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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:10,780 Four and a half billion years old. 2 00:00:10,780 --> 00:00:12,420 An astonishing planet. 3 00:00:18,340 --> 00:00:20,180 We know it's changing - 4 00:00:20,180 --> 00:00:23,460 faster now than at any other time in human history. 5 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:33,780 But do we understand exactly what the future holds? 6 00:00:38,380 --> 00:00:41,900 Over the next seven years, this ambitious series will chart 7 00:00:41,900 --> 00:00:45,340 the health of six of our planet's most vulnerable habitats 8 00:00:45,340 --> 00:00:48,340 through a time of great change for our natural world. 9 00:00:51,380 --> 00:00:54,020 From Iceland's frozen wilderness... 10 00:00:54,020 --> 00:00:56,300 ..to the rainforests of Cambodia. 11 00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:58,220 These habitats have been chosen 12 00:00:58,220 --> 00:01:01,060 because they're changing at breakneck speed. 13 00:01:01,060 --> 00:01:05,180 In seven years' time, life here could be very different. 14 00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:09,260 I'm one of six presenters who will witness first hand 15 00:01:09,260 --> 00:01:12,180 the scale of the transformations ahead. 16 00:01:12,180 --> 00:01:15,820 We're going to be following the scientists and local communities, 17 00:01:15,820 --> 00:01:19,900 each working hard to find solutions and to make a difference. 18 00:01:19,900 --> 00:01:23,340 And we'll follow animals learning to adapt 19 00:01:23,340 --> 00:01:26,580 over these next seven critical years. 20 00:01:26,580 --> 00:01:29,420 I'm in California, on the front line of climate change, 21 00:01:29,420 --> 00:01:33,140 to find out how wildlife and people are being impacted. 22 00:01:36,140 --> 00:01:39,780 I'm standing on a glacier in Iceland. 23 00:01:39,780 --> 00:01:43,980 Witnessing the devastating effect of global warming. 24 00:01:45,260 --> 00:01:46,820 This is Kenya. 25 00:01:46,820 --> 00:01:48,780 Now, it's supposed to be the wet season, 26 00:01:48,780 --> 00:01:50,620 but it's as dry as a bone. 27 00:01:52,540 --> 00:01:57,660 I'm in Brazil to find out how deforestation is threatening 28 00:01:57,660 --> 00:02:01,380 the largest tropical wetland anywhere on Earth. 29 00:02:02,540 --> 00:02:04,380 I'm in Cambodia. 30 00:02:04,380 --> 00:02:07,820 Home to one of the fastest growing economies on the planet. 31 00:02:07,820 --> 00:02:11,460 Uncovering the hidden cost of economic development. 32 00:02:14,740 --> 00:02:17,540 I'm here in the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, 33 00:02:17,540 --> 00:02:20,100 which is a place in immediate and present danger 34 00:02:20,100 --> 00:02:22,220 from the effects of climate change. 35 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:27,860 Together, we hope to better understand the future 36 00:02:27,860 --> 00:02:30,300 for our changing planet. 37 00:02:43,380 --> 00:02:45,540 Nestled in the heart of the Indian Ocean, 38 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:49,860 the Maldives is far more than just white sands and palm trees. 39 00:02:53,900 --> 00:02:56,340 Beneath the waves... 40 00:02:56,340 --> 00:02:58,020 ..lies a world of wonder. 41 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:06,940 Nowhere is life in the ocean more complex, or colourful, 42 00:03:06,940 --> 00:03:09,180 than our coral reefs. 43 00:03:10,780 --> 00:03:15,580 And this is one the greatest coral reef systems on the planet. 44 00:03:23,780 --> 00:03:27,460 The coral reefs here are a biodiversity hot spot 45 00:03:27,460 --> 00:03:30,460 and one of the natural wonders of our world. 46 00:03:31,940 --> 00:03:33,740 But there's trouble in paradise. 47 00:03:33,740 --> 00:03:36,420 Change here in the Indian Ocean is not just something far off 48 00:03:36,420 --> 00:03:39,020 in the future. It's something that's already happening. 49 00:03:40,860 --> 00:03:45,740 Ocean warming is killing coral reefs at an astonishing rate. 50 00:03:45,740 --> 00:03:49,020 We've already lost half of our reefs. 51 00:03:50,820 --> 00:03:53,860 And without action, it's predicted that over 70% 52 00:03:53,860 --> 00:03:57,620 of the world's remaining reefs will be damaged by ocean warming 53 00:03:57,620 --> 00:04:01,780 and acidification by the end of this decade. 54 00:04:01,780 --> 00:04:04,460 With the Indian Ocean heating quicker than anywhere else 55 00:04:04,460 --> 00:04:07,580 in the tropics, the reefs surrounding the Maldives 56 00:04:07,580 --> 00:04:10,620 are set to see some of the most dramatic changes. 57 00:04:11,860 --> 00:04:14,620 We're here to find out what effects that will have on the wildlife 58 00:04:14,620 --> 00:04:16,540 that relies on the reef. 59 00:04:22,500 --> 00:04:25,420 Animals come to reefs for a range of reasons, 60 00:04:25,420 --> 00:04:28,180 one of which is food. 61 00:04:28,180 --> 00:04:32,300 The more varied the food offering, the more varied the visitors. 62 00:04:33,740 --> 00:04:37,140 For scientists here in the Maldives, one of the clearest markers 63 00:04:37,140 --> 00:04:41,380 of a thriving reef is the presence of these - manta rays. 64 00:04:43,620 --> 00:04:46,420 These reefs support the greatest concentration 65 00:04:46,420 --> 00:04:48,460 of reef mantas on Earth, 66 00:04:48,460 --> 00:04:52,740 making it the ideal place to study these giants. 67 00:04:56,340 --> 00:05:00,420 This boat is a floating base camp for the Manta Trust. 68 00:05:00,420 --> 00:05:04,580 They're at the cutting edge of manta ray science and conservation. 69 00:05:04,580 --> 00:05:08,380 Right here in the Maldives is their most important study site. 70 00:05:14,820 --> 00:05:18,220 This international team of marine biologists will be studying 71 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:21,260 changes in the Maldives' manta population. 72 00:05:21,260 --> 00:05:23,900 Niv Froman is a project leader. 73 00:05:26,460 --> 00:05:28,940 Manta rays heavily rely on coral reefs. 74 00:05:28,940 --> 00:05:31,780 Coral reefs is where food is produced. 75 00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:35,220 Because manta rays rely heavily on what the reef generates, 76 00:05:35,220 --> 00:05:39,660 they can be used as an indicator of how healthy the reef is. 77 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:46,420 Despite being one of the bigger animals in the ocean, 78 00:05:46,420 --> 00:05:50,220 they feed on one of the smallest - plankton. 79 00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:55,940 Billions of tiny plants and animals, including baby corals, 80 00:05:55,940 --> 00:05:58,940 that form the base of the ocean food chain. 81 00:06:01,420 --> 00:06:04,260 Plankton is abundant because of coral reefs - 82 00:06:04,260 --> 00:06:08,340 that generates that productivity that the mantas rely on. 83 00:06:11,780 --> 00:06:15,260 Researcher Hannah Moloney is investigating the impact 84 00:06:15,260 --> 00:06:18,700 rising sea temperatures will have on the mantas' food supply 85 00:06:18,700 --> 00:06:20,300 in the coming years. 86 00:06:22,780 --> 00:06:26,220 So, you've created a PhD topic that involves you 87 00:06:26,220 --> 00:06:29,620 swimming alongside mantas all day, every day. Tough break! 88 00:06:29,620 --> 00:06:32,100 What is it you're hoping to find out? 89 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:35,340 What evidence are you hoping to gather from this study? 90 00:06:35,340 --> 00:06:40,140 Even the smallest amount of sea level temperature rise 91 00:06:40,140 --> 00:06:44,500 is predicted to have more than 50% of a decline 92 00:06:44,500 --> 00:06:48,060 in zoo plankton biomass in tropical regions worldwide. 93 00:06:48,060 --> 00:06:50,820 And with these changes in the smallest animals in the ocean, 94 00:06:50,820 --> 00:06:53,780 it's going to have an impact on manta rays here in Maldives. 95 00:06:57,420 --> 00:07:00,820 So, we're going to swim beside the manta rays 96 00:07:00,820 --> 00:07:04,380 and actually collect some of the food that they're feeding on. 97 00:07:06,620 --> 00:07:08,860 Manta rays are solitary animals. 98 00:07:08,860 --> 00:07:11,540 However, they can be seen feeding with friends, 99 00:07:11,540 --> 00:07:15,580 and this is a strategy to be able to get the most amount of plankton 100 00:07:15,580 --> 00:07:17,180 in the shortest amount of time. 101 00:07:17,180 --> 00:07:19,020 So, basically, lazy feeding. 102 00:07:19,020 --> 00:07:21,820 It's like picking apples from a tree compared to 103 00:07:21,820 --> 00:07:24,500 going to a buffet dinner. 104 00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:28,780 To understand how changes in their food supply affect the mantas, 105 00:07:28,780 --> 00:07:32,820 first we need to work out how much plankton they're eating and where. 106 00:07:34,620 --> 00:07:37,580 And a remote inlet, called Hanifaru Bay, 107 00:07:37,580 --> 00:07:41,020 just happens to be their favourite dining spot. 108 00:07:41,020 --> 00:07:44,820 When you look out to the blue, you can see the dark shape of wing tips 109 00:07:44,820 --> 00:07:47,260 carving the surface from the mantas beneath. 110 00:07:47,260 --> 00:07:51,100 Right here, right now is probably the best place on the planet 111 00:07:51,100 --> 00:07:54,780 for a wildlife encounter that has to be seen to be believed. 112 00:08:03,460 --> 00:08:05,540 Weighing as much as a buffalo, 113 00:08:05,540 --> 00:08:10,020 these graceful giants eat around five kilos of plankton a day, 114 00:08:10,020 --> 00:08:13,460 carefully funnelling it through their paddle-like head fins. 115 00:08:17,060 --> 00:08:19,340 Although they look like flying carpets, 116 00:08:19,340 --> 00:08:22,060 they're actually one of the smartest fish in the sea. 117 00:08:23,980 --> 00:08:26,380 Their large brains enable them to create mental maps 118 00:08:26,380 --> 00:08:28,900 of the reefs around the Maldives 119 00:08:28,900 --> 00:08:32,380 and hold long term memories of the best feeding spots. 120 00:08:35,980 --> 00:08:37,260 Oh... 121 00:08:37,260 --> 00:08:40,660 There is nothing quite like diving with manta rays. 122 00:08:40,660 --> 00:08:43,300 It is a deeply emotional experience, 123 00:08:43,300 --> 00:08:45,940 something that really hits you in the heart. 124 00:08:47,300 --> 00:08:51,060 But these iconic ocean animals - like whales and dolphins 125 00:08:51,060 --> 00:08:53,020 and sharks and mantas - 126 00:08:53,020 --> 00:08:55,940 they're incredibly important to ocean ecosystems, 127 00:08:55,940 --> 00:08:58,940 and they can tell us so much about their health. 128 00:09:00,580 --> 00:09:03,380 Initial analysis reveals the plankton here 129 00:09:03,380 --> 00:09:06,060 is exceptionally rich in nutrients. 130 00:09:06,060 --> 00:09:09,660 Over the next seven years, Hannah will be able to show 131 00:09:09,660 --> 00:09:14,980 exactly how the quantity and quality changes as temperatures rise. 132 00:09:18,180 --> 00:09:20,900 The more we understand about where the mantas are feeding, 133 00:09:20,900 --> 00:09:23,540 what they're feeding on, how they're feeding, 134 00:09:23,540 --> 00:09:28,380 the more we'll be able to protect these gentle giants into the future. 135 00:09:29,460 --> 00:09:32,260 The manta population here is currently stable, 136 00:09:32,260 --> 00:09:35,540 but as their food supply declines over the coming years, 137 00:09:35,540 --> 00:09:39,460 Niv predicts it'll have a big impact on the next generation. 138 00:09:39,460 --> 00:09:42,620 He's already noticed the reproductive rate of these mantas 139 00:09:42,620 --> 00:09:46,980 is a third of that of populations in Hawaii and Mozambique. 140 00:09:46,980 --> 00:09:49,540 To help ensure they keep breeding, 141 00:09:49,540 --> 00:09:52,740 he's become something of a manta gynaecologist. 142 00:09:52,740 --> 00:09:55,460 That is some fancy looking kit, Niv. What is all this? 143 00:09:55,460 --> 00:09:59,860 We're using this equipment to take ultrasound examinations of manta rays. 144 00:09:59,860 --> 00:10:03,140 Mantas have very slow growth rates. 145 00:10:03,140 --> 00:10:06,580 Here in the Maldives, actually, they only reproduce once every five 146 00:10:06,580 --> 00:10:10,540 to seven years, and gestation lasts 12 and a half months. 147 00:10:10,540 --> 00:10:12,380 You don't have to take many mantas out to have 148 00:10:12,380 --> 00:10:14,340 a big impact on the population. 149 00:10:14,340 --> 00:10:18,500 Absolutely, and that's why issues like climate change 150 00:10:18,500 --> 00:10:21,740 can really drive the species quickly to extinction. 151 00:10:21,740 --> 00:10:24,420 Understanding how well the populations are doing, 152 00:10:24,420 --> 00:10:26,380 how often they are reproducing, 153 00:10:26,380 --> 00:10:30,180 we can then determine how well our reefs are, also. 154 00:10:30,180 --> 00:10:34,620 Do you have a business card saying "Manta midwife"? 155 00:10:34,620 --> 00:10:36,660 If not... I don't, but I probably should get one made. 156 00:10:36,660 --> 00:10:38,140 You definitely should! 157 00:10:49,180 --> 00:10:52,780 Once in the water, we head to a popular manta cleaning station 158 00:10:52,780 --> 00:10:54,620 and cross our fingers. 159 00:10:58,340 --> 00:10:59,780 Here one comes. 160 00:11:05,260 --> 00:11:07,340 We have a manta! 161 00:11:07,340 --> 00:11:08,740 Look at that. 162 00:11:22,980 --> 00:11:25,180 Niv's heading in with the ultrasound. 163 00:11:37,180 --> 00:11:39,180 I think he's got it. 164 00:11:40,820 --> 00:11:43,100 That is insane. 165 00:11:43,100 --> 00:11:46,340 I can't believe I've just seen a manta midwife in action! 166 00:11:47,940 --> 00:11:51,580 I think that may just be the coolest bit of science I've ever seen. 167 00:12:00,060 --> 00:12:01,980 While he processes our images, 168 00:12:01,980 --> 00:12:04,820 Niv shows me a future addition to the reef. 169 00:12:06,420 --> 00:12:08,660 Niv, when I first heard that you were going to try 170 00:12:08,660 --> 00:12:11,060 and scan a moving manta, I have to admit, 171 00:12:11,060 --> 00:12:14,140 I was sceptical, but you nailed it. 172 00:12:14,140 --> 00:12:16,580 So, what you are seeing here is a baby manta, 173 00:12:16,580 --> 00:12:19,220 and it will come very clear in a moment. 174 00:12:19,220 --> 00:12:21,300 Right there. 175 00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:24,700 That's the baby. It's a pretty big baby, actually. Wow! 176 00:12:25,780 --> 00:12:30,580 So, this marvellous, magical manta is an expectant mum. 177 00:12:30,580 --> 00:12:32,620 It is. She is, yes. 178 00:12:32,620 --> 00:12:34,660 That is just fantastic. 179 00:12:34,660 --> 00:12:36,900 This is the most visual proof you could ever need 180 00:12:36,900 --> 00:12:40,140 of how important these seas are to the mantas, right? 181 00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:44,420 Absolutely. One pregnancy term is a huge investment. 182 00:12:44,420 --> 00:12:47,060 So, it requires a lot of energy, requires a lot of food. 183 00:12:47,060 --> 00:12:50,740 And that's why with climate change - and the reduction in nutrients 184 00:12:50,740 --> 00:12:53,820 and plankton availability - the animals will be weaker 185 00:12:53,820 --> 00:12:57,620 and will not have enough energy to invest in reproduction. 186 00:12:57,620 --> 00:13:00,860 They might decide to skip a reproductive year 187 00:13:00,860 --> 00:13:03,300 until food is abundant enough. 188 00:13:03,300 --> 00:13:07,380 So, understanding what factors affect their ability to reproduce 189 00:13:07,380 --> 00:13:11,460 might allow us to then mitigate those negative effects. 190 00:13:11,460 --> 00:13:16,100 So that's why the work you're doing here is so important. 191 00:13:16,100 --> 00:13:19,740 This is the most important time of their entire life cycle, 192 00:13:19,740 --> 00:13:21,860 and they're relying on these reefs. 193 00:13:21,860 --> 00:13:24,820 Lose the reefs, and they have a very uncertain future. 194 00:13:24,820 --> 00:13:26,900 Exactly. 195 00:13:26,900 --> 00:13:30,340 Niv has confirmed that the manta we scanned is pregnant. 196 00:13:30,340 --> 00:13:33,820 Such great news for this manta population. 197 00:13:33,820 --> 00:13:37,300 These pregnant females tell us the reefs here are still producing 198 00:13:37,300 --> 00:13:41,500 enough food to sustain mothers and their growing pups. 199 00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:44,860 But if plankton concentrations halve, as predicted, 200 00:13:44,860 --> 00:13:49,020 mantas in the Maldives could be in serious trouble. 201 00:13:49,020 --> 00:13:52,460 We'll be keeping up with Niv and the team to see what the future holds 202 00:13:52,460 --> 00:13:56,020 for these giants over the next seven years. 