally have a tiny
impact on the environment.

They're eating true free-range
meat, and only occasionally,

and they're often in competition

with other four-legged
apex predators.

- Because it hasn't
got nails here,

the cheetah is the one with only
have got nails while he's running.

Like it's faster at running.

This was a running cheetah
that came through here?

Yeah.

- So, a cheetah
came through here

and now they want to know
if it made a kill just over here.

So, the guys think a cheetah
came through here and it had

spotted a kudu that was
coming through there.

Maybe it took it.

You can just imagine the
scene playing out here, can't you,

as they recreate it

using their skills
and their imagination.

- It's finish.

This is the end of the story.

And a piece of bone.
- It's right here. - is from a kudu.

- Where's the rest
of the carcass?

- After the kill there is
others who also come

and it's why we cannot
find the whole body.

- The entire carcass
of the animal,

bones and everything,

has been chomped and eaten

not just by the
cheetahs, of course,

but other scavengers that have
come in and gnawed and nibbled

and destroyed the
rest of the animal.

That's all they found of it.

All right.

We're going to go and
find somewhere to camp.

All right, let's do it.

- Simon.
- Yes.

Fire, OK.

Go on, see if I can.

Team work.

Ready?

It's going.

And that is quite a sunset.

Look at that through the flames.

I wonder if we should film that.

Just a suggestion.

What are you drinking?
- Coffee.

- How can you drink
coffee at this time?

You will be awake all night.

But this is sounding
extremely dangerous.

It's a wonder any
of you are here.

I mean, everything
out there it seems to be.

to pose some sort of a threat.

We're up at first light.

The hunt is on.

So, the plan is that I'm going
to follow them while they hunt,

and I'll carry a little camera

and hopefully then we'll
get a more realistic picture of

what they have to do
to put meat on the table.

Let's go.

The hunters find a fresh trail.

They've seen something.

They're not using
high-powered rifles.

They've just got
lightweight bows.

To increase their chances,

the hunters need to
get as close as possible.

Ssh!

They'll only know for sure
if they've hit the wildebeest

by checking for their arrows.

If they strike the target,
the poisoned head breaks off

leaving the shaft on the
ground as evidence of a direct hit.

So, this is where
the wildebeest were.

They think they've shot
arrows successfully into

two or three wildebeest.

The poison they use
doesn't work instantly

so they now need to follow
signs on the ground and track

and hunt those wildebeest down.

For thousands of years
in this cradle of humanity,

this is often how we've
tackled large, powerful animals,

pursuing them from a
distance until they succumb.

It is strange even after
just a short time with them,

you do start to see the landscape
in a completely different way,

and obviously I'm like a
toddler reading a picture book,

as opposed to them taking
in the whole encyclopaedia.

But you do start to get a sense that
there is this whole other dimension

to the landscape here.

They can see it,
they can read it all.

One of the wildebeest has
separated from the herd.

For hour after
hour, we track it.

They think it's close.

They can see the
wildebeest ahead.

Is that it in the grass?

Man, this is intense.

For now, the wildebeest
is still too strong.

They're powerful and
dangerous animals.

The hunters have to be patient.

Well, that.

that was a herd of wildebeest

and to creep up
on them like that,

that is one of the most
primal experiences

I feel like I've ever had.

I'm totally invested in these.

these guys, their
community, their hunt for food.

The hunters have been unlucky.

The wounded wildebeest
has made it back to the herd.

Well, that is really the end
of the hunt for the wildebeest

because the herd have completely
scattered the prints all around.

So, the guys have lost the
track of the injured wildebeest

they were trying to follow.

So, that is a wildebeest they
have lost that is probably going to

be taken by lions and hyenas.

So some of the wildlife
out here will benefit from it,

but not their community.

This is a bloody hard way
to provide for your family.

Dejected, Tui and the hunters

begin the long journey
back to the village.

They have one last chance to
avoid returning empty-handed.

A small game bird.
What's it called?

- It's called francolin.

- A lot of effort
for this little bird.

They are not guaranteed success.