203 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:09,940 This is the land that doesn't stay still. 204 00:14:12,540 --> 00:14:14,220 Spewing geysers. 205 00:14:16,220 --> 00:14:18,340 Active volcanoes. 206 00:14:20,620 --> 00:14:22,860 Thundering waterfalls. 207 00:14:24,340 --> 00:14:26,780 And creeping ice giants. 208 00:14:28,460 --> 00:14:33,740 Iceland is forever shape-shifting, moving. 209 00:14:33,740 --> 00:14:37,780 Icelandic culture is so connected to the glacial ice 210 00:14:37,780 --> 00:14:42,060 that each of the 269 glaciers has a name, 211 00:14:42,060 --> 00:14:45,900 each one a character in the landscape. 212 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:51,020 Iceland's largest ice cap is an astonishing 1,000 metres thick 213 00:14:51,020 --> 00:14:56,060 in places and entombs 8% of the country in ice. 214 00:14:56,060 --> 00:15:00,140 But the changes unfolding here are clear to see. 215 00:15:00,140 --> 00:15:03,780 I'm standing on a glacier in Iceland, 216 00:15:03,780 --> 00:15:08,420 where in 2019 they held a very poignant funeral. 217 00:15:08,420 --> 00:15:10,540 They were mourning the loss, 218 00:15:10,540 --> 00:15:14,700 the melting away of a glacier due to climate change. 219 00:15:14,700 --> 00:15:16,420 But it won't be the last, 220 00:15:16,420 --> 00:15:20,540 because all of these iconic glaciers are disappearing. 221 00:15:25,820 --> 00:15:29,580 Sitting on the edge of the Arctic, where temperatures are rising 222 00:15:29,580 --> 00:15:33,020 almost three times faster than the rest of the world, 223 00:15:33,020 --> 00:15:37,460 Iceland is also suffering from increasing ice melt. 224 00:15:40,540 --> 00:15:44,820 Snaevarr Gudmundsson has been a glaciologist for 30 years. 225 00:15:44,820 --> 00:15:49,300 He's been studying this particular glacier, Breidamerkurjokull, 226 00:15:49,300 --> 00:15:54,140 for the last 15, tracking how quickly it's vanishing. 227 00:15:55,820 --> 00:15:57,820 I've come to look at a glacier. 228 00:15:57,820 --> 00:16:01,340 The only glacier I can see is some considerable distance over there. 229 00:16:01,340 --> 00:16:06,460 Well, I just wanted to show you where the glacier was in 1937. 230 00:16:06,460 --> 00:16:08,140 Here? Yeah. 231 00:16:08,140 --> 00:16:10,380 And we know it because 232 00:16:10,380 --> 00:16:14,060 the local people put a plate here 233 00:16:14,060 --> 00:16:18,700 and stamped the distance to the glacier terminus... 234 00:16:18,700 --> 00:16:21,580 Yeah. ..for several years. 235 00:16:21,580 --> 00:16:26,980 But what terrifies me is that we are standing here now in 2021, 236 00:16:26,980 --> 00:16:28,740 and the glacier is...? 237 00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:30,860 4km away. 238 00:16:30,860 --> 00:16:34,340 At beginning of the 20th century, this glacier was only retreating 239 00:16:34,340 --> 00:16:37,300 about 10-50 metres per year, 240 00:16:37,300 --> 00:16:41,020 but now it's retreating about 250 metres. 241 00:16:41,020 --> 00:16:42,700 OK, so, this is 1937. 242 00:16:42,700 --> 00:16:46,300 If we head off in this direction, we might find some other markers. Yes. 243 00:16:51,660 --> 00:16:54,860 Snaevarr's markers can help us track how this glacier 244 00:16:54,860 --> 00:16:57,500 is disappearing from the landscape. 245 00:16:59,980 --> 00:17:03,780 But to really see the inner workings of a melting glacier, 246 00:17:03,780 --> 00:17:06,020 I'm heading inside it. 247 00:17:08,540 --> 00:17:11,740 Haukur Ingi Einarsson is my guide. 248 00:17:11,740 --> 00:17:15,660 He's been taking people into ice caves for the past seven years. 249 00:17:23,020 --> 00:17:24,220 Wow! 250 00:17:41,580 --> 00:17:46,820 The ice caves, they are constantly disappearing and reforming. 251 00:17:46,820 --> 00:17:50,780 So, it's when the meltwater runs underneath the glacier, 252 00:17:50,780 --> 00:17:53,980 it carves out a path for itself, the river. 253 00:17:56,220 --> 00:18:00,500 Ice cave formation is a natural seasonal phenomenon, 254 00:18:00,500 --> 00:18:05,340 but as melt rates increase, more water flows through them, 255 00:18:05,340 --> 00:18:08,940 and they become less stable. 256 00:18:08,940 --> 00:18:13,860 I'm watching an enormous quantity of water that's melting 257 00:18:13,860 --> 00:18:16,540 and gushing out from under this glacier. 258 00:18:16,540 --> 00:18:20,260 And the truth is, that next year, this cave won't be here. 259 00:18:20,260 --> 00:18:23,260 I wouldn't be surprised if we were standing in front 260 00:18:23,260 --> 00:18:27,420 of the entrance after maybe eight or nine months. 261 00:18:27,420 --> 00:18:32,780 That makes you realise how quickly this glacier is retreating. 262 00:18:32,780 --> 00:18:36,860 On average, Breidamerkurjokull loses 263 00:18:36,860 --> 00:18:41,740 over seven million litres of water every minute - 264 00:18:41,740 --> 00:18:48,020 and that's just one glacier in one small part of the Arctic. 265 00:18:48,020 --> 00:18:51,180 We read a lot about the impacts of climate, 266 00:18:51,180 --> 00:18:54,300 but it's only when you stand here dripping wet, 267 00:18:54,300 --> 00:18:57,420 listening to that cascading water, 268 00:18:57,420 --> 00:19:01,620 that it really hits home how urgent the issue is. 269 00:19:01,620 --> 00:19:05,700 I guess people come and they want to experience beautiful nature. 270 00:19:05,700 --> 00:19:10,020 But seeing this is a great opportunity to tell people 271 00:19:10,020 --> 00:19:13,740 that they can still change their behaviour and affect the future 272 00:19:13,740 --> 00:19:17,060 by acting differently and making different choices. 273 00:19:32,300 --> 00:19:35,620 It's one of the most magical places that I've ever been. 274 00:19:35,620 --> 00:19:38,220 This glacier is disintegrating, 275 00:19:38,220 --> 00:19:41,860 it's melting before my, and your, very eyes. 276 00:19:49,980 --> 00:19:53,420 What's left behind is a poignant reminder - 277 00:19:53,420 --> 00:19:57,260 a very, very big one - 278 00:19:57,260 --> 00:20:00,100 otherwise known as Jokulsarlon. 279 00:20:01,780 --> 00:20:08,100 This is all glacial meltwater from the glacier we were just inside. 280 00:20:08,100 --> 00:20:11,340 It stretches for eight kilometres 281 00:20:11,340 --> 00:20:15,100 and is the deepest lake in all of Iceland. 282 00:20:15,100 --> 00:20:18,820 100 years ago, it didn't exist. 283 00:20:20,460 --> 00:20:23,740 Breidamerkurjokull is now one of Iceland's fastest 284 00:20:23,740 --> 00:20:27,420 retreating glaciers, and over the next seven years, 285 00:20:27,420 --> 00:20:32,180 it could lose at least another mile of ice. 286 00:20:34,060 --> 00:20:38,500 But what does all of this melting ice mean on a global scale? 287 00:20:40,140 --> 00:20:42,820 Our poles - the Arctic and the Antarctic - 288 00:20:42,820 --> 00:20:46,460 act as the sort of air conditioning units for our planet. 289 00:20:46,460 --> 00:20:50,540 They keep the rest of the planet relatively cool. 290 00:20:50,540 --> 00:20:53,580 But with all of that melting ice, they're not working 291 00:20:53,580 --> 00:20:57,780 as efficiently as they were just 100 years ago. 292 00:21:00,740 --> 00:21:04,500 North of Iceland, sea ice has covered the Arctic Ocean 293 00:21:04,500 --> 00:21:07,460 for 2.5 million years. 294 00:21:07,460 --> 00:21:11,620 This ice sheet expands and contracts with the seasons. 295 00:21:11,620 --> 00:21:17,940 In winter, it reaches down to within just 125 miles of Iceland's coast. 296 00:21:17,940 --> 00:21:21,620 And in summer, it retreats northward again. 297 00:21:21,620 --> 00:21:25,660 But with current global warming, some scientists predict 298 00:21:25,660 --> 00:21:29,900 that in as little as 13 years, the Arctic Ocean could see 299 00:21:29,900 --> 00:21:33,540 its first ice-free summer. 300 00:21:33,540 --> 00:21:36,620 Less ice means more boats. 301 00:21:38,020 --> 00:21:41,100 The race is on to exploit these newly-accessible waters 302 00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:43,140 for global trade. 303 00:21:43,140 --> 00:21:46,540 An oceanic superhighway is opening up. 304 00:21:49,420 --> 00:21:51,820 On the north coast of the island, 305 00:21:51,820 --> 00:21:55,540 I'm meeting some bold young scientists on a mission 306 00:21:55,540 --> 00:21:59,460 to uncover the impacts of these new shipping lanes 307 00:21:59,460 --> 00:22:03,420 on Iceland's migrating humpback whales. 308 00:22:03,420 --> 00:22:06,100 I love a bit of whale watching - very exciting animals, 309 00:22:06,100 --> 00:22:08,220 and you never know what you're going to see. 310 00:22:08,220 --> 00:22:10,340 But today is even better, 311 00:22:10,340 --> 00:22:14,180 because this is whale watching with a very real mission. 312 00:22:22,940 --> 00:22:26,140 Humpback whales are incredible creatures. 313 00:22:27,820 --> 00:22:32,460 In spring, the mothers guide their young calves across 5,000 miles 314 00:22:32,460 --> 00:22:37,700 of ocean, from the Caribbean to the nutrient-rich waters off Iceland, 315 00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:41,100 just south of the Arctic sea ice. 316 00:22:41,100 --> 00:22:44,260 It's a difficult and dangerous journey. 317 00:22:44,260 --> 00:22:48,340 Often, mother and calf swim with their flippers touching, 318 00:22:48,340 --> 00:22:52,380 likely a sign of affection and reassurance. 319 00:22:52,380 --> 00:22:56,860 But that commute is about to get a whole lot tougher, 320 00:22:56,860 --> 00:23:01,140 as oceanic traffic in the Arctic is set to explode, 321 00:23:01,140 --> 00:23:05,860 bringing with it a raft of new dangers. 322 00:23:05,860 --> 00:23:09,420 Marine scientists Tom Grove and Alyssa Stoller 323 00:23:09,420 --> 00:23:12,660 founded Whale Wise in 2018 - 324 00:23:12,660 --> 00:23:16,540 a small research group with big ambition. 325 00:23:16,540 --> 00:23:18,860 Oh! Look at that for a view! 326 00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:22,460 Oh... 327 00:23:22,460 --> 00:23:26,020 White beaked dolphin, four metres away. 328 00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:33,780 As the sea ice melts further north, it could become an important gateway 329 00:23:33,780 --> 00:23:36,420 to the whole of the Arctic region. 330 00:23:37,700 --> 00:23:41,140 With the sea ice melting, then we're going to get 331 00:23:41,140 --> 00:23:43,620 this sort of... Polar Silk Road is what they call it. 332 00:23:43,620 --> 00:23:47,380 So, large vessel traffic making its way from Europe and North America, 333 00:23:47,380 --> 00:23:50,060 across the Arctic, and then down into the Pacific. 334 00:23:50,060 --> 00:23:52,740 And the reverse - people coming from, I guess, 335 00:23:52,740 --> 00:23:55,580 the Far East over the top to Europe. Yeah. 336 00:23:55,580 --> 00:23:58,500 So, obviously those large vessels - which are much quicker, 337 00:23:58,500 --> 00:24:01,020 much louder, and will become much more numerous - 338 00:24:01,020 --> 00:24:05,420 could disrupt the communication and the feeding behaviour of whales, 339 00:24:05,420 --> 00:24:09,060 which can impact them on a population scale. 340 00:24:11,620 --> 00:24:13,820 As shipping traffic increases, 341 00:24:13,820 --> 00:24:18,460 coastal development along its routes will quickly follow to serve it. 342 00:24:18,460 --> 00:24:21,180 In the north-east of Iceland, they're planning to build 343 00:24:21,180 --> 00:24:25,780 a large port in a very small, remote fjord, called Finnafjordur. 344 00:24:25,780 --> 00:24:28,220 Is there any evidence to suggest that there are 345 00:24:28,220 --> 00:24:29,700 any whales in that area? 346 00:24:29,700 --> 00:24:32,540 There have been a couple of surveys by the government that just 347 00:24:32,540 --> 00:24:36,140 passed through that found hundreds of humpback whales there. 348 00:24:38,260 --> 00:24:41,860 Prompted by this information, in August 2021, 349 00:24:41,860 --> 00:24:45,940 the team decided to use underwater microphones to listen in 350 00:24:45,940 --> 00:24:48,980 to what was happening beneath the waves. 351 00:24:48,980 --> 00:24:52,860 So, we've deployed a hydrophone at this location so we can listen 352 00:24:52,860 --> 00:24:56,300 to the sounds of the whales - to understand what whales are there, 353 00:24:56,300 --> 00:24:59,940 what they're doing, why they might be even in this region, 354 00:24:59,940 --> 00:25:02,340 whether it's for feeding or for some other activities - 355 00:25:02,340 --> 00:25:04,700 across an entire year. 356 00:25:04,700 --> 00:25:07,660 Tom and Alyssa aren't claiming they can stop the creation 357 00:25:07,660 --> 00:25:11,540 of the Polar Silk Road or prevent a port from being built. 358 00:25:11,540 --> 00:25:13,340 They are realistic. 359 00:25:13,340 --> 00:25:15,580 They want data. 360 00:25:15,580 --> 00:25:19,460 We can start to collect baseline data about their migrations. 361 00:25:19,460 --> 00:25:23,300 Because if we can find a pattern, we can say, "OK, you can have 362 00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:27,500 "your shipping routes, but maybe don't go in this exact area." 363 00:25:27,500 --> 00:25:30,020 If you can map out where the humpback whales are, 364 00:25:30,020 --> 00:25:33,060 and then if you can know that humpback whales are responding 365 00:25:33,060 --> 00:25:36,620 to vessel traffic negatively, then you've got quite strong impetus 366 00:25:36,620 --> 00:25:38,620 to re-route shipping traffic. 367 00:25:43,100 --> 00:25:46,260 But how do you find out if a humpback whale finds 368 00:25:46,260 --> 00:25:48,620 heavy traffic stress-inducing? 369 00:25:50,220 --> 00:25:52,380 You blow its nose. 370 00:25:53,540 --> 00:25:57,660 Easier said than done - but after three years of practising, 371 00:25:57,660 --> 00:26:00,900 Tom and the team have perfected their method. 372 00:26:00,900 --> 00:26:03,060 We're collecting behavioural data, 373 00:26:03,060 --> 00:26:06,660 and we're also collecting blow samples from several different areas 374 00:26:06,660 --> 00:26:09,420 around Iceland with varying vessel traffic. 375 00:26:09,420 --> 00:26:12,380 And in each of these blow samples, we can measure the concentration 376 00:26:12,380 --> 00:26:15,100 of stress-related hormones, such as cortisol, 377 00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:17,500 as a proxy for physiological stress. 378 00:26:18,620 --> 00:26:23,260 If they can show a link between boat encounters and increased stress, 379 00:26:23,260 --> 00:26:25,980 at a local level in Iceland, 380 00:26:25,980 --> 00:26:28,940 they can use this data to help protect the whales 381 00:26:28,940 --> 00:26:33,900 against increased shipping traffic across the wider Arctic. 382 00:26:42,900 --> 00:26:45,100 Ooh, ho, ho, ho! 383 00:26:45,100 --> 00:26:46,580 Superb! 384 00:26:55,660 --> 00:26:58,380 Who'd have thought that we'd be out chasing whales 385 00:26:58,380 --> 00:27:00,420 to collect their snot? If I'd have told my parents 386 00:27:00,420 --> 00:27:04,660 that I was going to be doing that, when I was a teenager, 387 00:27:04,660 --> 00:27:07,300 well, they would have said, "Get a proper job," to start with. 388 00:27:07,300 --> 00:27:08,740 Release! 389 00:27:15,740 --> 00:27:17,700 Oh! Hello. 390 00:27:24,420 --> 00:27:26,220 OK, I might have got one. 391 00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:34,140 Whoo! Is there a sample? Yeah. 392 00:27:34,140 --> 00:27:36,420 She's totally covered! Oh, wow! 393 00:27:36,420 --> 00:27:38,980 Well, that was some top flying and some top catching. 394 00:27:38,980 --> 00:27:42,180 But hold on, I need to see if there's been some top snotting. 395 00:27:42,180 --> 00:27:43,900 Yes. 396 00:27:43,900 --> 00:27:46,500 That looks like a really good sample. 397 00:27:46,500 --> 00:27:48,180 OK, so what happens to these now? 398 00:27:48,180 --> 00:27:50,980 We're going to take all of our samples to the clinical research 399 00:27:50,980 --> 00:27:53,220 facility and process the samples there. 400 00:27:53,220 --> 00:27:55,940 The one thing that's really striking with your study 401 00:27:55,940 --> 00:27:58,260 is that you couldn't have done it ten years ago. 402 00:27:58,260 --> 00:28:01,700 You wouldn't have had a drone, the capacity to analyse all of this. 403 00:28:01,700 --> 00:28:05,140 Yeah. Very lucky in a way to be around now, 404 00:28:05,140 --> 00:28:06,580 but whales are under threat. 405 00:28:08,140 --> 00:28:11,660 We don't understand most of their lives, and I find that crazy. 406 00:28:11,660 --> 00:28:15,220 And the idea of kind of just living my life without trying 407 00:28:15,220 --> 00:28:18,940 to help them in some way is just fairly unthinkable. 408 00:28:18,940 --> 00:28:24,100 Over the next seven years, Tom and Alyssa's research could be crucial 409 00:28:24,100 --> 00:28:26,580 for the future of these humpbacks. 410 00:28:28,260 --> 00:28:32,020 We'll be back to follow their results and to reveal how 411 00:28:32,020 --> 00:28:37,700 the whales are coping as the seas here begin to fill with boats. 412 00:28:39,660 --> 00:28:40,740 Ooh! 413 00:28:43,540 --> 00:28:46,420 What about that? In the fading light of day, 414 00:28:46,420 --> 00:28:49,300 a parting shot from a humpback. 415 00:28:49,300 --> 00:28:52,140 Keeping all of its snot to itself on this occasion. 416 00:28:52,140 --> 00:28:55,180 But I've got to confess, although it was more than 417 00:28:55,180 --> 00:28:58,900 half a lifetime ago, I remember all of that energy, 418 00:28:58,900 --> 00:29:04,020 all of that ambition, all of that drive that Tom and Alyssa have. 419 00:29:04,020 --> 00:29:06,620 What they're doing - using this innovative technology 420 00:29:06,620 --> 00:29:09,420 and their imagination, working together with lots 421 00:29:09,420 --> 00:29:12,260 of other scientists - is allowing us to better understand 422 00:29:12,260 --> 00:29:14,700 these creatures and how they live, 423 00:29:14,700 --> 00:29:18,460 so that we can adapt our behaviour so both they and we 424 00:29:18,460 --> 00:29:21,580 can live together more harmoniously. 425 00:29:21,580 --> 00:29:25,860 But the most impressive thing that I've seen today is action. 426 00:29:25,860 --> 00:29:28,460 They're actually doing something. 427 00:29:28,460 --> 00:29:30,460 Top work. 428 00:29:50,820 --> 00:29:52,860 When you think of Cambodia, 429 00:29:52,860 --> 00:29:56,660 wildlife probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind. 430 00:29:56,660 --> 00:29:59,740 But this is a zoological treasure trove. 431 00:30:00,940 --> 00:30:04,540 The Amazon of Asia. 432 00:30:04,540 --> 00:30:08,660 Home to iconic giants... 433 00:30:08,660 --> 00:30:12,140 ..ancient oddities... 434 00:30:12,140 --> 00:30:14,700 ..and everything in between. 435 00:30:16,460 --> 00:30:21,460 Years of isolation due to civil war have left forests here pristine, 436 00:30:21,460 --> 00:30:25,700 unexplored and brimming with biodiversity. 437 00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:29,300 With many species still unknown to science, 438 00:30:29,300 --> 00:30:33,580 we're only beginning to unravel its mysteries. 439 00:30:33,580 --> 00:30:36,220 But things are changing. 440 00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:53,180 For nearly two decades, Cambodia has been home 441 00:30:53,180 --> 00:30:56,460 to one of the fastest growing economies on the planet. 442 00:30:56,460 --> 00:30:59,980 Everywhere you look, money is changing hands. 443 00:30:59,980 --> 00:31:05,340 This rapid economic growth has lifted millions out of poverty. 444 00:31:05,340 --> 00:31:09,060 All that growth, all that development, it's great, 445 00:31:09,060 --> 00:31:15,340 but behind closed doors a much more sinister trade is thriving... 446 00:31:15,340 --> 00:31:17,580 ..the trade in endangered wildlife. 447 00:31:24,900 --> 00:31:30,660 Valued at up to ยฃ17 billion a year, endangered wildlife trafficking 448 00:31:30,660 --> 00:31:35,980 is now the fourth largest illegal trade in the world. 449 00:31:35,980 --> 00:31:40,100 The economic boom has resulted in more people with more money 450 00:31:40,100 --> 00:31:43,780 to spend on rare animal delicacies and traditional medicines 451 00:31:43,780 --> 00:31:47,580 that were preciously out of their reach. 452 00:31:47,580 --> 00:31:50,860 As demand soars, one mammal is paying the price 453 00:31:50,860 --> 00:31:55,300 more than any other - pangolins. 454 00:31:55,300 --> 00:32:00,060 These scaly anteaters are the most trafficked mammal on the planet, 455 00:32:00,060 --> 00:32:03,340 with an estimated one million taken from Asia and Africa 456 00:32:03,340 --> 00:32:06,100 in the last decade. 457 00:32:06,100 --> 00:32:09,740 At this rate, some experts predict pangolins will be extinct 458 00:32:09,740 --> 00:32:13,300 in Cambodia before we even finish this series. 459 00:32:15,260 --> 00:32:18,700 I want to find out what can be done to save these charismatic 460 00:32:18,700 --> 00:32:21,940 little creatures and the wealth of other animals 461 00:32:21,940 --> 00:32:24,100 being targeted by traffickers. 462 00:32:25,620 --> 00:32:30,260 Demand for endangered animals comes primarily from China and Vietnam. 463 00:32:30,260 --> 00:32:34,300 But I'm interested in supply, and that's why I'm in Cambodia. 464 00:32:34,300 --> 00:32:38,220 See, in a remote southern part of this country is one of the most 465 00:32:38,220 --> 00:32:41,740 prized wildlife hunting grounds in all of Asia. 466 00:32:43,860 --> 00:32:46,100 The Cardamom rainforest. 467 00:32:47,740 --> 00:32:50,420 Nearly two million hectares of pristine, 468 00:32:50,420 --> 00:32:52,820 wildlife-filled wilderness. 469 00:32:59,940 --> 00:33:04,300 Javan rhino have already been poached to extinction here 470 00:33:04,300 --> 00:33:07,260 for the supposed medicinal value of their horn, 471 00:33:07,260 --> 00:33:11,100 along with tigers, prized for the alleged healing properties 472 00:33:11,100 --> 00:33:13,940 of their bones, whiskers and paws. 473 00:33:15,460 --> 00:33:18,820 I'm about to see the full scale of what the Cardamom wildlife 474 00:33:18,820 --> 00:33:21,260 is up against. 475 00:33:21,260 --> 00:33:24,500 My driver, Sung, says that there's something I should see here. 476 00:33:31,420 --> 00:33:33,660 Oh, my God. 477 00:33:38,260 --> 00:33:42,380 There are over 4,500 chainsaws, home-made guns, 478 00:33:42,380 --> 00:33:45,660 and 22,000 snares here. 479 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:48,260 All of them seized off poachers and loggers 480 00:33:48,260 --> 00:33:50,580 in the surrounding Cardamom forests. 481 00:33:51,740 --> 00:33:53,860 This is how extinctions happen. 482 00:33:55,180 --> 00:33:58,620 And this is how we're in the situation we're in right now. 483 00:33:58,620 --> 00:34:02,780 But one group of people have decided enough is enough. 484 00:34:06,820 --> 00:34:10,020 The Wildlife Alliance. 485 00:34:10,020 --> 00:34:14,260 These armed rangers are fighting back against illegal hunting here - 486 00:34:14,260 --> 00:34:17,100 by water, land and air. 487 00:34:22,020 --> 00:34:26,540 So far, the rangers have recovered over 300,000 snares, 488 00:34:26,540 --> 00:34:31,140 made 876 arrests, and eliminated elephant poaching 489 00:34:31,140 --> 00:34:34,380 from nearly two million hectares of forest. 490 00:34:37,580 --> 00:34:40,780 And that's just one part of their work. 491 00:34:43,580 --> 00:34:46,580 Nick Marx leads the Wildlife Alliance's rescue 492 00:34:46,580 --> 00:34:49,780 and rehabilitation team, who dedicate their lives to giving 493 00:34:49,780 --> 00:34:52,260 trafficked animals their freedom back. 494 00:34:57,780 --> 00:35:01,020 I arrive just in time to meet a very special guest 495 00:35:01,020 --> 00:35:04,380 heading out for her daily walk in the forest. 496 00:35:06,060 --> 00:35:07,380 Little one. 497 00:35:10,620 --> 00:35:12,300 A sun bear. 498 00:35:13,580 --> 00:35:15,780 We call her Kolab, which means rose. 499 00:35:17,260 --> 00:35:19,700 She's been hand raised from a tiny baby. 500 00:35:19,700 --> 00:35:22,340 As a result, she's not frightened of people. 501 00:35:22,340 --> 00:35:26,900 So, as she grows up, we must kind of wean her away from people. 502 00:35:26,900 --> 00:35:29,980 She mustn't see people as friends or playthings. 503 00:35:29,980 --> 00:35:33,460 Frankly, the most dangerous thing for her from now on will be humans. 504 00:35:34,940 --> 00:35:37,740 Sun bears are prized targets for poaching - 505 00:35:37,740 --> 00:35:40,220 their meat is a symbol of social status. 506 00:35:40,220 --> 00:35:44,060 And as people's spending power increases, demand is spiralling. 507 00:35:57,580 --> 00:36:02,180 Thankfully, this curious little bear faces a brighter future. 508 00:36:02,180 --> 00:36:05,580 It'll be at least another year before Kolab is independent enough 509 00:36:05,580 --> 00:36:08,060 to be released back into the wild. 510 00:36:09,820 --> 00:36:13,820 But Wildlife Alliance aren't just bringing back individual animals 511 00:36:13,820 --> 00:36:17,580 into the forests - they're bringing back species. 512 00:36:20,020 --> 00:36:22,260 Perhaps I shouldn't be saying this, but... 513 00:36:22,260 --> 00:36:25,700 Tigers are now locally extinct in Cambodia, and we do have 514 00:36:25,700 --> 00:36:27,740 a little idea about maybe bringing them back. 515 00:36:27,740 --> 00:36:29,380 That would be really amazing. 516 00:36:29,380 --> 00:36:32,220 I guess it would be a pivotal moment. 517 00:36:32,220 --> 00:36:35,260 With support from the Cambodian government, Wildlife Alliance 518 00:36:35,260 --> 00:36:39,020 hope to reintroduce tigers before the end of the decade. 519 00:36:39,020 --> 00:36:42,220 If so, we'll definitely be back to witness this momentous event. 520 00:36:42,220 --> 00:36:44,460 In the meantime, one of the residents here 521 00:36:44,460 --> 00:36:46,620 is ready to taste freedom... 522 00:36:46,620 --> 00:36:48,940 Oh, my God...! 523 00:36:48,940 --> 00:36:50,300 Yes! 524 00:36:50,300 --> 00:36:51,940 ..a pangolin. 525 00:36:51,940 --> 00:36:53,940 You are beautiful. 526 00:36:53,940 --> 00:36:56,740 Can you just hold him here? Course I can. 527 00:36:59,780 --> 00:37:03,300 He was donated to us by a gentleman who found him 528 00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:05,500 walking around in the streets of Phnom Penh, 529 00:37:05,500 --> 00:37:08,380 which is unusual habitat for a pangolin. 530 00:37:08,380 --> 00:37:11,620 This guy was probably an unwilling dinner guest 531 00:37:11,620 --> 00:37:15,860 at somebody's lavish party, and he got lucky and he escaped. 532 00:37:16,940 --> 00:37:20,540 We're attaching this radio tag so that we can track the pangolin 533 00:37:20,540 --> 00:37:22,580 and see what his movements are, 534 00:37:22,580 --> 00:37:26,500 and just make sure that he goes safely back into the wild. 535 00:37:26,500 --> 00:37:29,260 They're nocturnal, so don't want to release him now. Yep. 536 00:37:29,260 --> 00:37:30,940 We'll release him after dark, 537 00:37:30,940 --> 00:37:32,740 after we've given him a nice plate of ants. 538 00:37:32,740 --> 00:37:35,460 Aw, one of the luckiest pangolins out there! 539 00:37:38,500 --> 00:37:41,580 Under cover of darkness, and armed with ants, 540 00:37:41,580 --> 00:37:45,940 we headed out to bid our scaly friend farewell. 541 00:37:47,780 --> 00:37:51,300 So what we're going to do is, we're going to try and get him down 542 00:37:51,300 --> 00:37:54,700 with the smell of the ants, and we'll put the ants beside the door, 543 00:37:54,700 --> 00:37:57,700 and then encourage him to make his exit. 544 00:37:57,700 --> 00:37:58,940 Oh...! 545 00:38:02,900 --> 00:38:04,580 This is amazing. 546 00:38:04,580 --> 00:38:06,460 So, perhaps he's ready to go. 547 00:38:18,180 --> 00:38:20,260 My heart... 548 00:38:20,260 --> 00:38:21,740 He's just mopping it up. 549 00:38:28,220 --> 00:38:30,820 It's good for it to be when they want to go, 550 00:38:30,820 --> 00:38:33,260 rather than when we decide to throw them away. Yeah. 551 00:38:33,260 --> 00:38:34,900 So, it's the moment of truth. 552 00:38:40,340 --> 00:38:41,940 WHISPERING: Oh, my gosh! 553 00:38:44,460 --> 00:38:46,180 Nick... There he goes. 554 00:38:46,180 --> 00:38:47,540 Bless him! 555 00:38:51,140 --> 00:38:53,820 What we're hoping is that there will be a greater awareness 556 00:38:53,820 --> 00:38:58,460 for wildlife, that local people and government will respect 557 00:38:58,460 --> 00:39:03,780 and become more greatly interested in conserving Cambodian wildlife. 558 00:39:05,580 --> 00:39:09,020 With all of them, they're like... our children going away. 559 00:39:09,020 --> 00:39:11,060 Ah, well, congratulations. 560 00:39:11,060 --> 00:39:12,820 Thank you. You're his guardian angel. 561 00:39:12,820 --> 00:39:15,220 Oh... All of you here at Wildlife Alliance. 562 00:39:20,820 --> 00:39:24,500 When I think about biodiversity loss and all of the endangered 563 00:39:24,500 --> 00:39:27,740 and critically endangered species out there... 564 00:39:27,740 --> 00:39:30,300 If we let people like Wildlife Alliance, 565 00:39:30,300 --> 00:39:33,180 and others, do their work... 566 00:39:33,180 --> 00:39:36,060 I don't know, I'm kind of optimistic. 567 00:39:37,900 --> 00:39:40,700 With Wildlife Alliance fighting their corner, 568 00:39:40,700 --> 00:39:45,020 the Cardamom forests have a chance of recovering and thriving. 569 00:39:51,020 --> 00:39:54,500 But the ricochet of the ongoing economic development 570 00:39:54,500 --> 00:39:58,380 reaches beyond just these jungles. 571 00:39:58,380 --> 00:40:01,860 I'm heading to see how it's pushed one of Southeast Asia's 572 00:40:01,860 --> 00:40:06,260 most important wetlands to the brink of collapse. 573 00:40:06,260 --> 00:40:08,540 The Tonle Sap lake. 574 00:40:11,780 --> 00:40:14,220 Home to fishing cats, 575 00:40:14,220 --> 00:40:16,260 crocodiles, 576 00:40:16,260 --> 00:40:19,580 and the largest waterbird population in Southeast Asia. 577 00:40:21,140 --> 00:40:25,100 It is the most productive freshwater ecosystem on Earth, 578 00:40:25,100 --> 00:40:28,260 thanks to a unique annual event. 579 00:40:31,260 --> 00:40:35,940 Usually, the Tonle Sap lake drains into the Mekong 580 00:40:35,940 --> 00:40:37,980 via the Tonle Sap river. 581 00:40:37,980 --> 00:40:41,420 But once a year during the monsoon season 582 00:40:41,420 --> 00:40:44,860 the Mekong swells to such an extent 583 00:40:44,860 --> 00:40:48,580 that it forces the Tonle Sap river into reverse, 584 00:40:48,580 --> 00:40:51,820 pouring water back into the Tonle Sap lake. 585 00:40:53,860 --> 00:40:56,980 This seasonal pulse from the Mekong expands the lake 586 00:40:56,980 --> 00:41:00,140 to five times its normal size. 587 00:41:01,380 --> 00:41:05,940 Along with all this water come fish, lots of them. 588 00:41:07,300 --> 00:41:10,700 The annual migration of fish in and out of the Tonle Sap lake 589 00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:13,740 is actually one of the biggest animal migrations on Earth. 590 00:41:13,740 --> 00:41:16,660 And where you get fish, you get fishermen. 591 00:41:19,660 --> 00:41:23,700 It turns out that more fish are caught in that lake 592 00:41:23,700 --> 00:41:27,940 than are caught in all the rivers and lakes of North America combined. 593 00:41:33,860 --> 00:41:37,780 One of the million fishermen who depend on this fish bonanza 594 00:41:37,780 --> 00:41:40,900 for their livelihood is Mr Leur. 595 00:41:40,900 --> 00:41:42,940 Suostei, Leur. Ah, suostei. 596 00:41:47,340 --> 00:41:51,220 He's head of the village of Mechrey, a floating community 597 00:41:51,220 --> 00:41:54,940 that has lived entirely on water for generations. 598 00:41:57,540 --> 00:42:00,580 Everything here revolves round fishing. 599 00:42:00,580 --> 00:42:03,700 But recently, the fish and the water in the lake 600 00:42:03,700 --> 00:42:05,500 have started to disappear. 601 00:42:26,700 --> 00:42:30,060 This meagre catch jars with the lake's historic reputation 602 00:42:30,060 --> 00:42:32,420 for catfish the weight of grizzly bears 603 00:42:32,420 --> 00:42:35,260 and eight-foot stingrays. 604 00:42:35,260 --> 00:42:37,500 Was it a particular year that you noticed 605 00:42:37,500 --> 00:42:39,500 that things changed on the lake? 606 00:42:51,260 --> 00:42:54,420 The drop in fish stocks has coincided with a dramatic fall 607 00:42:54,420 --> 00:42:57,140 in the flood pulse from the Mekong - 608 00:42:57,140 --> 00:43:02,020 largely due to a growing number of hydroelectric dams upstream. 609 00:43:03,260 --> 00:43:05,980 While the cheap clean electricity they create is powering 610 00:43:05,980 --> 00:43:09,500 economic development and improving the quality of life 611 00:43:09,500 --> 00:43:12,380 for people across Southeast Asia... 612 00:43:12,380 --> 00:43:15,260 ..the dams have helped reduce the annual flood pulse 613 00:43:15,260 --> 00:43:19,500 to the Tonle Sap lake by nearly 60%. 614 00:43:19,500 --> 00:43:22,940 If the current trend continues, by the end of the decade, 615 00:43:22,940 --> 00:43:26,220 this event that helps support nearly five million people 616 00:43:26,220 --> 00:43:29,420 may cease entirely some years. 617 00:43:36,220 --> 00:43:40,060 Despite the growing threat, everywhere on the Tonle Sap lake 618 00:43:40,060 --> 00:43:43,100 there were signs of resourcefulness and resilience. 619 00:43:48,060 --> 00:43:51,100 Nowhere more so than at Mr Leur's. 620 00:43:54,980 --> 00:43:56,380 Thank you. 621 00:44:00,100 --> 00:44:04,020 Leur now has a floating vegetable garden... 622 00:44:04,020 --> 00:44:07,380 ..crocodile farm supplying the leather industry... 623 00:44:11,300 --> 00:44:14,300 ..and a fish farm - all attached to his house. 