Even the best tracker and hunter

does not have an
astonishing hit rate

because this is the wild

and life is unpredictable here.

Meat, protein,
does not come easy,

and they eat far less of it than
people in higher income countries.

With the odds
often against them,

perhaps it's not surprising there
aren't many traditional San hunters

left in the Kalahari, but
Tui and the trackers believe

hunting is about even more
than putting food on the table.

Should we be worried there
are so few master trackers left?

Across the wild Kalahari,

it's getting harder for the
San to live traditionally.

In some areas they've
been banned from hunting.

Many youngsters are being drawn
and driven away to towns and cities.

Old Tui could be one of
the last great master trackers

of the Kalahari.

Come on, mate.

It's been an honour.

I've loved every moment
I've spent in your company.

You've got an infectious joy.
- Yeah.

- Oh!

Thank you very much.

It's been an absolute joy.

I'm travelling on
across the Kalahari,

from Namibia into Botswana

heading towards the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve,

one of the largest
protected wildlife reserves

in the whole of Africa.

A vast wilderness of more
than 20,000 square miles.

- If you don't have the
room then you can come.

- I know, I'm going to be trapped in
here, in the luggage compartment!

- Yeah, we need you outside.

- This is Ali and Robson.
- One last bag.

- and they're going to be
taking me a fair old distance

across the Kalahari.
- Yes.

Let's do this, Simon.

- Let's get running.

- So, this track takes us into
the very heart of the Kalahari.

We're heading into the CKGR -
the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

The CKGR brims with wildlife.

This part of the Kalahari was
turned into a wilderness reserve

in the 1960s.

Originally it was set up to protect
the people here, not animals.

The idea was to provide a wild
land and sanctuary for the San.

but since the 1990s,
that's changed.

This area of the Kalahari
has been home to the San

for tens of thousands of years.

But in the last few decades,

the San have been relocated
or transferred out of the reserve.

It's been hugely controversial
in Botswana, in Southern Africa

and around the world because
one of the oldest of human

civilisations has been moved
from one of its core historic areas.

The Botswanan government banned
hunting and blocked drinking wells.

Many of the San were moved
here to a purpose-built settlement

called New Kandwane.

It has roads and small
concrete dwellings

and is now home to
more than 1,000 people.

Some officials said
the San shouldn't be

living in the wilderness without
access to schools and health care.

Good morning.
- Hey, good morning.

- Sorry.

Where are you off to?

- She's going home.

- Marsao Harasemi
was just five years old

when she and her mother
Mantisho left the Central Kalahari.

Can I sit here, Mum?

You don't remember the bush.
- Yes.

- the way she does, of course.

- I grew up in New Kandwane
and she grew up in the Kalahari.

- What were you
feelings and emotions

when you were required
to leave the Kalahari?

It sounds as if you
find quite difficult here?

Can the San people be San

without hunting
and tracking in the

Does it feel to you as though the
San were seen as less important

than the wildlife
in the Kalahari?

Moving out of the wilderness
hasn't been easy for the San.

Many adults here are unemployed,

living from subsistence farming
and state welfare benefits.

Many claim they've lost their
way of life without being given

new purpose and meaning
through enough jobs or training.

It's clear the wilderness
still holds a powerful allure.

But I am quite
struck coming here

by how many of the homesteads

have still got a traditional hut,
effectively, built outside them.

- That shows that we
are still a cultural people,

and we are still
into our culture.

Even if you put a bushman
or a San in this house,

he or she is not going to change anyhow.
- Yeah.

- The change,
it's that structure,

but the heart of a bushman
is not easy to just change.

- Marsao doesn't
remember life out in the bush.

She's had a formal education

and became one of relatively
few San to go to university.

- I got the inspiration right
here in New Kandwane

because that's where we
met different people here.

We met the teachers, we
met the police, the nurses.

That's where we got the inspiration.
- Mmm.

Marsao believes there have been
advantages to life in New Kandwane.

She's keen for more of the San to
have the same access to schools,

jobs and modern health care
that the rest of Botswana enjoys.

So, this is the clinic?
- Yes.

Yeah, that's a much
more modern facility, isn't it?

Yes.

As you can see,
that side is there,

the maternity ward, and
here's the consultancy area.

I believe, even as San, there
is a time that we also have to

adapt to the life of today.

- The Botswanan government has
been accused of human rights abuses

for evicting the San,

some campaigners say

because they thought there
were diamonds in the Kalahari.

The government denies this

and insists the San were moved to
provide them with modern facilities

they can't get out in the bush.

But at times they have also
claimed the growing San population

was destroying wildlife
in the Central Kalahari

and that conservation
should come first.

Whatever the reason or reasons why
the San were moved out of the CKGR,

it did spark a wider debate
about what are wild places for.

Is a wilderness only a wilderness
if there are no humans living there?

Often, indigenous people are
absolutely central to a wilderness.

Often, they're the ones
who help to shape it, create it,

tend it and protect it.

But here, I think
there was a feeling

that to have a proper conservation
area, that required the human beings

who'd lived there for thousands
of years to be moved out.

However, on my wilderness
journeys I've been realising that

humans are actually an integral
part of many remote areas.

I'll see that more as I travel
further across the Kalahari

towards a giant oasis in this
great desert - the Okavango Delta.

Robson grew up in the Kalahari,

absorbing everything there is
to know about the landscape

and wildlife around him.

He's like a walking guidebook.

- Aardwolf, you
see it? It's here.

Oh, my God!

- It's a hyena.
- No, aardwolf.

- Aardwolf?

It's an aardwolf, very rare.

- OK, the head is up there.

You can see two.

So, this is a pair.

You don't often see two.

- The aardwolf is a species of
hyena which eats mainly insects.

Its favourite snack
is the termite.

A single aardwolf can
gobble down 300,000 in a day.

Have you seen these before?
- Well, I only have seen them twice.

But that is after 18 years
of guiding. This is very rare.

So, I'm so impressed
that you get to see two.

And these are often
more active at night.

Oh, look, wow!

I am a touch impressed.
- Hey!

- It's hard to believe.

Very nice.

- So, this case should
be safe out here.

Hyenas are not
going to get into that,

but I need to take my shoes
inside, cos apparently they like

stealing them from outside
tents and having a chew.

I'm sure I can hear lions.

There are lions
going past my tent.

- We are going
to the water hole.

Thank you.

- Lions.

They're here.at the water hole.

There he is.

The king of the Kalahari.

You feel it so deep within you,

that primal, terrifying,

awe-inspiring roar.

Kalahari lions are
magnificent creatures.

The sheer volume of all
wildlife here is truly awe-inspiring.

- That's a young jackal.

- Species that face near
extinction in other parts of Africa

are still common here
in this area of Botswana.

- There are elephants,
elephants on the left

and at ten o'clock or 11,
there's a herd of elephants.

- There's a herd of elephants!

- It's so unique.

The grassland is amazing.

- There were once 25
million elephants in Africa.

Now that's down to just 400,000

because of habitat
loss and ivory poaching.

Across the continent, the
population is still shrinking

but Botswana has almost a
third of all the African elephants

left on the planet.

Botswana is home to the world's
largest population of elephants

and that is such an achievement
when you think how poachers have

targeted this animal
in recent decades.

But conservation here
has come at a cost.

The treatment of the San - truly
the people of the wilderness -

is hugely controversial.

And on the edges
of the Kalahari,

wildlife is coming into
direct conflict with people.

As human populations grow, and
areas that were once wild in the Kalahari

become farmland, the frontiers
of the wilderness area can become

something of a battleground.

I've left the Central Kalahari

and arrived in one of the frontier
areas where human/wildlife conflict

is having dramatic, even
tragic consequences.

- How are you? - Very nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, Simon.

- Ooh, let's go.
- All right.

- This is Tata Monsentwa,

a conservationist who's
tried to help keep the peace.

- And this is where the river
passes when we get floods.

It's the river that separates
the community with the wildlife.

- So, the community here is
right on the edge of the wild?

- Yeah, true.
- The wilderness? - Yeah, true.

It's a village called
Kumaka Village.