624 00:44:15,540 --> 00:44:17,860 He even hunts rats to give the family a source 625 00:44:17,860 --> 00:44:19,700 of supplementary protein. 626 00:44:21,540 --> 00:44:25,300 Thankfully, rat wasn't on the menu today. 627 00:44:25,300 --> 00:44:27,900 No, today it was snake. 628 00:44:27,900 --> 00:44:29,980 It's still wriggling about. 629 00:44:29,980 --> 00:44:32,620 And Mrs Leur needed a hand in the kitchen. 630 00:44:36,900 --> 00:44:38,900 What does it taste like? 631 00:44:46,980 --> 00:44:49,220 Why does everything taste like chicken? 632 00:44:51,220 --> 00:44:53,940 Most people wouldn't really think about eating snake, 633 00:44:53,940 --> 00:44:56,460 but it is a really good source of protein. 634 00:45:00,580 --> 00:45:02,060 This bit I've done before. 635 00:45:09,980 --> 00:45:11,180 Thank you. 636 00:45:17,460 --> 00:45:18,940 Let's do this. 637 00:45:21,540 --> 00:45:23,340 MRS LEUR LAUGHS 638 00:45:27,620 --> 00:45:29,460 You're telling me this. I'm trying. 639 00:45:31,300 --> 00:45:32,660 It doesn't taste like chicken. 640 00:45:32,660 --> 00:45:34,340 THEY LAUGH 641 00:45:36,180 --> 00:45:38,820 It is hard to imagine what the next seven years hold 642 00:45:38,820 --> 00:45:40,860 for Mr Leur and his family, 643 00:45:40,860 --> 00:45:43,820 but he seems determined to find a way forward. 644 00:46:16,060 --> 00:46:20,860 These communities, this is the only way of life 645 00:46:20,860 --> 00:46:25,420 they've ever known for generations and generations. 646 00:46:25,420 --> 00:46:30,180 The existential threat hanging over them is so real. 647 00:46:30,180 --> 00:46:34,660 And yet, Leur, he's inventive, and he's still got hope and spirit. 648 00:46:36,180 --> 00:46:38,140 It's just incredible to see that. 649 00:46:38,140 --> 00:46:40,780 And you just think, if you were going to be facing 650 00:46:40,780 --> 00:46:44,620 such a huge threat to your whole way of life, wouldn't you want 651 00:46:44,620 --> 00:46:48,500 to be facing it under the leadership of somebody like Leur? 652 00:46:53,580 --> 00:46:56,420 The damaging impact of economic development 653 00:46:56,420 --> 00:46:58,700 on our rivers is nothing new. 654 00:46:58,700 --> 00:47:01,900 River communities around the world are facing similar challenges 655 00:47:01,900 --> 00:47:03,740 from upstream dams. 656 00:47:05,780 --> 00:47:09,340 But with some experts predicting the entire river system 657 00:47:09,340 --> 00:47:12,580 could collapse in the next three to five years, 658 00:47:12,580 --> 00:47:15,740 the Mekong is at breaking point. 659 00:47:15,740 --> 00:47:20,540 But there is a glimmer of hope for this bellwether of a waterway. 660 00:47:20,540 --> 00:47:23,940 An international team of scientists and policy makers, 661 00:47:23,940 --> 00:47:27,300 like Bradley Murg, are working to save the Mekong 662 00:47:27,300 --> 00:47:29,900 using data from space. 663 00:47:31,380 --> 00:47:34,820 Brad, I've got to ask, is there any hope for the Mekong? 664 00:47:34,820 --> 00:47:36,780 If you'd asked me a couple of years ago, 665 00:47:36,780 --> 00:47:38,460 I would have been much more pessimistic. 666 00:47:38,460 --> 00:47:42,140 But seeing this new data source, seeing this new Mekong Dam Monitor, 667 00:47:42,140 --> 00:47:45,620 this is a completely different world of understanding 668 00:47:45,620 --> 00:47:47,780 the Mekong than we've ever had in the past. 669 00:47:49,740 --> 00:47:52,740 Using imagery from satellites orbiting the Mekong, 670 00:47:52,740 --> 00:47:56,260 along with sensors on the ground, the Mekong Dam Monitor 671 00:47:56,260 --> 00:48:00,700 gives a near real-time view of the river's flow. 672 00:48:00,700 --> 00:48:04,460 Mapped over time, it reveals with irrefutable clarity 673 00:48:04,460 --> 00:48:08,380 which dams in which countries are responsible for altering 674 00:48:08,380 --> 00:48:12,820 the flow downstream to places like the Tonle Sap. 675 00:48:12,820 --> 00:48:16,420 The hope is that with that new data as a focal point 676 00:48:16,420 --> 00:48:18,500 for collaboration and coordination, 677 00:48:18,500 --> 00:48:21,100 there's really no more possibility to hide any more. 678 00:48:21,100 --> 00:48:24,020 But what we want to see, really, is concrete policy change. 679 00:48:28,580 --> 00:48:32,300 It's so clear that the answer to the Mekong disaster 680 00:48:32,300 --> 00:48:35,140 doesn't lie with Cambodia alone. 681 00:48:35,140 --> 00:48:38,380 It needs all six countries that the Mekong flows through 682 00:48:38,380 --> 00:48:41,220 to come together and find a political solution - 683 00:48:41,220 --> 00:48:44,500 and that is a massive challenge. 684 00:48:44,500 --> 00:48:47,140 Because essentially, what you're saying is, 685 00:48:47,140 --> 00:48:51,100 it's all together, or it's just not going to work. 686 00:48:51,100 --> 00:48:54,860 In 2020, the Cambodian government abandoned plans for new 687 00:48:54,860 --> 00:48:59,140 hydropower development on the Mekong for the next ten years. 688 00:48:59,140 --> 00:49:01,180 And all the Mekong countries are expanding 689 00:49:01,180 --> 00:49:03,580 their solar power projects. 690 00:49:03,580 --> 00:49:07,300 But the next few years will be make or break for the river, 691 00:49:07,300 --> 00:49:10,060 and the Tonle Sap as we know it - 692 00:49:10,060 --> 00:49:12,900 and we'll be documenting every step. 693 00:49:37,340 --> 00:49:40,780 When they said come to the Maldives, this was not what I had in mind. 694 00:49:42,140 --> 00:49:47,020 But at the centre of the Maldives is this place, Male, the capital. 695 00:49:47,020 --> 00:49:49,940 On a 6km island, more than a quarter of a million people - 696 00:49:49,940 --> 00:49:53,980 making it one of the most densely populated places on the planet. 697 00:49:56,540 --> 00:49:59,780 The growth and development here has been remarkable. 698 00:49:59,780 --> 00:50:03,340 But unbeknownst to most residents, the future of their country 699 00:50:03,340 --> 00:50:08,340 is intimately entwined with the future of their coral reefs. 700 00:50:15,660 --> 00:50:18,140 Coral is everything here - 701 00:50:18,140 --> 00:50:20,340 it's vital to the economy, 702 00:50:20,340 --> 00:50:23,820 it is a home and a habitat for fish, 703 00:50:23,820 --> 00:50:27,700 it forms the very bedrock that these islands are built on - 704 00:50:27,700 --> 00:50:31,540 and ever more important in this changing Indian Ocean, 705 00:50:31,540 --> 00:50:35,380 it is the best natural barrier and protection that these islands 706 00:50:35,380 --> 00:50:37,740 and their people could ever have. 707 00:50:42,260 --> 00:50:46,460 Corals are soft, squishy animals, but the hard external skeleton 708 00:50:46,460 --> 00:50:51,500 many of them produce as they grow acts as a 3,500 square mile 709 00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:55,900 living shield around the islands of the Maldives. 710 00:50:55,900 --> 00:50:59,340 Protecting the communities, schools and skyscrapers 711 00:50:59,340 --> 00:51:01,740 built on the back of the coral 712 00:51:01,740 --> 00:51:04,180 from 97% of the force of storms, 713 00:51:04,180 --> 00:51:06,540 flooding and wave erosion. 714 00:51:08,460 --> 00:51:11,500 The question is, for how much longer? 715 00:51:14,220 --> 00:51:17,380 Our tropical coral reefs are at crisis point. 716 00:51:17,380 --> 00:51:22,340 Even small rises in sea temperature can cause them to get stressed 717 00:51:22,340 --> 00:51:26,620 and to die in widespread and catastrophic bleaching events. 718 00:51:28,820 --> 00:51:31,780 Corals are home to microscopic algae that give them 719 00:51:31,780 --> 00:51:33,700 their vibrant colours. 720 00:51:33,700 --> 00:51:37,380 In return, the algae supply vital nutrients to the coral. 721 00:51:37,380 --> 00:51:40,860 But when they get too hot, corals expel the algae, 722 00:51:40,860 --> 00:51:43,220 in what scientists call bleaching. 723 00:51:45,380 --> 00:51:48,620 If the waters stay warm, the algae don't return, 724 00:51:48,620 --> 00:51:50,940 and the coral dies. 725 00:51:50,940 --> 00:51:53,340 And when the coral dies, the structure of the reef 726 00:51:53,340 --> 00:51:56,460 begins to collapse... 727 00:51:56,460 --> 00:52:00,660 ..exposing coastal communities to the full force of the ocean. 728 00:52:02,140 --> 00:52:05,380 Without its coral shield to protect it from storm surge 729 00:52:05,380 --> 00:52:08,420 and rising sea levels, 80% of these islands 730 00:52:08,420 --> 00:52:11,460 could be uninhabitable within 30 years. 731 00:52:14,940 --> 00:52:16,980 But around the world, biologists and researchers, 732 00:52:16,980 --> 00:52:20,300 like Ali Shareef, are working to halt this trend 733 00:52:20,300 --> 00:52:23,140 and bring our coral reefs back from the brink. 734 00:52:25,140 --> 00:52:27,300 Ali, hi. Hi. How are you doing? 735 00:52:27,300 --> 00:52:29,380 Very good. How are you? Yeah, excellent. 736 00:52:32,020 --> 00:52:34,300 So, we have had two bleaching events in the Maldives. 737 00:52:34,300 --> 00:52:37,900 One in 1998, which killed off about 80% of the corals 738 00:52:37,900 --> 00:52:41,540 and took about a decade to recover. 739 00:52:41,540 --> 00:52:45,780 And then again in 2016, coral here bleached and died. 740 00:52:53,620 --> 00:52:57,140 The ultimate goal is to breed corals with greater resilience 741 00:52:57,140 --> 00:52:58,420 to temperature change. 742 00:53:00,100 --> 00:53:02,660 But before they can start rearing corals, 743 00:53:02,660 --> 00:53:05,740 Ali needs to pinpoint when they reproduce. 744 00:53:08,740 --> 00:53:12,060 Corals release their spawn at the same time every year 745 00:53:12,060 --> 00:53:15,260 under the cover of darkness and close to the full moon. 746 00:53:22,740 --> 00:53:25,460 When they've found a coral that is ready to spawn, 747 00:53:25,460 --> 00:53:27,860 then comes the fun part. 748 00:53:27,860 --> 00:53:32,100 They'll cover it in a bag, which is kind of like a coral condom. 749 00:53:32,100 --> 00:53:35,180 It will collect all those reproductive cells, 750 00:53:35,180 --> 00:53:38,300 which can then be developed safely away from predators, 751 00:53:38,300 --> 00:53:41,460 and then reintroduced back into the wild. 752 00:53:41,460 --> 00:53:45,340 It's a great way of increasing the success of coral 753 00:53:45,340 --> 00:53:48,540 and helping it to succeed. 754 00:53:51,740 --> 00:53:53,980 There's still a lot to figure out. 755 00:53:53,980 --> 00:53:56,820 But I'm excited to see if Ali and the team do manage 756 00:53:56,820 --> 00:53:59,540 to successfully breed corals capable of surviving 757 00:53:59,540 --> 00:54:01,780 in the warming waters. 758 00:54:01,780 --> 00:54:04,820 Their hard work could be what saves the Maldives 759 00:54:04,820 --> 00:54:06,620 for future generations. 760 00:54:10,060 --> 00:54:12,740 Despite the fact their country is built on coral, 761 00:54:12,740 --> 00:54:15,620 most Maldivians are unaware of how closely entwined 762 00:54:15,620 --> 00:54:18,780 their lives are with these tiny animals. 763 00:54:21,060 --> 00:54:24,540 Shaha Hashim runs a reef conservation project 764 00:54:24,540 --> 00:54:28,380 focusing not on tiny coral, but on tiny people. 765 00:54:34,860 --> 00:54:38,020 So, today we are going to take kids snorkelling, 766 00:54:38,020 --> 00:54:40,780 and it's going to be the first time for most of them 767 00:54:40,780 --> 00:54:44,020 to really experience underwater life. 768 00:54:44,020 --> 00:54:47,380 You'd think living on an island, with the sea right there, 769 00:54:47,380 --> 00:54:50,940 that all the kids here would spend their whole lives in the sea. 770 00:54:50,940 --> 00:54:54,780 Yes. But unfortunately, most Maldivian kids these days 771 00:54:54,780 --> 00:54:56,620 don't know how to swim. 772 00:54:57,900 --> 00:55:01,100 The rapid urbanisation of the Maldives has left 773 00:55:01,100 --> 00:55:05,180 40% of the population without ready access to a beachfront, 774 00:55:05,180 --> 00:55:10,260 and resulted in a generation of kids with less connection to the ocean. 775 00:55:10,260 --> 00:55:13,340 So, this will be the first time you go in the sea? Yes. 776 00:55:13,340 --> 00:55:14,540 Are you excited? Yes. 777 00:55:14,540 --> 00:55:16,100 That's so cool. 778 00:55:16,100 --> 00:55:19,180 I'm very, very excited that I get to see it with you for the first time. 779 00:55:19,180 --> 00:55:20,380 Me, too! 780 00:55:31,580 --> 00:55:35,780 You can sense that they're nervous, but excited. 781 00:55:35,780 --> 00:55:38,540 It's kind of a really profound moment. 782 00:55:49,660 --> 00:55:51,220 I seen fishes. Fishes! 783 00:55:51,220 --> 00:55:53,860 Cucumber fish! Cucumber fish? 784 00:55:53,860 --> 00:55:55,700 Wow. That's a new one on me. 785 00:55:59,020 --> 00:56:02,860 It's always really uplifting and heart-warming being with kids 786 00:56:02,860 --> 00:56:05,020 when they're experiencing something new in the outdoors 787 00:56:05,020 --> 00:56:06,700 for the very first time, 788 00:56:06,700 --> 00:56:09,540 but particularly something like this. 789 00:56:09,540 --> 00:56:13,020 This could be the next wave of Maldivian conservationists 790 00:56:13,020 --> 00:56:15,020 and marine biologists. 791 00:56:15,020 --> 00:56:17,300 Even if it isn't, just knowing that this could be the start 792 00:56:17,300 --> 00:56:20,540 of a love affair with the sea for them is pretty special. 793 00:56:26,380 --> 00:56:29,660 Over the next seven years, so much could change 794 00:56:29,660 --> 00:56:32,700 for these coral reefs and the wildlife they hold. 795 00:56:35,340 --> 00:56:37,540 These Indian Ocean seas are changing faster than 796 00:56:37,540 --> 00:56:39,460 just about anywhere else on Earth, 797 00:56:39,460 --> 00:56:42,660 and it's a race for our scientist friends to keep up. 798 00:56:42,660 --> 00:56:44,900 As we come back in years to come, we're going to see that change 799 00:56:44,900 --> 00:56:46,700 in real time. 800 00:56:46,700 --> 00:56:49,620 And all the efforts to try and protect these seas 801 00:56:49,620 --> 00:56:52,420 are so critical, because the treasures here 802 00:56:52,420 --> 00:56:55,020 are more precious now than they've ever been. 803 00:56:59,300 --> 00:57:00,940 Next time... 804 00:57:00,940 --> 00:57:05,300 We visit three more extraordinary but vulnerable habitats. 805 00:57:05,300 --> 00:57:07,420 Liz follows how innovative techniques 806 00:57:07,420 --> 00:57:09,620 are helping to preserve California's wildlife. 807 00:57:09,620 --> 00:57:11,900 Oh! It's right there! 808 00:57:11,900 --> 00:57:14,740 Ade joins a community dedicated to saving 809 00:57:14,740 --> 00:57:17,460 Kenya's great elephant herds. 810 00:57:17,460 --> 00:57:21,060 And in Brazil, Gordon finds out how eco-tourism 811 00:57:21,060 --> 00:57:24,900 could safeguard the future of its most iconic predator. 812 00:57:24,900 --> 00:57:27,820 This is a dream come true. 813 00:58:07,300 --> 00:58:09,780 Four and a half billion years old. 814 00:58:09,780 --> 00:58:11,580 An astonishing planet. 815 00:58:17,540 --> 00:58:19,340 We know it's changing, 816 00:58:19,340 --> 00:58:22,140 faster now than at any other time in human history. 817 00:58:28,700 --> 00:58:32,940 But do we understand exactly what the future holds? 818 00:58:37,540 --> 00:58:41,140 Over the next seven years, this ambitious series will chart 819 00:58:41,140 --> 00:58:44,540 the health of six of our planet's most vulnerable habitats 820 00:58:44,540 --> 00:58:47,540 through a time of great change for our natural world. 821 00:58:50,380 --> 00:58:53,020 From Iceland's frozen wilderness 822 00:58:53,020 --> 00:58:55,500 to the rain forests of Cambodia, 823 00:58:55,500 --> 00:58:57,420 these habitats have been chosen 824 00:58:57,420 --> 00:59:00,180 because they're changing at breakneck speed. 825 00:59:00,180 --> 00:59:04,020 In seven years' time, life here could be very different. 826 00:59:05,660 --> 00:59:08,500 I'm one of six presenters who will witness first-hand 827 00:59:08,500 --> 00:59:11,180 the scale of the transformations ahead. 828 00:59:11,180 --> 00:59:13,340 We're going to be following the scientists 829 00:59:13,340 --> 00:59:15,780 and local communities, each working hard 830 00:59:15,780 --> 00:59:18,460 to find solutions and to make a difference. 831 00:59:19,580 --> 00:59:22,540 And we'll follow the animals learning to adapt 832 00:59:22,540 --> 00:59:25,740 over these next seven critical years. 833 00:59:25,740 --> 00:59:28,940 I'm in California, on the front line of climate change, 834 00:59:28,940 --> 00:59:32,620 to find out how wildlife and people are being impacted. 835 00:59:35,500 --> 00:59:39,180 I'm standing on a glacier in Iceland... 836 00:59:39,180 --> 00:59:43,140 ..witnessing the devastating effect of global warming. 837 00:59:44,460 --> 00:59:46,260 This is Kenya. 