- Are you from this community?
- Yeah, I'm from this community.

- You grew up here?
- I grew up here. - Hey!

- And we have cows
and we have goats.

- Yeah.
- Yeah, and also we do crops too.

It's more like a
family, a family thing.

Cows.

There's cows wandering around.

So, Tata's taking
me to see a farmer

whose lost some of
her crops to elephants.

Are we here?
- Yeah.

- We're here.

Oh, bloody hell!

It's a bit barren, isn't it?
- Yeah.

- Ancoletsan Bablalefee is
typical of many farmers here.

She grows crops
to feed her family

and sells what she has left
over for just a few pounds a day.

Oh, my goodness.

How do you feel
about elephants now?

To protect their crops, farmers
have been known to shoot elephants.

But Tata works for the
charity Elephants for Africa,

and he tries to stop
conflicts from escalating.

He helps farmers like Ancoletsan
keep elephants out of their fields

using some pretty
unorthodox methods.

He's cooking up a chilli bomb.

That is a lot of chilli.

So, that is now in operation, working?
- Yeah.

- And, look, you can see the
smoke spreading out across the field.

- Yeah.

- How effective is this at
clearing a field of elephants?

- Imagine how you can feel it.

Elephants do feel it ten
times more than you do.

So, that's why it is very
effective against elephants.

- Local farmers are being
encouraged to grow chillies

which produce the same
chemical you find in pepper spray.

We're a good 20
metres away and I.

can definitely feel the effects.

And imagine if they've got.

several of them
set up around the.

set up around the field.

If I'm an elephant,
I'm getting out of here.

The population of
Africa is growing rapidly.

It's predicted to almost double by
2050 to around 2.5 billion people.

Providing food for everyone
while conserving wildlife

and wilderness will
be a huge challenge.

For Tata, it's an issue
that's deeply personal.

An amazing scene here

with the elephants
moving off as the sun sets.

- Yeah, it's a beautiful view.

- So, we've got within
our sight at the moment

two, four, five,
six, seven, eight,

nine, ten, 11, I
think, elephants.

- Yeah.

- So, they are watching
us quite warily, aren't they?

- Yeah, and you have to
think of them as wild animals

because they are killing people.

- So it's not just
elephants raiding crops,

it's taking lives?
- Yeah.

- How many elephant fatalities
have you had in your community?

- I would say around.

maybe around four or five.

- Wow!

Elephants can be highly
protective of their young,

fighting off predators.

When they're startled, they
can see people as a threat,

and they can really lash out.

- My cousin was, er.

He went to see his friends and
he unfortunately met an elephant

which. It was unfortunate that
he saw it from a short distance.

He tried to run away from it

but because elephant is big,

it was able to see him running
away even behind the bushes.

So, it kept chasing
him until, you know,

it was able to hit him.

- I'm so sorry.

Tata's cousin died
from his injuries.

In Botswana, elephants now
kill more people than lions.

I think some people,
perhaps many people,

would turn against
elephants as a result.

- Yeah, they will.
- But you don't?

- Er, I don't because
it's a wildlife area.

You don't want to see
elephants killing people,

but, you know, we
can't push them away,

so it's more of finding a
way to co-exist with them.

- I've travelled for weeks through
this dry, parched wilderness

and I've hardly
seen a drop of water.

But I hope that's
about to change.

I'm leaving the arid areas
of the Kalahari behind now

and heading towards the
end of this part of my journey.

We're on our way towards
the Okavango Delta.

The Okavango Delta is the
largest freshwater wetland

in Southern Africa.

It's home to one of the most
spectacular concentrations of

wildlife on Earth.

That draws in visitors to
upmarket safari lodges,

creating a whole tourism
industry in this area of the Kalahari

that I'm keen to understand.

Well, we've arrived.

Oh! somewhere very fancy.

My goodness.

All right, well, I'm knackered.

I'm going to get a good night's
sleep tonight and I'll have a wash.

I will see you in the morning.

Ah, flipping heck.

So, this is the Okavango Delta.

It's known as the
Jewel of the Kalahari.