838 00:59:46,260 --> 00:59:49,700 Now, it's supposed to be the wet season, but it's as dry as a bone. 839 00:59:51,740 --> 00:59:57,460 I'm in Brazil to find out how deforestation is threatening 840 00:59:57,460 --> 01:00:00,380 the largest tropical wetland anywhere on Earth. 841 01:00:02,180 --> 01:00:05,340 I'm in Cambodia, home to one of the fastest-growing 842 01:00:05,340 --> 01:00:07,380 economies on the planet. 843 01:00:07,380 --> 01:00:10,260 Uncovering the hidden cost of economic development. 844 01:00:13,900 --> 01:00:16,540 I'm here in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, 845 01:00:16,540 --> 01:00:19,140 which is a place in immediate and present danger 846 01:00:19,140 --> 01:00:21,180 from the effects of climate change. 847 01:00:23,020 --> 01:00:27,300 Together, we hope to better understand the future 848 01:00:27,300 --> 01:00:29,460 for Our Changing Planet. 849 01:00:50,060 --> 01:00:53,900 Step away from the cities of North America's west coast 850 01:00:53,900 --> 01:00:58,180 and you soon discover the rugged side of California. 851 01:01:02,460 --> 01:01:06,540 Nowhere more stunning than its wild Pacific coastline, 852 01:01:06,540 --> 01:01:11,780 stretching over 3,000 miles and abundant with marine life. 853 01:01:14,100 --> 01:01:17,660 From sea otters to humpbacks, 854 01:01:17,660 --> 01:01:22,100 it's home to some of the most important wildlife on the planet. 855 01:01:28,060 --> 01:01:31,300 This is the Pacific coast of California, 856 01:01:31,300 --> 01:01:33,740 home to a complex marine ecosystem, 857 01:01:33,740 --> 01:01:36,540 playing a crucial role in keeping our planet healthy. 858 01:01:40,540 --> 01:01:45,620 The nutrient-rich waters here are among the most productive on Earth, 859 01:01:45,620 --> 01:01:48,740 supporting over 1,000 different species. 860 01:01:50,180 --> 01:01:54,580 But this habitat is changing - and fast. 861 01:01:54,580 --> 01:01:57,500 California's seas are warming. 862 01:01:57,500 --> 01:02:01,900 In 2018, the state recorded its highest sea surface temperature 863 01:02:01,900 --> 01:02:03,420 since records began. 864 01:02:04,580 --> 01:02:09,460 And these warmer waters have seen the arrival of new visitors 865 01:02:09,460 --> 01:02:11,260 in unprecedented numbers. 866 01:02:19,540 --> 01:02:23,700 The great white shark has got to be one of the most fascinating 867 01:02:23,700 --> 01:02:26,500 and awe-inspiring predators on the planet. 868 01:02:29,900 --> 01:02:34,460 And now, here in California, there are more of them than ever before. 869 01:02:34,460 --> 01:02:37,100 So the challenge for scientists is to find out what effect 870 01:02:37,100 --> 01:02:38,580 this might have on ecosystems, 871 01:02:38,580 --> 01:02:41,340 as well as any potential encounters with humans. 872 01:02:43,060 --> 01:02:45,940 Most of the new arrivals are juveniles, 873 01:02:45,940 --> 01:02:48,660 that historically prefer the warmer climes 874 01:02:48,660 --> 01:02:51,260 of southern California and Mexico. 875 01:02:51,260 --> 01:02:55,980 But scientists suspect ocean warming is opening up new habitats 876 01:02:55,980 --> 01:02:57,820 further north. 877 01:02:57,820 --> 01:03:02,300 The juvenile sharks have already moved nearly 400 miles up this coast 878 01:03:02,300 --> 01:03:04,740 in the last decade. 879 01:03:04,740 --> 01:03:07,780 Over the next seven years, this could increase, 880 01:03:07,780 --> 01:03:12,020 bringing them into more and more new environments. 881 01:03:12,020 --> 01:03:14,260 So for scientists like Chris Lowe, 882 01:03:14,260 --> 01:03:17,220 studying this keystone species is vital. 883 01:03:19,380 --> 01:03:22,180 This is basically a nursery. 884 01:03:22,180 --> 01:03:24,780 What's changed is numbers. 885 01:03:24,780 --> 01:03:27,220 We are seeing far more sharks. 886 01:03:27,220 --> 01:03:30,380 So the question is - why? 887 01:03:31,500 --> 01:03:33,340 We're just looking at California, 888 01:03:33,340 --> 01:03:36,380 but I have colleagues in Mexico who are studying shark nurseries there, 889 01:03:36,380 --> 01:03:38,220 and they're seeing changes as well. 890 01:03:38,220 --> 01:03:41,060 So what we're starting to see right now, 891 01:03:41,060 --> 01:03:45,140 we can't tell - is that just the effects of a population increase? 892 01:03:45,140 --> 01:03:47,780 Or is that climate change? Or is that both? 893 01:03:52,340 --> 01:03:56,620 I filmed with Chris seven years ago when juvenile white sharks 894 01:03:56,620 --> 01:03:59,140 first started showing up in northern California. 895 01:04:01,060 --> 01:04:05,420 It soon becomes clear just how many are now coming to these shores. 896 01:04:06,660 --> 01:04:07,700 SHE GASPS 897 01:04:07,700 --> 01:04:09,900 Oh, my God, it's right there! 898 01:04:09,900 --> 01:04:11,500 Oh, that was amazing. 899 01:04:11,500 --> 01:04:13,180 I properly saw it. 900 01:04:13,180 --> 01:04:15,620 That wasn't just a shadow, that was, like, a shark. 901 01:04:19,620 --> 01:04:24,100 Is it unusual to find a seven- to eight-footer this close to shore? 902 01:04:24,100 --> 01:04:25,580 Absolutely not. 903 01:04:25,580 --> 01:04:28,300 And they're still juveniles until they're what length? 904 01:04:28,300 --> 01:04:32,860 Until probably ten feet for males, 12 to 14 feet for females? 905 01:04:36,180 --> 01:04:40,780 Rising water temperatures are seeing white shark nurseries appearing 906 01:04:40,780 --> 01:04:42,740 as far north as Monterey Bay. 907 01:04:43,860 --> 01:04:45,700 And in the next decade, 908 01:04:45,700 --> 01:04:49,740 Chris predicts juvenile sharks could be found as far as Alaska. 909 01:04:50,940 --> 01:04:52,580 Here in Santa Barbara, 910 01:04:52,580 --> 01:04:56,020 you might have found one or two sharks ten years ago. 911 01:04:56,020 --> 01:04:59,620 Now there are nearly 30 in this bay alone. 912 01:05:00,980 --> 01:05:04,340 The fact they're tolerating each other in such close quarters 913 01:05:04,340 --> 01:05:07,620 suggests a bountiful food supply. 914 01:05:07,620 --> 01:05:12,260 With each shark consuming up to 18 kilos of prey at a time, 915 01:05:12,260 --> 01:05:14,740 the big unknown is the impact they're having 916 01:05:14,740 --> 01:05:16,140 on the local wildlife. 917 01:05:18,780 --> 01:05:21,460 There's an ecosystem here that's established itself. 918 01:05:21,460 --> 01:05:24,860 And now sharks are coming in and they're staying longer. 919 01:05:24,860 --> 01:05:28,660 What does that mean for all the other creatures in this ecosystem? 920 01:05:28,660 --> 01:05:30,940 They're going to have impacts on prey populations, 921 01:05:30,940 --> 01:05:32,580 they're going to eat things down. 922 01:05:32,580 --> 01:05:35,340 Now maybe the worms come back in huge numbers 923 01:05:35,340 --> 01:05:39,100 because there are no stingrays to eat the worms or the clams. 924 01:05:39,100 --> 01:05:42,660 So we don't know what the cascading effects of that will be. 925 01:05:44,580 --> 01:05:46,860 If Chris can work out the impact 926 01:05:46,860 --> 01:05:49,860 the sharks are having on this ecosystem, 927 01:05:49,860 --> 01:05:53,220 he and his fellow conservationists will gain crucial knowledge 928 01:05:53,220 --> 01:05:56,980 that could help to keep the ecosystem more balanced. 929 01:05:56,980 --> 01:06:01,420 Using a combinations of drones, underwater cameras, 930 01:06:01,420 --> 01:06:04,460 satellite tags and remote sensors, 931 01:06:04,460 --> 01:06:08,660 Chris is gathering information on individual sharks to build a picture 932 01:06:08,660 --> 01:06:12,220 of their movements and what they're eating, when and where. 933 01:06:13,820 --> 01:06:17,500 So we use acoustic transmitters to help us track individuals 934 01:06:17,500 --> 01:06:18,900 and figure out where they go, 935 01:06:18,900 --> 01:06:21,820 and they give us the temperature and the depth of the water that 936 01:06:21,820 --> 01:06:23,780 the shark is moving through. 937 01:06:23,780 --> 01:06:25,820 So it has a unique ID code. 938 01:06:25,820 --> 01:06:28,060 And what's picking up the signal from this? 939 01:06:28,060 --> 01:06:30,700 Our acoustic receivers that are on the seafloor 940 01:06:30,700 --> 01:06:32,940 that are always listening. 941 01:06:32,940 --> 01:06:36,780 Now we just need to find an unidentified shark to tag. 942 01:06:39,740 --> 01:06:42,260 All right, guys, go in nice and easy. 943 01:06:42,260 --> 01:06:43,660 It's right behind you, guys. 944 01:06:45,940 --> 01:06:48,140 As soon as they know you're on them, 945 01:06:48,140 --> 01:06:51,340 they'll kind of speed off and the first place you look is behind you. 946 01:06:51,340 --> 01:06:53,620 OK. Double back. OK. Yeah. 947 01:06:56,620 --> 01:06:59,100 It looks about a seven-foot shark. 948 01:06:59,100 --> 01:07:00,660 He's dropping down on it now. 949 01:07:04,460 --> 01:07:05,900 Oh, my God, there it is. 950 01:07:05,900 --> 01:07:08,060 Yeah, yeah, there it is. 951 01:07:08,060 --> 01:07:09,460 LAUGHING: There it is! 952 01:07:15,140 --> 01:07:17,980 Keep coming up. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. 953 01:07:17,980 --> 01:07:19,820 Slow down, slow down, slow down. 954 01:07:22,660 --> 01:07:23,940 Got it. 955 01:07:29,180 --> 01:07:32,460 The transmitters that we put in their body cavities last ten years. 956 01:07:32,460 --> 01:07:35,380 Ten years. I mean, the amount of data you're going to get 957 01:07:35,380 --> 01:07:39,260 about their movement and their environment is just fantastic. 958 01:07:39,260 --> 01:07:42,060 So catching them gives us so much more information. 959 01:07:42,060 --> 01:07:43,260 So it's worth the effort? 960 01:07:43,260 --> 01:07:44,580 It is. 961 01:07:48,300 --> 01:07:52,260 Scientists and residents along this coastline are concerned 962 01:07:52,260 --> 01:07:55,620 about how the sharks might affect this environment - for good reason. 963 01:07:59,460 --> 01:08:01,700 Unexpectedly, in 2014, 964 01:08:01,700 --> 01:08:05,380 a vital predatory sea star that had lived in these waters 965 01:08:05,380 --> 01:08:09,340 for centuries suddenly and without warning began to die. 966 01:08:11,020 --> 01:08:13,860 The repercussions were catastrophic, 967 01:08:13,860 --> 01:08:15,980 as sea stars consume vast quantities 968 01:08:15,980 --> 01:08:18,100 of kelp-eating sea urchins. 969 01:08:19,540 --> 01:08:21,900 Without sea stars to control them, 970 01:08:21,900 --> 01:08:24,660 sea urchin numbers increased 60-fold 971 01:08:24,660 --> 01:08:27,660 and in the past seven years have eaten their way 972 01:08:27,660 --> 01:08:32,220 through more than 95% of California's precious kelp forest. 973 01:08:34,180 --> 01:08:38,100 Local fishermen and conservationists are responding to the problem, 974 01:08:38,100 --> 01:08:42,100 removing as many of the urchins as they can by hand. 975 01:08:42,100 --> 01:08:45,820 But in the next seven years, the battle to keep the population 976 01:08:45,820 --> 01:08:49,220 in check will become even harder if they can't find a way 977 01:08:49,220 --> 01:08:54,180 to re-introduce a key species to rebalance this delicate ecosystem. 978 01:08:55,700 --> 01:08:58,380 What happened to the kelp here shows how removing 979 01:08:58,380 --> 01:09:02,860 a predator can cause an ecosystem to collapse within just a few years. 980 01:09:04,660 --> 01:09:07,700 But what happens when you add a top predator? 981 01:09:09,340 --> 01:09:11,780 We'll soon find out. 982 01:09:11,780 --> 01:09:15,620 And this time, it's not just the wildlife that could be affected. 983 01:09:18,420 --> 01:09:21,420 Is there anything in their movements and their behaviours 984 01:09:21,420 --> 01:09:24,020 that you've seen in the six years since I last met you 985 01:09:24,020 --> 01:09:25,340 that concerns you? 986 01:09:25,340 --> 01:09:27,980 How they interact with people and, more importantly, 987 01:09:27,980 --> 01:09:29,620 how people interact with them. 988 01:09:32,140 --> 01:09:34,060 This stretch of coast is home 989 01:09:34,060 --> 01:09:37,180 to some of the busiest beaches on the planet. 990 01:09:37,180 --> 01:09:40,380 But most people are unaware they're sharing the water 991 01:09:40,380 --> 01:09:42,860 with hundreds of young great whites. 992 01:09:44,660 --> 01:09:48,780 So far Chris's research shows they have no interest in humans. 993 01:09:48,780 --> 01:09:52,500 But he's started to notice some rarely seen behaviours. 994 01:09:52,500 --> 01:09:55,220 One of which, we had front-row seats for. 995 01:09:56,540 --> 01:09:58,660 THEY GASP 996 01:09:58,660 --> 01:10:00,540 Oh, my God! 997 01:10:00,540 --> 01:10:03,700 It just breached. Holy crap. Beautiful! 998 01:10:03,700 --> 01:10:05,180 Did you see that? 999 01:10:05,180 --> 01:10:08,260 It just jumped right out of the water. Oh, my God! 1000 01:10:08,260 --> 01:10:10,660 We just saw a great white shark breach. 1001 01:10:10,660 --> 01:10:12,820 That was so cool. 1002 01:10:14,300 --> 01:10:16,780 That's the closest we've ever had one breach next to us. 1003 01:10:16,780 --> 01:10:18,260 You're welcome. 1004 01:10:18,260 --> 01:10:20,100 Shark whisperer. Mm, that was awesome. 1005 01:10:20,100 --> 01:10:21,540 That was incredible. 1006 01:10:25,580 --> 01:10:27,900 How rare is what we just saw, Chris? 1007 01:10:27,900 --> 01:10:29,180 HE CHUCKLES 1008 01:10:29,180 --> 01:10:31,380 You know what it's like to win the lottery? 1009 01:10:31,380 --> 01:10:34,100 You just won the lottery. That behaviour is amazing. 1010 01:10:34,100 --> 01:10:37,740 Adults may breach when they're chasing food that breaks the water, 1011 01:10:37,740 --> 01:10:39,940 and that's part of their ambush behaviour. 1012 01:10:39,940 --> 01:10:43,100 But these young ones, they're eating things on the bottom. 1013 01:10:43,100 --> 01:10:45,020 So why do that? 1014 01:10:45,020 --> 01:10:47,460 It could be, you know, the parasites that are on them 1015 01:10:47,460 --> 01:10:50,140 create these itches and launching themselves out of the water 1016 01:10:50,140 --> 01:10:52,740 and slamming on their backs might dislodge some of those. 1017 01:10:52,740 --> 01:10:54,580 The other thing is, maybe they're playing. 1018 01:10:54,580 --> 01:10:56,420 That's how animals learn, right? 1019 01:10:57,820 --> 01:10:59,660 If they are playing, 1020 01:10:59,660 --> 01:11:02,220 this breaching behaviour could get them into trouble in 1021 01:11:02,220 --> 01:11:03,900 the coming years. 1022 01:11:03,900 --> 01:11:05,740 Over the course of the series, 1023 01:11:05,740 --> 01:11:10,380 some of the juveniles Chris has tagged will become adolescents. 1024 01:11:10,380 --> 01:11:12,380 As they approach adulthood, 1025 01:11:12,380 --> 01:11:15,740 great whites transition from hunting fish on the seabed 1026 01:11:15,740 --> 01:11:18,860 to hunting marine mammals at the surface. 1027 01:11:18,860 --> 01:11:23,420 Mastering the ambush attack from below takes years of practice 1028 01:11:23,420 --> 01:11:26,860 and it's usually during this experimental stage 1029 01:11:26,860 --> 01:11:29,060 that sharks mistakenly bite humans. 1030 01:11:34,260 --> 01:11:37,340 If we can teach people more about what we're learning 1031 01:11:37,340 --> 01:11:39,860 about these sharks, they won't fear them the same way 1032 01:11:39,860 --> 01:11:42,060 and when an accident does occur, and they will, 1033 01:11:42,060 --> 01:11:44,540 the public won't go, "Oh, my God, 1034 01:11:44,540 --> 01:11:47,740 "there's too many sharks, we've got to get rid of them." 1035 01:11:47,740 --> 01:11:49,820 Understanding the behaviours 1036 01:11:49,820 --> 01:11:53,260 of these young sharks has never been more important - 1037 01:11:53,260 --> 01:11:58,460 for their future and the future of this entire ecosystem. 1038 01:11:58,460 --> 01:12:00,900 The oceans are warming because of climate change 1039 01:12:00,900 --> 01:12:04,820 and this place is changing at a pace that is unprecedented. 1040 01:12:04,820 --> 01:12:08,300 And, so, there will be major ecological shifts going on here 1041 01:12:08,300 --> 01:12:10,500 that will affect the entire food web, 1042 01:12:10,500 --> 01:12:12,980 and that includes the great whites. 1043 01:12:12,980 --> 01:12:16,220 So the work that Chris and his team are carrying out here 1044 01:12:16,220 --> 01:12:19,580 over the next few years is going to be absolutely crucial. 1045 01:12:21,380 --> 01:12:23,740 Over the next seven years, we'll be checking in 1046 01:12:23,740 --> 01:12:27,140 with Chris as he explores the impacts the great whites are 1047 01:12:27,140 --> 01:12:29,100 having on coastal wildlife, 1048 01:12:29,100 --> 01:12:32,580 working to find solutions to the challenges they present. 1049 01:12:45,140 --> 01:12:48,300 In the heart of East Africa lies Kenya. 1050 01:12:49,940 --> 01:12:52,540 It's a place I love and have returned to 1051 01:12:52,540 --> 01:12:53,780 time and time again. 1052 01:12:58,860 --> 01:13:01,500 Dramatic wildlife spectacles play out across 1053 01:13:01,500 --> 01:13:03,740 its endless grassland plains... 1054 01:13:08,340 --> 01:13:10,220 ..and over its great lakes. 1055 01:13:12,740 --> 01:13:16,980 And, of course, it is home to huge herds of one of Africa's most loved 1056 01:13:16,980 --> 01:13:21,780 and iconic species - elephants. 1057 01:13:21,780 --> 01:13:24,020 LOW BRAYING 1058 01:13:26,500 --> 01:13:28,060 But things are changing, 1059 01:13:28,060 --> 01:13:31,340 as Kenya endures one of the worst droughts on record. 1060 01:13:33,580 --> 01:13:37,820 Every decade, the average temperature has been rising, 1061 01:13:37,820 --> 01:13:40,220 and rainfall more unreliable, 1062 01:13:40,220 --> 01:13:43,380 putting everything in this landscape under pressure. 1063 01:13:44,980 --> 01:13:46,660 If the rains don't arrive 1064 01:13:46,660 --> 01:13:49,300 at the end of the dry season in October, 1065 01:13:49,300 --> 01:13:53,100 every day becomes a matter of life and death. 1066 01:13:58,500 --> 01:14:02,300 This is Kenya in December 2021. 1067 01:14:02,300 --> 01:14:04,660 Now, it's supposed to be the wet season, 1068 01:14:04,660 --> 01:14:06,500 but it's as dry as a bone. 1069 01:14:06,500 --> 01:14:09,580 The rains still haven't arrived yet. 1070 01:14:09,580 --> 01:14:12,380 And they are now over two months late. 1071 01:14:19,100 --> 01:14:20,820 I am in Tsavo, 1072 01:14:20,820 --> 01:14:25,020 home to the single largest population of elephants in Kenya. 1073 01:14:25,020 --> 01:14:29,500 40% of Kenya's entire elephant population live here. 1074 01:14:34,860 --> 01:14:36,820 African elephants have roamed 1075 01:14:36,820 --> 01:14:38,700 and shaped this landscape 1076 01:14:38,700 --> 01:14:42,060 for over one and a half million years. 1077 01:14:42,060 --> 01:14:45,740 Without them, this ecosystem wouldn't exist as it is. 1078 01:14:47,260 --> 01:14:52,460 But some experts fear they could be gone in less than 30. 1079 01:14:52,460 --> 01:14:57,420 In 2018, I was tracking elephants on the front line of poaching. 1080 01:14:57,420 --> 01:15:01,580 All over Africa, poaching has been a constant threat, 1081 01:15:01,580 --> 01:15:05,020 but in the last decade, local anti-poaching organisations 1082 01:15:05,020 --> 01:15:07,380 here in Tsavo have been successful 1083 01:15:07,380 --> 01:15:10,140 in bringing elephant deaths down by 70%. 1084 01:15:11,500 --> 01:15:14,340 Unfortunately, there's an even bigger threat 1085 01:15:14,340 --> 01:15:16,500 facing our largest land animal. 1086 01:15:16,500 --> 01:15:19,260 And sometimes it can feel like it's impossible 1087 01:15:19,260 --> 01:15:22,700 to control - because it's invisible. 1088 01:15:22,700 --> 01:15:27,420 The land here, as far as I can see, tells us so much about 1089 01:15:27,420 --> 01:15:29,380 the cruel reality of climate change. 1090 01:15:30,980 --> 01:15:34,060 It actually looks a lot worse than I expected. 1091 01:15:40,340 --> 01:15:43,580 Over the next seven years, unpredictable rains, 1092 01:15:43,580 --> 01:15:45,620 extended dry seasons 1093 01:15:45,620 --> 01:15:49,100 and severe droughts will likely become the norm in Kenya. 1094 01:15:50,700 --> 01:15:54,140 Parts of the country may become uninhabitable 1095 01:15:54,140 --> 01:15:56,340 to both people and wildlife. 1096 01:15:57,780 --> 01:16:01,500 So what does this mean for our largest land animal 1097 01:16:01,500 --> 01:16:04,140 as its home dries out? 1098 01:16:04,140 --> 01:16:09,100 Adult elephants need to drink 225 litres of water 1099 01:16:09,100 --> 01:16:14,300 and find up to 300kg of food every day. 1100 01:16:14,300 --> 01:16:18,220 For mothers nursing young, the need is even greater. 1101 01:16:21,340 --> 01:16:24,020 Now the elephants stick close to their watering points, 1102 01:16:24,020 --> 01:16:26,940 where they eat all the available greenery, 1103 01:16:26,940 --> 01:16:30,140 but once that's gone, they're in trouble. 1104 01:16:30,140 --> 01:16:33,740 The mothers then have a tough decision to make. 1105 01:16:33,740 --> 01:16:35,820 Do they stay with the water? 1106 01:16:35,820 --> 01:16:39,060 Or do they travel distances of over 30 miles a day 1107 01:16:39,060 --> 01:16:40,420 searching for food? 1108 01:16:45,180 --> 01:16:47,580 I met up with Ilkiro Letaloi, 1109 01:16:47,580 --> 01:16:50,460 a highly knowledgeable guide who's been monitoring 1110 01:16:50,460 --> 01:16:55,060 and protecting elephants in Kenya for over 20 years. 1111 01:16:55,060 --> 01:16:58,580 He's witnessed first-hand how tough it is for the mothers 1112 01:16:58,580 --> 01:17:01,860 and their babies when the rains don't arrive on time. 1113 01:17:03,580 --> 01:17:06,140 How different is the landscape once it's rained? 1114 01:17:06,140 --> 01:17:08,180 Does it change dramatically? 1115 01:17:08,180 --> 01:17:10,740 Very dramatically. You can see this vegetation. 1116 01:17:10,740 --> 01:17:13,860 Most of the trees are like dead trees. 1117 01:17:13,860 --> 01:17:16,460 But we had a shower, just a little shower. 1118 01:17:16,460 --> 01:17:19,820 And you can see it germinate very quickly. 1119 01:17:29,300 --> 01:17:31,060 So, this is a family? 1120 01:17:31,060 --> 01:17:32,660 It is a family unit. 1121 01:17:32,660 --> 01:17:34,500 ELEPHANTS TRUMPET 1122 01:17:34,500 --> 01:17:37,140 Have things become tougher for these elephants? 1123 01:17:37,140 --> 01:17:39,620 It has been tough during this dry season. 1124 01:17:39,620 --> 01:17:42,380 You can see their bones. 1125 01:17:42,380 --> 01:17:44,260 It's just because of the drought. 1126 01:17:44,260 --> 01:17:45,980 So they're malnourished? 1127 01:17:45,980 --> 01:17:48,300 Yeah. They don't get much food. 1128 01:17:49,780 --> 01:17:51,580 ELEPHANTS TRUMPET 1129 01:17:51,580 --> 01:17:55,420 Now that we don't get rain, it will be very, very bad. 1130 01:17:55,420 --> 01:17:57,860 We will lose a lot of elephants. 1131 01:17:57,860 --> 01:18:01,340 For the babies, it will be very tough because they become 1132 01:18:01,340 --> 01:18:04,940 weaker and weaker and they will not be very strong to keep up 1133 01:18:04,940 --> 01:18:07,780 with the family units when they're moving long distances 1134 01:18:07,780 --> 01:18:09,220 to look for forage. Mm. 1135 01:18:10,860 --> 01:18:14,300 This season, we rescued a lot of young elephants. 1136 01:18:25,100 --> 01:18:28,020 Letaloi is part of a network of experts, 1137 01:18:28,020 --> 01:18:33,940 carers and guides who work for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust - 1138 01:18:33,940 --> 01:18:36,060 the longest-running elephant rescue 1139 01:18:36,060 --> 01:18:39,100 and rehabilitation programme in the world. 1140 01:18:41,420 --> 01:18:46,340 In 2021, they rescued 13 baby elephants from Tsavo 1141 01:18:46,340 --> 01:18:48,180 because of the drought. 1142 01:18:50,700 --> 01:18:54,300 One of them was Taabu, who was found all alone, 1143 01:18:54,300 --> 01:18:56,500 picking at scorched grass. 1144 01:19:00,020 --> 01:19:02,980 He was flown 180 miles north-west to 1145 01:19:02,980 --> 01:19:06,380 the Sheldricks' elephant nursery in Nairobi, 1146 01:19:06,380 --> 01:19:10,780 where he's now receiving 24-hour care from human parents. 1147 01:19:13,820 --> 01:19:17,740 Keeper Julius has devoted the last 15 years of his life 1148 01:19:17,740 --> 01:19:21,460 to the baby elephants, even sleeping in their stables 1149 01:19:21,460 --> 01:19:24,340 to provide comfort and reassurance. 1150 01:19:26,220 --> 01:19:29,060 Oh, wow. Wow. 1151 01:19:30,700 --> 01:19:34,580 He's called Taabu. Taabu? Yes. 1152 01:19:34,580 --> 01:19:38,020 A drought victim rescued from Tsavo recently. 1153 01:19:39,340 --> 01:19:40,620 Drought victim? Yep. 1154 01:19:40,620 --> 01:19:41,900 How old is he? 1155 01:19:41,900 --> 01:19:44,940 Slightly above a year old. A year old. 1156 01:19:44,940 --> 01:19:46,220 Wow. 1157 01:19:46,220 --> 01:19:49,220 Let me see if I can... Taabu. Is it OK to come closer? 1158 01:19:49,220 --> 01:19:50,700 Just come closer. Yeah? 1159 01:19:50,700 --> 01:19:53,460 Taabu. Taabu. 1160 01:19:53,460 --> 01:19:56,500 They have been orphaned through different reasons. 1161 01:19:56,500 --> 01:20:00,940 One of it is natural reasons such as, like, drought. 1162 01:20:00,940 --> 01:20:05,620 Some of them are here because of human-related reasons. Mm. 1163 01:20:05,620 --> 01:20:08,380 Poaching, human-wildlife conflict. 1164 01:20:10,100 --> 01:20:11,940 Come and say good morning. 1165 01:20:11,940 --> 01:20:14,380 Say hi to him, Taabu. 1166 01:20:14,380 --> 01:20:16,980 I know, I'd be nervous as well. 1167 01:20:16,980 --> 01:20:18,180 We'll come out. 1168 01:20:18,180 --> 01:20:19,460 Let's roll down. 1169 01:20:19,460 --> 01:20:21,500 Give him some space in the morning. Here. 1170 01:20:27,740 --> 01:20:29,740 Hey, you. 1171 01:20:29,740 --> 01:20:31,620 They're off! Yep. 1172 01:20:31,620 --> 01:20:33,900 ELEPHANTS RUMBLE 1173 01:20:33,900 --> 01:20:37,100 So all of these elephants are carrying some sort of trauma? 1174 01:20:37,100 --> 01:20:40,180 That is right. Some are very, very stressed. 1175 01:20:40,180 --> 01:20:42,820 Some don't make it - just because of the stress. 1176 01:20:46,500 --> 01:20:49,420 The drought victims that are lucky enough to make it here 1177 01:20:49,420 --> 01:20:52,380 are often extremely emaciated. 1178 01:20:52,380 --> 01:20:55,900 Their care and feeding schedule must be carefully managed 1179 01:20:55,900 --> 01:20:58,460 to get them back to full health. 1180 01:20:58,460 --> 01:21:01,300 And they almost always become the greediest 1181 01:21:01,300 --> 01:21:04,300 and naughtiest orphans at the nursery. 1182 01:21:04,300 --> 01:21:05,860 There we go, there's another one. 1183 01:21:05,860 --> 01:21:07,620 Come on. Come on, baby. 1184 01:21:07,620 --> 01:21:09,260 This one's really small. 1185 01:21:12,020 --> 01:21:13,300 ELEPHANT GRUNTS 1186 01:21:13,300 --> 01:21:15,700 Playful and cheeky at the same time. Oh, my days! 1187 01:21:15,700 --> 01:21:17,940 Look at that behind me! No, those two are fine. 1188 01:21:17,940 --> 01:21:19,940 They're just saying hello. Hello. Yeah. 1189 01:21:19,940 --> 01:21:21,620 Hey, you. Come on, come on. 1190 01:21:21,620 --> 01:21:24,340 No, that's my chair. Yes. Ha-ha! 1191 01:21:24,340 --> 01:21:26,380 Checking me out properly. 1192 01:21:26,380 --> 01:21:27,900 She likes you. 1193 01:21:27,900 --> 01:21:31,020 Hello. I'm getting a morning kiss from an elephant. 1194 01:21:33,220 --> 01:21:37,620 Sometimes, when they are very excited, you hear them trembling. 1195 01:21:37,620 --> 01:21:40,140 Whoa-ho, ho! I want you to behave. 1196 01:21:40,140 --> 01:21:43,860 This is the little cheeky and playful at the same time. 1197 01:21:43,860 --> 01:21:45,540 His name is Bondeni. 1198 01:21:45,540 --> 01:21:47,780 He just gave me a little barge from behind. 1199 01:21:54,140 --> 01:21:56,740 Making sure the babies get the right nutrition 1200 01:21:56,740 --> 01:21:59,180 is a round-the-clock job for their keepers. 1201 01:22:01,860 --> 01:22:06,100 They feed every three hours and each drink 20 litres a day 1202 01:22:06,100 --> 01:22:10,020 of a specially developed formula to emulate their mother's milk. 1203 01:22:11,460 --> 01:22:14,220 Elephants are very intelligent 1204 01:22:14,220 --> 01:22:18,700 and develop strong family bonds, which are particularly tight between 1205 01:22:18,700 --> 01:22:23,420 mothers and young, so it's not just practical care these orphans need. 1206 01:22:24,580 --> 01:22:29,300 The dedicated team also provide a secure and loving environment 1207 01:22:29,300 --> 01:22:32,500 to support the infants through the loss of their mothers 1208 01:22:32,500 --> 01:22:34,300 and the trauma they've suffered. 1209 01:22:36,100 --> 01:22:39,540 Taabu and his new family spend their days in the forest 1210 01:22:39,540 --> 01:22:43,260 with their keepers, who guide them as they play and explore. 1211 01:22:43,260 --> 01:22:45,100 TRUMPETING 1212 01:22:45,100 --> 01:22:49,900 Their presence in the ecosystem is vital as they are what's known 1213 01:22:49,900 --> 01:22:51,540 as a keystone species. 1214 01:22:53,020 --> 01:22:57,260 As adults, these elephants will help plants spread their seeds 1215 01:22:57,260 --> 01:23:00,300 over long distances through their dung. 1216 01:23:01,540 --> 01:23:04,820 They will also create new habitats for other species 1217 01:23:04,820 --> 01:23:07,540 by shaping the environment around them. 1218 01:23:12,020 --> 01:23:15,740 Elephant plays a very big role in the wilderness. 1219 01:23:17,860 --> 01:23:20,820 They feed on the seeds and they will transplant them 1220 01:23:20,820 --> 01:23:22,060 to a different place. 1221 01:23:22,060 --> 01:23:24,100 You know, even if there's water, 1222 01:23:24,100 --> 01:23:26,740 like a couple of depth down in the ground, 1223 01:23:26,740 --> 01:23:29,780 they will be able to dig this water out. 1224 01:23:29,780 --> 01:23:33,860 So other animals will be browsing or grazing beside the elephants. 1225 01:23:33,860 --> 01:23:37,300 So you're saying without them... Many animals... 1226 01:23:37,300 --> 01:23:39,500 ..this would fall apart? Yeah. 1227 01:23:40,820 --> 01:23:43,140 They belong in this home. 1228 01:23:43,140 --> 01:23:45,780 This is a home for all of us - wild animals, 1229 01:23:45,780 --> 01:23:49,060 we human beings, we all belong here. 1230 01:23:49,060 --> 01:23:50,500 They have a right. 1231 01:23:50,500 --> 01:23:52,380 They have a right, as we do. 1232 01:23:52,380 --> 01:23:54,140 SOFT WHISTLES IN SUCCESSION 1233 01:24:09,900 --> 01:24:14,660 Across Kenya, over 21 million people making a living as farmers 1234 01:24:14,660 --> 01:24:20,100 are also struggling for survival as they endure the ongoing drought. 1235 01:24:21,180 --> 01:24:25,620 The lack of rains means failing crops and little access to water. 1236 01:24:29,740 --> 01:24:33,860 Communities living in these arid regions are quite literally 1237 01:24:33,860 --> 01:24:37,700 surviving on a knife edge because they're having to deal with 1238 01:24:37,700 --> 01:24:40,620 more and more unpredictable weather conditions. 1239 01:24:40,620 --> 01:24:43,500 They are living and dealing with the effects 1240 01:24:43,500 --> 01:24:45,460 of climate change every day. 1241 01:24:48,940 --> 01:24:50,500 Not far from here, 1242 01:24:50,500 --> 01:24:53,260 there's an ingeniously simple solution. 1243 01:24:53,260 --> 01:24:56,340 It's a community-led model which stores water 1244 01:24:56,340 --> 01:25:00,980 in this seemingly barren landscape all throughout the dry season, 1245 01:25:00,980 --> 01:25:04,860 turning this parched soil into a life-giving oasis. 1246 01:25:09,740 --> 01:25:13,820 It could prove to be life-saving, not only for people, 1247 01:25:13,820 --> 01:25:16,180 but for Kenya's struggling wildlife, too. 1248 01:25:19,500 --> 01:25:22,740 It works on the principle of building a dam 1249 01:25:22,740 --> 01:25:26,540 across dried-up river beds and then waiting for the rains to arrive. 1250 01:25:27,860 --> 01:25:31,900 Every year, the levels of water are going down. 1251 01:25:31,900 --> 01:25:35,380 The rivers, which were flowing, are reducing 1252 01:25:35,380 --> 01:25:37,900 and that means there is a challenge of water 1253 01:25:37,900 --> 01:25:39,780 within those areas. 1254 01:25:39,780 --> 01:25:42,380 And the best solution we are able to see 1255 01:25:42,380 --> 01:25:44,860 within that area is the sand dams. 1256 01:25:51,340 --> 01:25:54,420 The idea of sand dams is not new. 1257 01:25:54,420 --> 01:25:58,980 There is evidence of their use during Roman times. 1258 01:25:58,980 --> 01:26:01,940 Worsening drought conditions have driven communities 1259 01:26:01,940 --> 01:26:05,580 to revive this forgotten water harvesting technique. 1260 01:26:09,220 --> 01:26:12,500 A sand dam is a concrete wall built across 1261 01:26:12,500 --> 01:26:16,660 a seasonal river during the dry season when no water is flowing. 1262 01:26:18,340 --> 01:26:21,580 In the rainy season, silt and sand get washed into the river 1263 01:26:21,580 --> 01:26:24,300 and build up behind the wall. 1264 01:26:24,300 --> 01:26:26,860 The sand and silt act a bit like a sponge, 1265 01:26:26,860 --> 01:26:28,860 soaking up and storing water 1266 01:26:28,860 --> 01:26:32,140 that would otherwise evaporate behind any normal dam. 1267 01:26:33,780 --> 01:26:35,620 Once the sand is saturated, 1268 01:26:35,620 --> 01:26:39,540 the river continues to flow over the dam and downstream. 1269 01:26:39,540 --> 01:26:43,340 Communities can then pump out the naturally filtered water 1270 01:26:43,340 --> 01:26:47,020 during the dry season when the river has dried up again. 1271 01:26:47,020 --> 01:26:49,540 The community will provide the sand, 1272 01:26:49,540 --> 01:26:53,700 the rocks and labour for the construction of the dam. 1273 01:26:55,940 --> 01:26:57,900 After just two years, 1274 01:26:57,900 --> 01:27:01,460 a sand dam has the potential to bring fresh water 1275 01:27:01,460 --> 01:27:07,420 to up to 2,500 homes, as well as irrigation for growing crops. 