Each year when the
Kalahari is at its driest,

rain in the north flows
downriver and empties into a huge

inland delta, transforming
this part of the Kalahari Desert

into a lush, waterlogged
oasis packed with wildlife.

It's been described as the closest
thing to Eden left on the planet.

It's like a vast shallow bathtub

into which a river flows,
and then wildlife comes

from across Southern
Africa to drink and eat here,

which means it is a destination
for seriously high-end tourism.

Some lodges in the Delta
charge more than £1,000 a night

for a room. Ooh!

The tourism industry can
be hugely damaging, but here,

like in so many other
wild areas I've visited,

it provides thousands of jobs.

Rather than clearing land
for farming or poaching,

tourism can give locals an economic
incentive to look after landscapes

and wildlife.

Unless we're all going to start
donating billions to provide jobs

and preserve wildernesses,

perhaps responsible
tourism has a crucial role.

Is it stable?

- Got it.
- Stable enough.

The tourism industry has helped make
Botswana one of the richer countries

in Africa and helps preserve
the wildlife of the Kalahari.

Koki Makodi is a Botswanan
campaigner and conservationist.

- This is called a macuro.

It's actually a dugout canoe

which, traditionally, the people of
the Okavango Delta have relied on

as a mode of transport
to get from island to island.

- This is exceptional.

Here we are quietly,
without an engine,

gently sliding towards two
giant elephants close to us

and another three down there.

We've got more
in the bushes here.

- I think we're very, very blessed,
Simon, to be able to witness this

in our lifetimes.

- One of Koki's concerns is that
tourism here hasn't done enough

for ordinary people

and that the indigenous people
of the Kalahari have often been

marginalised in favour of
the wildlife and the tourists.

How can we protect
wild places, wildernesses,

whilst still providing
jobs, opportunities

for the people who live there

and are a fundamental
part of those places?

- I think tourism
could do a better job.

When you have profit to make,

you don't want that
profit to be challenged

and it served certain operators
to enter this business at a time

when the people surrounding the
old indigenous peoples of that area

were not highly educated.

So, it benefitted them in that
they could pay cheaper wages.

- So, understanding
that indigenous people

who have lived in a place,
for sometimes thousands,

tens of thousands of
years, they know stuff.

- Yes, and they need to be
appreciated for knowing that stuff.

I mean, we've gone long
enough without recognising

the importance of the people

who have kept the
balance in these spaces,

and we need to listen to them.

- Don Joseph comes from a
village where many people make

a living punting travellers
around the Okavango Delta.

They've tried to build their
business by working independently

from big tour operators.

- I'm part of the
Poler's Association.

- So, I've been doing
it, like, three years now.

Are you on social media, Don?

- Yes.
- And so you get direct bookings that way?

- Yes. You just book
to the community.

They will pay those
people with them callers.

- So, you're earning
the money directly?

It's not going through a tour
operator in Europe or somewhere?

- No, it's just going
to the community.

- That sounds pretty vital, that local
people can have local companies

and earn direct from
tourism or any other.

- Absolutely.
- .business. - Absolutely.

It's proving to be possible,
but we need to band together to

kind of support one another to
make sure that it is long lasting.

- What Koki is campaigning for
is a system that could really help

to preserve wilderness
areas around the world.

Wildernesses aren't empty.

They are full of life and often
very full of people as well.

I think what I've learnt on this
journey is that if we are going

to protect this
wilderness - the Kalahari -

we're all going to have
to get better at protecting

and looking after, educating
and engaging with the people

who live here and know it best.

Our remaining great wilderness
areas face many threats.

On my journeys I've seen
how climate change is disrupting

these eco-systems
on which we all depend.

Remote areas are also being targeted
by ranchers, loggers and miners.

Our increasing human population
is encroaching on the wilderness.

Surely, these wild areas
are worth protecting.

They're home to our most
spectacular and important wildlife.

and we need them.

We're not separate from nature.

Whoa!

we're part of it.

We need to know
wilderness exists

and we need it in our lives.

because living on an
extraordinary, wild planet.

is part of what
makes us truly human.

It's been an honour.