1276 01:27:08,980 --> 01:27:12,340 Eventually, it can transform the surrounding area 1277 01:27:12,340 --> 01:27:16,660 into a lush oasis, a miracle for the local people. 1278 01:27:18,340 --> 01:27:23,180 So in 2011, we came here to see the site where the community wanted 1279 01:27:23,180 --> 01:27:27,340 to do a dam and this place was totally dry. 1280 01:27:29,220 --> 01:27:32,300 Nine years later, water is flowing in the dam. 1281 01:27:35,380 --> 01:27:38,620 It's the end of the dry period in Kenya, 1282 01:27:38,620 --> 01:27:43,220 which we have gone for more than nine months without rains here. 1283 01:27:43,220 --> 01:27:46,780 But this river has enough water and is still flowing. 1284 01:27:49,020 --> 01:27:52,820 This innovative solution is also destined to bring 1285 01:27:52,820 --> 01:27:57,580 life-saving water to the wildlife of the Tsavo Conservation Area, 1286 01:27:57,580 --> 01:28:02,580 with the construction of 25 sand dams over the next five years. 1287 01:28:05,020 --> 01:28:09,100 These will be critical in sustaining whole communities of animals 1288 01:28:09,100 --> 01:28:12,220 during the expanding dry seasons here in Kenya. 1289 01:28:18,220 --> 01:28:21,020 Meanwhile, at the nursery, 1290 01:28:21,020 --> 01:28:23,220 the baby herd is enjoying 1291 01:28:23,220 --> 01:28:25,260 the first tentative drops of rain. 1292 01:28:29,100 --> 01:28:33,860 I really hope this marks the start of the much-needed wet season. 1293 01:28:37,740 --> 01:28:40,900 Ha! Ah, no, that's my hair! 1294 01:28:40,900 --> 01:28:42,740 HE CHUCKLES 1295 01:28:42,740 --> 01:28:45,020 That's my dreads, you can't take them. 1296 01:28:49,100 --> 01:28:51,740 Today's been really, really beautiful, 1297 01:28:51,740 --> 01:28:53,780 I've loved it. 1298 01:28:53,780 --> 01:28:57,860 At one stage, I felt like I was part of the herd. 1299 01:28:57,860 --> 01:28:59,780 ELEPHANTS BARK 1300 01:28:59,780 --> 01:29:02,260 And if it wasn't for places like this 1301 01:29:02,260 --> 01:29:04,340 and the work of the staff here, 1302 01:29:04,340 --> 01:29:09,220 we could easily lose this beautiful animal from our planet forever. 1303 01:29:12,260 --> 01:29:15,420 Severe droughts are likely to persist in Kenya. 1304 01:29:18,060 --> 01:29:20,340 But what gives me hope is the passion 1305 01:29:20,340 --> 01:29:23,020 of the people here on the ground, 1306 01:29:23,020 --> 01:29:25,420 caring for the next generation of elephants 1307 01:29:25,420 --> 01:29:28,140 and coming up with ingenious solutions to harvest water 1308 01:29:28,140 --> 01:29:32,620 when it rains, so they have a chance of surviving when it doesn't. 1309 01:29:35,180 --> 01:29:36,700 Over the next seven years, 1310 01:29:36,700 --> 01:29:39,860 we'll be back to join Taabu and his fellow orphans 1311 01:29:39,860 --> 01:29:41,500 as they continue on their journey, 1312 01:29:41,500 --> 01:29:44,660 hopefully, one day, back into the wild. 1313 01:30:06,100 --> 01:30:10,740 I'm in Brazil to find out how deforestation in the Amazon 1314 01:30:10,740 --> 01:30:16,060 is threatening the largest tropical wetland on the planet, 1315 01:30:16,060 --> 01:30:19,860 and to find out how placing a price tag on jaguars 1316 01:30:19,860 --> 01:30:21,980 can actually help protect them. 1317 01:30:28,700 --> 01:30:31,300 Covering almost half of South America, 1318 01:30:31,300 --> 01:30:35,300 Brazil is the most biodiverse country in the world. 1319 01:30:40,780 --> 01:30:42,860 It's not surprising, 1320 01:30:42,860 --> 01:30:45,900 when you consider it's home to around 60% of our planet's 1321 01:30:45,900 --> 01:30:47,300 most famous rainforest. 1322 01:30:49,540 --> 01:30:53,420 And one of its most important wetlands - 1323 01:30:53,420 --> 01:30:54,820 the Pantanal. 1324 01:30:57,900 --> 01:31:00,500 Less than 500 miles apart, 1325 01:31:00,500 --> 01:31:04,140 these vitally important ecosystems are intrinsically linked, 1326 01:31:04,140 --> 01:31:06,380 and both are under pressure. 1327 01:31:08,060 --> 01:31:11,460 Deforestation in the Amazon is having dramatic effects on 1328 01:31:11,460 --> 01:31:13,500 the Pantanal's weather systems. 1329 01:31:14,940 --> 01:31:17,620 And this unprecedented change is threatening 1330 01:31:17,620 --> 01:31:21,020 the stronghold of Brazil's apex predator. 1331 01:31:23,500 --> 01:31:27,940 The Pantanal is one huge, very beautiful swamp. 1332 01:31:29,980 --> 01:31:34,500 And it's home to one of the highest densities of jaguars on Earth. 1333 01:31:34,500 --> 01:31:36,380 But over the last 50 years, 1334 01:31:36,380 --> 01:31:40,180 it's seen an increasing number of cattle ranchers move in. 1335 01:31:40,180 --> 01:31:42,540 CATTLE BRAY 1336 01:31:53,500 --> 01:31:56,220 Roberto Klabin is one of many landowners working 1337 01:31:56,220 --> 01:31:59,260 with traditional ranchers in the Pantanal. 1338 01:31:59,260 --> 01:32:02,700 And he has noticed the ecosystem is changing. 1339 01:32:03,900 --> 01:32:06,540 The Pantanal is unique. 1340 01:32:06,540 --> 01:32:09,820 It's affected by rains that come from the Amazon. 1341 01:32:09,820 --> 01:32:14,060 The rains, the floods, they bring nutrients to the soil. 1342 01:32:14,060 --> 01:32:16,860 It's what gives life to this place here. 1343 01:32:18,940 --> 01:32:22,060 But we have been noticing that rains have been diminishing 1344 01:32:22,060 --> 01:32:25,780 in the Pantanal for the last years and this is something that 1345 01:32:25,780 --> 01:32:30,900 we have never experienced - such droughts as we are experiencing now. 1346 01:32:34,780 --> 01:32:38,140 The Amazon is the rainmaker of South America. 1347 01:32:39,940 --> 01:32:42,740 Altogether, the trees of the Amazon release 1348 01:32:42,740 --> 01:32:45,500 as much as 20 billion metric tonnes of water 1349 01:32:45,500 --> 01:32:48,140 into the atmosphere every single day. 1350 01:32:49,620 --> 01:32:52,820 But deforestation has inadvertently removed billions of tonnes 1351 01:32:52,820 --> 01:32:55,900 of water vapour from the atmosphere, 1352 01:32:55,900 --> 01:33:00,100 contributing to a 40% drop in rainfall in the Pantanal. 1353 01:33:01,980 --> 01:33:05,060 We are now worried about what's going on in the Amazon 1354 01:33:05,060 --> 01:33:07,420 because it controls everything here. 1355 01:33:07,420 --> 01:33:09,820 So if we have a change in the rains, 1356 01:33:09,820 --> 01:33:12,540 the Pantanal will disappear as we know it. Mm-hm. Yeah. 1357 01:33:14,380 --> 01:33:19,020 Since the 1990s, the Brazilian Pantanal has lost 1358 01:33:19,020 --> 01:33:21,860 74% of its surface water. 1359 01:33:21,860 --> 01:33:24,900 And the prediction is, that within 20 years, 1360 01:33:24,900 --> 01:33:28,180 large parts of it may have morphed into arid savannah. 1361 01:33:30,900 --> 01:33:33,260 Less rain, we have more fires. 1362 01:33:33,260 --> 01:33:36,500 You can see the results of recent fires here. 1363 01:33:37,620 --> 01:33:42,380 In 2020, wildfires destroyed 30% of the Pantanal 1364 01:33:42,380 --> 01:33:46,940 and are estimated to have killed in excess of 17 million animals. 1365 01:33:48,460 --> 01:33:50,940 More than a quarter of the Pantanal's jaguars 1366 01:33:50,940 --> 01:33:55,020 have been directly impacted by these recent fires - 1367 01:33:55,020 --> 01:33:57,620 through habitat loss and food shortages, 1368 01:33:57,620 --> 01:33:59,820 as well as injury and death. 1369 01:34:01,500 --> 01:34:05,780 Experts estimate that more than 3,000 jaguars live here, 1370 01:34:05,780 --> 01:34:10,180 a precious population that is under pressure and in decline. 1371 01:34:12,900 --> 01:34:17,140 How do we adapt to a place that is drier, hotter? 1372 01:34:17,140 --> 01:34:19,340 How do we keep the wildlife here? 1373 01:34:23,260 --> 01:34:26,900 Whilst Roberto can't single-handedly stop deforestation, 1374 01:34:26,900 --> 01:34:29,900 he has joined forces with a team of researchers 1375 01:34:29,900 --> 01:34:32,580 and come up with a plan to safeguard 1376 01:34:32,580 --> 01:34:36,420 the future of the jaguars against another threat - 1377 01:34:36,420 --> 01:34:39,180 persecution from cattle ranchers. 1378 01:34:42,260 --> 01:34:46,980 I had the idea of developing wildlife observation tourism 1379 01:34:46,980 --> 01:34:48,860 inside this ranch. 1380 01:34:48,860 --> 01:34:51,860 You can accommodate wildlife observation 1381 01:34:51,860 --> 01:34:53,740 and you can accommodate cattle. 1382 01:34:53,740 --> 01:34:55,740 There is space for everybody here. 1383 01:34:56,980 --> 01:34:59,780 Your vision is more about coexistence? 1384 01:34:59,780 --> 01:35:01,180 Yes, of course. 1385 01:35:07,020 --> 01:35:11,460 Central to the project is passionate biologist Lili Rampim, 1386 01:35:11,460 --> 01:35:15,660 who's been studying the jaguars here for almost ten years. 1387 01:35:15,660 --> 01:35:18,940 It's her team's mission to make this the best place 1388 01:35:18,940 --> 01:35:22,340 in the world to see these elusive big cats. 1389 01:35:23,940 --> 01:35:25,820 In this area for the past decade, 1390 01:35:25,820 --> 01:35:30,740 people have been forging a new relationship with the jaguar, 1391 01:35:30,740 --> 01:35:36,140 encouraging South America's biggest cat to emerge from the shadows. 1392 01:35:40,540 --> 01:35:44,860 So, what was a little ten-year-old Lilian dreaming about 1393 01:35:44,860 --> 01:35:46,580 doing with her life? 1394 01:35:47,580 --> 01:35:50,060 Animals. I just think about animals. 1395 01:35:50,060 --> 01:35:52,020 I just talk about animals. 1396 01:35:52,020 --> 01:35:55,820 I was... I was a very annoying child. 1397 01:35:57,260 --> 01:35:58,700 Lili and the team use using 1398 01:35:58,700 --> 01:36:02,140 a combination of camera traps and radio collars to track 1399 01:36:02,140 --> 01:36:04,820 and get closer to the jaguars here. 1400 01:36:06,980 --> 01:36:09,100 We can see their natural behaviour. 1401 01:36:09,100 --> 01:36:11,100 I thought I knew about jaguars' behaviour 1402 01:36:11,100 --> 01:36:14,340 and the thing is, I didn't know, and I still don't. 1403 01:36:14,340 --> 01:36:15,980 I keep learning every day. 1404 01:36:18,820 --> 01:36:23,980 People can come here and almost guarantee that they can see a jaguar 1405 01:36:23,980 --> 01:36:26,340 in the way that if you went to South Africa, 1406 01:36:26,340 --> 01:36:29,180 you could guarantee that you're going to see a lion or a leopard. 1407 01:36:29,180 --> 01:36:31,540 So we never guarantee 100%. 1408 01:36:31,540 --> 01:36:37,500 But 98.5% of the guests this year saw at least one jaguar. 1409 01:36:43,820 --> 01:36:46,780 Vultures there. Vultures in the trees and vultures overhead. 1410 01:36:46,780 --> 01:36:49,940 Yeah, probably, we'll have a carcass right here. 1411 01:36:49,940 --> 01:36:51,820 Anyone there, Mr Jaguar? 1412 01:37:02,540 --> 01:37:06,060 You can see that bite mark there. See, the ear was eaten already. 1413 01:37:06,060 --> 01:37:08,580 Oh, my God, so it's actually got the whole skull in its mouth. 1414 01:37:08,580 --> 01:37:10,620 The whole skull. That would've been a quick death. 1415 01:37:10,620 --> 01:37:12,220 For sure, for sure. 1416 01:37:14,260 --> 01:37:20,100 Jaguars kill up to 225 cows a year just on this one ranch. 1417 01:37:20,100 --> 01:37:25,260 Across the Pantanal, they have become the enemy of cattle ranchers. 1418 01:37:25,260 --> 01:37:29,100 But Lili and her team are working to change these attitudes. 1419 01:37:29,100 --> 01:37:31,900 So, in the past, if somebody found a cow or a calf 1420 01:37:31,900 --> 01:37:35,740 that had been killed by a jaguar, what would ranchers do? 1421 01:37:35,740 --> 01:37:39,180 They will kill the jaguar because every time that a jaguar 1422 01:37:39,180 --> 01:37:41,460 predates a cow, somebody is losing money. Mm-hm. 1423 01:37:41,460 --> 01:37:43,940 So we show that through ecotourism, 1424 01:37:43,940 --> 01:37:46,780 jaguars are much more valuable alive than dead. 1425 01:37:46,780 --> 01:37:50,660 The value of a cow, when you compare that to the value 1426 01:37:50,660 --> 01:37:53,860 of a foreign tourist coming in and spending hundreds, 1427 01:37:53,860 --> 01:37:56,220 thousands of dollars from that one, 1428 01:37:56,220 --> 01:37:58,780 say, that one jaguar in its lifetime, 1429 01:37:58,780 --> 01:38:01,300 how much revenue can come from that? 1430 01:38:01,300 --> 01:38:04,860 It's nine seats in one vehicle, so you do the maths. 1431 01:38:04,860 --> 01:38:06,980 You can tell them that they can't kill jaguars 1432 01:38:06,980 --> 01:38:08,500 because they're important, 1433 01:38:08,500 --> 01:38:10,660 because they're in the top of the food chain, they... 1434 01:38:10,660 --> 01:38:12,780 It'll be just, "Blah, blah, blah." 1435 01:38:12,780 --> 01:38:16,580 But once you are proving that, OK, by killing a cat, 1436 01:38:16,580 --> 01:38:19,660 you are losing money, they are changing their concept. 1437 01:38:19,660 --> 01:38:20,860 Mm-hm. 1438 01:38:24,580 --> 01:38:27,420 It's taken time, but the ranchers here are beginning to see 1439 01:38:27,420 --> 01:38:30,620 the benefits that ecotourism can bring to their families 1440 01:38:30,620 --> 01:38:32,700 through jobs and income. 1441 01:38:32,700 --> 01:38:35,140 They are coming round to the idea of working 1442 01:38:35,140 --> 01:38:39,580 and living alongside South America's apex predator. 1443 01:38:39,580 --> 01:38:43,220 How have you seen the relationship between people 1444 01:38:43,220 --> 01:38:46,780 and jaguars change over the years? 1445 01:38:46,780 --> 01:38:49,100 IN PORTUGUESE: 1446 01:39:09,820 --> 01:39:13,500 In other parts of the Pantanal, are jaguars still being persecuted? 1447 01:39:29,860 --> 01:39:35,460 I lived in Brazil for two years and only ever saw a glimpse of a jaguar. 1448 01:39:35,460 --> 01:39:38,740 I'm hoping with Lili, I'll have more luck. 1449 01:39:38,740 --> 01:39:41,140 She's picked up a signal from a radio collar 1450 01:39:41,140 --> 01:39:43,580 on one of the dominant males in this region. 1451 01:39:45,620 --> 01:39:50,220 So he's in this direction here, right. Let's try to find him. 1452 01:39:57,660 --> 01:39:59,580 So this jaguar's called Tupa? 1453 01:39:59,580 --> 01:40:02,460 Tupa. Tupa. Yeah, he is huge. 1454 01:40:04,300 --> 01:40:06,700 We've known him since 2016. 1455 01:40:06,700 --> 01:40:10,580 Already grown up and extremely confident. Really? 1456 01:40:10,580 --> 01:40:12,540 Even with the help of a collar, 1457 01:40:12,540 --> 01:40:16,620 it can still be difficult to find wild animals that are free to roam. 1458 01:40:17,700 --> 01:40:20,580 Cats is like us, they got their different moods, 1459 01:40:20,580 --> 01:40:22,980 so sometimes he just don't care about us, 1460 01:40:22,980 --> 01:40:24,500 sometimes he look at us like, 1461 01:40:24,500 --> 01:40:26,420 "OK, I don't want to talk with you today." 1462 01:40:26,420 --> 01:40:28,220 And the thing is, we respect, so, 1463 01:40:28,220 --> 01:40:30,940 that's the importance of reading their natural behaviour. 1464 01:40:30,940 --> 01:40:32,220 Onde esta? 1465 01:40:32,220 --> 01:40:34,980 Oh, yeah, there it is. Right there, right there, right there. 1466 01:40:34,980 --> 01:40:36,180 Oh, my goodness, look. 1467 01:40:40,580 --> 01:40:42,860 I do not believe that. LILI CHUCKLES 1468 01:40:45,460 --> 01:40:48,260 Oh, my God, that is so exciting. 1469 01:40:51,580 --> 01:40:53,020 He is huge, isn't he? 1470 01:40:53,020 --> 01:40:54,260 He's huge. 1471 01:40:54,260 --> 01:40:56,340 Last time that we captured him to put the collar, 1472 01:40:56,340 --> 01:40:59,620 he weighed about 123kg, 1473 01:40:59,620 --> 01:41:02,140 so it's a heavy cat. Wow. 1474 01:41:05,900 --> 01:41:08,940 This is a dream come true. 1475 01:41:11,140 --> 01:41:13,700 I would have been happy with a glimpse of a jaguar, 1476 01:41:13,700 --> 01:41:16,820 but to have such a magnificent 1477 01:41:16,820 --> 01:41:20,580 specimen to walk so close to us is, 1478 01:41:20,580 --> 01:41:23,060 yeah, is mind-blowing. 1479 01:41:23,060 --> 01:41:24,860 JAGUAR RUMBLES 1480 01:41:27,180 --> 01:41:29,900 I've had such a short amount of time here 1481 01:41:29,900 --> 01:41:32,740 and to see one of the biggest cats in the world 1482 01:41:32,740 --> 01:41:34,300 in front of us... Cool, right? 1483 01:41:34,300 --> 01:41:37,500 And the best thing about it is he's completely relaxed. Relaxed. 1484 01:41:38,900 --> 01:41:41,940 Getting this close to such a chilled-out jaguar 1485 01:41:41,940 --> 01:41:43,900 isn't normal in the wild, 1486 01:41:43,900 --> 01:41:47,020 but it's been achieved because Lili and her team 1487 01:41:47,020 --> 01:41:49,820 have been getting these jaguars used to the presence 1488 01:41:49,820 --> 01:41:51,340 of their safari jeeps. 1489 01:41:51,340 --> 01:41:55,740 The habituation process, it demands a lot of patience. 1490 01:41:55,740 --> 01:41:58,780 The hardest part is finding where the jaguars are. 1491 01:41:58,780 --> 01:42:00,700 Then you have the second stage, 1492 01:42:00,700 --> 01:42:04,820 which is trying to reach them very, very patiently. 1493 01:42:06,260 --> 01:42:09,260 So, in general, it takes one year of hard work, 1494 01:42:09,260 --> 01:42:11,660 and we keep reminding them that we are not a threat 1495 01:42:11,660 --> 01:42:13,100 and they don't need to run. 1496 01:42:14,300 --> 01:42:16,540 See the way that he's smelling, 1497 01:42:16,540 --> 01:42:19,180 one female that is around this area. 1498 01:42:19,180 --> 01:42:23,780 And her last cub, which is called Tori, just got independent, 1499 01:42:23,780 --> 01:42:26,900 which means that she's ready to become pregnant again, 1500 01:42:26,900 --> 01:42:29,820 which means that he might be looking for her to mate. 1501 01:42:31,340 --> 01:42:34,580 Tupa is well-known as the dominant male in this area. 1502 01:42:36,660 --> 01:42:40,500 I learn that he's mated with 15 different females here, 1503 01:42:40,500 --> 01:42:42,940 a sign of good genes. 1504 01:42:42,940 --> 01:42:45,940 But at around nine years old, 1505 01:42:45,940 --> 01:42:50,260 are Tupa's chances of siring another litter fading? 1506 01:42:50,260 --> 01:42:53,700 We'll be following his story over the coming years 1507 01:42:53,700 --> 01:42:58,740 to find out if he can continue his reign and father a new set of cubs. 1508 01:43:08,700 --> 01:43:11,980 How do you envisage the future for this place, 1509 01:43:11,980 --> 01:43:15,020 but also for jaguars across Brazil? 1510 01:43:16,260 --> 01:43:21,500 We are habituating jaguars because if nobody does nothing, 1511 01:43:21,500 --> 01:43:24,140 they will disappear, this is a fact. 1512 01:43:24,140 --> 01:43:27,060 We need to believe in the ecotourism, 1513 01:43:27,060 --> 01:43:29,660 that's the key, in my opinion. Yeah. 1514 01:43:29,660 --> 01:43:31,900 We already proved that it works here in Pantanal, 1515 01:43:31,900 --> 01:43:34,620 it will work in different parts of the world as well. Mm-hm. Yeah. 1516 01:43:50,620 --> 01:43:54,460 For me, there is something uncomfortable, unsettling, 1517 01:43:54,460 --> 01:43:57,260 about commodifying wild places. 1518 01:43:57,260 --> 01:43:59,940 We should want to protect them for their intrinsic value 1519 01:43:59,940 --> 01:44:03,380 because, morally, it's the right thing to do. 1520 01:44:03,380 --> 01:44:05,620 But this is not an ideal world, 1521 01:44:05,620 --> 01:44:09,580 so we have to find new ways, we have to have new visions, 1522 01:44:09,580 --> 01:44:11,540 we have to...there has to be game-changers. 1523 01:44:11,540 --> 01:44:13,740 And right here on the ground in the Pantanal, 1524 01:44:13,740 --> 01:44:15,820 you see the incredible work that they've done, 1525 01:44:15,820 --> 01:44:21,060 they've brought these animals out of the shadows for all to see. 1526 01:44:25,100 --> 01:44:29,380 After my time here, I feel really inspired. 1527 01:44:29,380 --> 01:44:32,900 Yes, things are tough for jaguars across Brazil, 1528 01:44:32,900 --> 01:44:37,700 but this project could really offer them a ray of hope 1529 01:44:37,700 --> 01:44:39,140 through this crucial time. 1530 01:44:55,620 --> 01:45:00,220 Almost 40 million people have made their home in California, 1531 01:45:00,220 --> 01:45:05,140 so you might not expect it to feel like much of a wilderness. 1532 01:45:05,140 --> 01:45:08,980 But there are outstanding wild places here, 1533 01:45:08,980 --> 01:45:13,060 and almost an acre of forest per person. 1534 01:45:13,060 --> 01:45:16,900 Home to an incredible display of species, 1535 01:45:16,900 --> 01:45:20,740 including the tallest living thing on Earth - 1536 01:45:20,740 --> 01:45:22,580 the giant redwoods. 1537 01:45:28,700 --> 01:45:32,180 But what was once a haven for wildlife 1538 01:45:32,180 --> 01:45:35,140 is becoming an arid deathtrap. 1539 01:45:40,300 --> 01:45:43,140 Wildfires have been ripping through California 1540 01:45:43,140 --> 01:45:45,860 with increasing intensity in recent years. 1541 01:45:45,860 --> 01:45:49,460 In 2020, a staggering four million acres burned. 1542 01:45:51,020 --> 01:45:55,100 Fuelled by the longest dry period in over a thousand years, 1543 01:45:55,100 --> 01:46:01,100 fires are burning hotter, faster and more intensely than ever before. 1544 01:46:01,100 --> 01:46:04,060 The impacts of these fires are devastating, 1545 01:46:04,060 --> 01:46:06,740 they're often lethal, they're felt throughout the state, 1546 01:46:06,740 --> 01:46:09,900 and the first casualty is always the wildlife. 1547 01:46:11,580 --> 01:46:15,540 Around the world, raging wildfires threaten the lives 1548 01:46:15,540 --> 01:46:17,060 of countless creatures. 1549 01:46:19,060 --> 01:46:23,420 The 2019 Australian bush fires alone killed or displaced 1550 01:46:23,420 --> 01:46:26,740 an estimated three billion animals. 1551 01:46:26,740 --> 01:46:30,420 With these infernos set to become 50% more common 1552 01:46:30,420 --> 01:46:32,300 by the end of the century, 1553 01:46:32,300 --> 01:46:37,180 it's only a matter of time before entire species are lost forever. 1554 01:46:41,820 --> 01:46:45,500 Here in California, there is a glimmer of hope. 1555 01:46:45,500 --> 01:46:49,940 I'm on my way to the headquarters of the Wildlife Disaster Network, 1556 01:46:49,940 --> 01:46:53,220 where a dedicated team of vets and volunteers 1557 01:46:53,220 --> 01:46:56,140 are rescuing the wildlife injured in fires. 1558 01:46:57,900 --> 01:47:00,700 The sheer scale of this crisis has forced them 1559 01:47:00,700 --> 01:47:03,100 to think on their feet and act fast. 1560 01:47:05,180 --> 01:47:08,020 Hello. Hey! Hi! How are you? I'm really well. 1561 01:47:08,020 --> 01:47:11,660 Vets Jamie and Eric set up the network in 2020. 1562 01:47:14,740 --> 01:47:16,580 The old adage was, you know, 1563 01:47:16,580 --> 01:47:18,060 wildlife will get out of the way. 1564 01:47:18,060 --> 01:47:20,260 And that may have been true years ago 1565 01:47:20,260 --> 01:47:22,620 when we had different types of fire. 1566 01:47:22,620 --> 01:47:24,260 But now with these mega-fires, 1567 01:47:24,260 --> 01:47:25,700 it's changing. 1568 01:47:25,700 --> 01:47:28,820 Now we're seeing areas that never had fires before 1569 01:47:28,820 --> 01:47:32,820 have these massive fires that are causing loss of life 1570 01:47:32,820 --> 01:47:34,620 for people and animals. 1571 01:47:34,620 --> 01:47:36,260 And it's... 1572 01:47:36,260 --> 01:47:38,300 It's a new reality. It's a new normal. 1573 01:47:42,700 --> 01:47:45,900 Many of the animals rescued from the flames 1574 01:47:45,900 --> 01:47:49,940 are critically injured or orphaned. 1575 01:47:49,940 --> 01:47:51,460 Often, they are both. 1576 01:47:52,940 --> 01:47:55,780 The team take the hardest hit to a rescue 1577 01:47:55,780 --> 01:47:59,700 and rehabilitation centre, founded by Sallysue Stein. 1578 01:48:01,820 --> 01:48:04,340 So, you'll see foxes and racoons. 1579 01:48:04,340 --> 01:48:08,260 And we have a baby bobcat, but he may not show his face. 1580 01:48:08,260 --> 01:48:11,300 LOW GROWLING 1581 01:48:11,300 --> 01:48:15,100 We took in about 3,700 animals in all of 2020 1582 01:48:15,100 --> 01:48:16,700 and that was a record for us. 1583 01:48:16,700 --> 01:48:20,060 We've already taken in over 4,700 this year. 1584 01:48:20,060 --> 01:48:21,660 Well, that's just crazy. 1585 01:48:21,660 --> 01:48:23,340 Yes, it is. That's overwhelming. 1586 01:48:23,340 --> 01:48:25,420 Yes. This is just a fraction of 1587 01:48:25,420 --> 01:48:29,060 the animals we know got hurt in these huge fires we had this year, 1588 01:48:29,060 --> 01:48:32,500 and it just breaks my heart to think of all the ones we aren't helping. 1589 01:48:35,940 --> 01:48:38,020 In this fire, we're only seeing cubs 1590 01:48:38,020 --> 01:48:40,460 and we think that the fire was so fast 1591 01:48:40,460 --> 01:48:45,380 and so hot that the cubs climbed up high, 1592 01:48:45,380 --> 01:48:47,500 but the big bears couldn't climb as high in the trees, 1593 01:48:47,500 --> 01:48:49,380 so the big bears didn't make it. 1594 01:48:49,380 --> 01:48:51,060 So that's another indication 1595 01:48:51,060 --> 01:48:53,260 that the fires are getting stronger and faster, 1596 01:48:53,260 --> 01:48:55,660 so much so that the bigger animals can't escape. Right. 1597 01:48:55,660 --> 01:48:58,620 And then the babies are left on their own hanging on 1598 01:48:58,620 --> 01:49:00,500 for dear life up a tree. Right, right. 1599 01:49:02,980 --> 01:49:08,460 So this is a bobcat we call Lava Bob. He's an adult bobcat. 1600 01:49:10,540 --> 01:49:15,460 Prolonged drought and a heatwave meant the Lava Fire of 2021 1601 01:49:15,460 --> 01:49:17,820 burned for more than two months, 1602 01:49:17,820 --> 01:49:20,660 consuming over 26,000 acres of forest. 1603 01:49:22,900 --> 01:49:26,460 When he came in, we didn't know at first if he was going to make it. 1604 01:49:26,460 --> 01:49:28,620 But you can see... I mean, he looks perfect. 1605 01:49:28,620 --> 01:49:30,820 He does. He's ready to go. He's ready to go? 1606 01:49:30,820 --> 01:49:33,740 When are you releasing him? I hope tomorrow. 1607 01:49:33,740 --> 01:49:35,420 Can I keep you company when you do it? 1608 01:49:35,420 --> 01:49:37,060 Yes, you can. You're invited. 1609 01:49:46,060 --> 01:49:48,340 In the clinic with Jamie and Eric, 1610 01:49:48,340 --> 01:49:51,580 today's patient is a fox they call Mr T. 1611 01:49:56,740 --> 01:49:59,700 When he came in, not only did he have those burn injuries 1612 01:49:59,700 --> 01:50:02,100 and he was skinny and dehydrated, 1613 01:50:02,100 --> 01:50:06,340 but he had basically singed all the fur and his whiskers 1614 01:50:06,340 --> 01:50:08,620 and his ears. 1615 01:50:10,900 --> 01:50:13,940 You've seen some pretty horrific stuff, haven't you? 1616 01:50:13,940 --> 01:50:15,420 Yeah, we've seen a lot. 1617 01:50:15,420 --> 01:50:18,340 I mean, we've seen animals with burns from, you know, 1618 01:50:18,340 --> 01:50:21,740 1% of their body all the way up to 40% of their body. 1619 01:50:26,660 --> 01:50:28,540 So this one's all healed. 1620 01:50:28,540 --> 01:50:31,700 He's got all this... All this hair is brand-new. New fur, yeah. 1621 01:50:34,820 --> 01:50:39,500 Little funding and scarce resources for their ever-growing patient list 1622 01:50:39,500 --> 01:50:43,900 are driving Jamie and Eric to pioneer innovative treatments, 1623 01:50:43,900 --> 01:50:46,340 like using fish skin for bandages. 1624 01:50:48,020 --> 01:50:51,780 When you eat fish, about 40% of that fish goes to waste, 1625 01:50:51,780 --> 01:50:53,940 and part of that waste is fish skin. 1626 01:50:53,940 --> 01:50:57,660 So you literally went to the local, what, fishmongers? 1627 01:50:57,660 --> 01:50:59,060 Yes. 1628 01:50:59,060 --> 01:51:03,260 What we found with this fish skin is it has collagen. 1629 01:51:03,260 --> 01:51:06,900 Collagen is a really important part of all of our skin, 1630 01:51:06,900 --> 01:51:09,940 and the collagen works like a little jungle gym. 1631 01:51:09,940 --> 01:51:11,500 It has a matrix. 1632 01:51:11,500 --> 01:51:13,780 And what happens is - is the cells will actually, 1633 01:51:13,780 --> 01:51:16,420 your epithelial cells will actually grab on to that matrix 1634 01:51:16,420 --> 01:51:20,020 and use it as sort of a jungle gym to move across the wound. 1635 01:51:21,820 --> 01:51:25,820 As the skin then heals underneath it, it'll eventually just fall off. 1636 01:51:25,820 --> 01:51:28,700 Amazing, amazing, it's a miracle bandage! 1637 01:51:28,700 --> 01:51:29,980 It really is. 1638 01:51:31,900 --> 01:51:35,140 Do you ever have moments where you just think it's too much? 1639 01:51:35,140 --> 01:51:36,780 Oh, sure. 1640 01:51:36,780 --> 01:51:39,860 When you're in a disaster or you're treating an animal, 1641 01:51:39,860 --> 01:51:43,020 you have to focus on your job. 1642 01:51:43,020 --> 01:51:44,900 Then you go home and you cry. 1643 01:51:44,900 --> 01:51:47,900 Because crying is a really good stress reliever. 1644 01:51:47,900 --> 01:51:49,540 Yeah. And be OK with that. 1645 01:51:52,020 --> 01:51:55,260 Aw, he's awake! Oh, hello, little guy. 1646 01:51:58,060 --> 01:51:59,300 You OK? 1647 01:51:59,300 --> 01:52:01,300 Has he got...? I'll get it. 1648 01:52:01,300 --> 01:52:02,660 I got it. 1649 01:52:02,660 --> 01:52:06,420 I am finding it really hard to get the words out 1650 01:52:06,420 --> 01:52:10,580 about how the people in there have affected me today. 1651 01:52:11,900 --> 01:52:14,380 You know, there's a lot of stuff going on on this planet 1652 01:52:14,380 --> 01:52:16,300 that makes you just despair at the human race. 1653 01:52:16,300 --> 01:52:18,460 And then you meet people like that and you're like, 1654 01:52:18,460 --> 01:52:21,060 "Where did you come from? Like, who, are you?" 1655 01:52:21,060 --> 01:52:24,500 Extraordinary. Absolutely mind-blowing, actually. 1656 01:52:37,100 --> 01:52:41,060 Sallysue, Jamie and Eric aim to return as many patients 1657 01:52:41,060 --> 01:52:43,380 to the wild as possible. 1658 01:52:43,380 --> 01:52:46,020 And after four whole months of rehab, 1659 01:52:46,020 --> 01:52:49,860 today, Lava Bob gets to roam free again. 1660 01:52:51,540 --> 01:52:54,860 Biologist Axel Hunnicutt joins the team for his release. 1661 01:52:57,460 --> 01:52:59,820 LOW GROWLING 1662 01:52:59,820 --> 01:53:01,500 He's good and wild. 1663 01:53:01,500 --> 01:53:03,380 He is. There's no question. 1664 01:53:03,380 --> 01:53:05,500 Yeah. He's ready. 1665 01:53:11,020 --> 01:53:13,820 Yes, you're cute, but it's time to go home, Bob. 1666 01:53:21,140 --> 01:53:22,980 LIGHT TAPPING 1667 01:53:22,980 --> 01:53:24,340 Aw, gosh. 1668 01:53:25,540 --> 01:53:27,060 CHUCKLING 1669 01:53:27,060 --> 01:53:29,780 That's so lovely to see him go back out there. Yeah. 1670 01:53:32,140 --> 01:53:35,780 When I first saw Lava Bob, I didn't know if he would survive. 1671 01:53:35,780 --> 01:53:39,220 He weighed 15lbs, and when we released him, he's over 40lbs. 1672 01:53:42,380 --> 01:53:45,340 So, how do we begin to solve this problem 1673 01:53:45,340 --> 01:53:48,460 so that this bobcat doesn't face another wildfire 1674 01:53:48,460 --> 01:53:51,660 of even fiercer intensity next year 1675 01:53:51,660 --> 01:53:53,980 and have to come back to Jamie and Eric? 1676 01:53:53,980 --> 01:53:55,420 Personal responsibility. 1677 01:53:55,420 --> 01:53:57,140 That's everything you do, 1678 01:53:57,140 --> 01:53:58,940 everything you buy has a consequence. 1679 01:53:58,940 --> 01:54:03,740 We're utilising a system that is only continuing 1680 01:54:03,740 --> 01:54:05,060 to promote climate change. 1681 01:54:07,380 --> 01:54:09,740 The animals, I feel, are the canary in the coal mine. 1682 01:54:09,740 --> 01:54:13,580 I mean, it's what the future is for humankind. 1683 01:54:13,580 --> 01:54:16,700 We can do things to make our world better. 1684 01:54:16,700 --> 01:54:19,660 And, you know, we may be one person, but we can do it. 1685 01:54:19,660 --> 01:54:21,860 You know, everyone can play their part. 1686 01:54:21,860 --> 01:54:24,940 I mean, I'm inspired, and I know you'll be inspiring lots of others, 1687 01:54:24,940 --> 01:54:26,980 you know, with your story, and we look forward 1688 01:54:26,980 --> 01:54:29,260 to continuing to tell your story. 1689 01:54:35,300 --> 01:54:37,500 So, the challenges ahead are huge, 1690 01:54:37,500 --> 01:54:40,980 but what's clear from talking to these amazing humans is 1691 01:54:40,980 --> 01:54:44,260 that we have everything at our fingertips to fix this, 1692 01:54:44,260 --> 01:54:46,700 and the most important thing, I think, 1693 01:54:46,700 --> 01:54:48,980 is to reconnect with nature first 1694 01:54:48,980 --> 01:54:52,300 and to learn how to prioritise it above all else, 1695 01:54:52,300 --> 01:54:55,100 above all the things we seem to think are more important 1696 01:54:55,100 --> 01:54:56,620 in the way we live our lives. 1697 01:55:03,940 --> 01:55:06,580 The projects we've witnessed are a snapshot of 1698 01:55:06,580 --> 01:55:10,260 the extraordinary network of conservation efforts 1699 01:55:10,260 --> 01:55:12,460 happening all across the world. 1700 01:55:14,140 --> 01:55:17,780 As year one of our seven-year project draws to a close, 1701 01:55:17,780 --> 01:55:21,220 we'll be keeping up with the inspiring people we've met, 1702 01:55:21,220 --> 01:55:25,460 and monitoring how the bellwethers of the natural world adapt 1703 01:55:25,460 --> 01:55:30,020 to the immense challenges that lie ahead for Our Changing Planet. 143976

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