The Plight of the Humble Bee

Bees pollinate three quarters of the world's crops. Industrial agriculture relies on industrial scale pollination by millions of bees. Yet in several parts of the world, these bee populations are being decimated by disease. Scientists are relying on diversified honey bee populations to combat this looming disaster. Earth Report travels to New Zealand to investigate. 'The Plight of the Humble Bee' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT+1):

Friday 11th April - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 14th April, 15:30 on Tuesday 15th April, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 16th April.

Is Green the New Black?

On the catwalks of the world, eco-fashion is all the rage. Organic cotton and recycled clothing are part of a new green lifestyle. But is this a niche market for the wealthy and environmentally-conscious or can green fashion break into the mass market clothing industry?Earth Report investigates. 'Is Green the New Black?' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 4th April - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 7th April, 15:30 on Tuesday 8th April, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 9th April.

Climate Fever

According the UN, climate change currently contributes to an increasing global burden of ill health and premature death. A hallmark study by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health charted the relationship between temperature and childhood diarrhoea. Elsewhere patterns of disease and ill health are changing. Earth Report investigates the impact of climate change on health. 'Climate Fever' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 28th March - 20:30, with repeats at 09:30 on Monday 31st March, 15:30 on Tuesday 1st April, and 01:30 and 07:30 on Wednesday 2nd April.

Clean Living Part 2

Earth Report looks for the loo in Ethiopia. The Government wants to give everyone a toilet in a country where only a third of its 77 million people have access to sanitation. From rubbish tips in the centre of Addis to rural orchards across the Rift Valley, Earth Report discovers whether the Government’s universal access plan is working. 'Clean Living Part 2' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 21st March - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 24th March, 15:30 on Tuesday 25th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 26th.

Clean Living

Forty per cent of the world’s population are without access to a latrine or toilet. In the International Year of Sanitation, Earth Report travels to Bangladesh to discover changing attitudes to hygiene. No more ‘open defecation’: instead of top-down solutions, a new community-led approach has eradicated open defecation in more than 300 villages. Earth Report investigates.

'Clean Living' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 14th March - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 17th March, 15:30 on Tuesday 18th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 19th.

Grounds for Hope

Since the 1990s, agriculture, pollution and poor land management have been taking a severe toll on the river system on the Mexico /Guatemala border. A major culprit is the region's economically-important coffee growing industry. But recently there have been big changes in the way much of this coffee is grown, changes driven by the coffee industry itself. Global demand for certified and organically grown coffee is booming – and producing a dividend for river systems in an area that currently produces half the world’s coffee. Earth Report investigates.

'Grounds for Hope' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 7th March - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 10th March, 15:30 on Tuesday 11th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 12th.

The Shadow of Kilimanjaro

More and more people rely on the waters of Tanzania’s Pangani River basin. It’s meant to produce power, feed people and provide drinking water. But it has too little water to do all that. The glaciers of Kilimanjaro that for years have helped feed the river are melting. Can the situation be turned around to avoid conflict? Earth Report investigates. 'The Shadow of Kilimanjaro' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 29th February - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 3rd March, 15:30 on Tuesday 4th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 5th.

Doomsday Vault

The Norwegian government is building an underground vault to guard against a major catastrophe - nuclear war, asteroid strikes or severe climate change. It’s a seed bank on a wild Arctic island 500 miles from the North Pole: a store for all the known varieties of the world’s crops - just in case. Earth Report investigates. 'Doomsday Vault' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 22nd February - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 25th, 15:30 on Tuesday 26th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 27th.

Forgotten Fruit

A handful of high-yielding crops feed the world’s ever-increasing population. Have we become too reliant on wheat, maize and rice? What happens when diseases attack them? Can we develop new disease-resistant strains? Or have we lost too many plants, neglecting age-old fruit, vegetable and cereal varieties that could provide the answers? Earth Report investigates. 'Forgotten Fruit' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 15th February - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 18th, 15:30 on Tuesday 19th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 20th.

The Ivory Poaching Wars

More than 60 per cent of the world’s elephants were killed by poachers in the 1970s and 80s. Since then an international ban on the ivory trade has helped herds recover. But new evidence is emerging that poaching is again on the rise. Now investigators are using a new DNA technique to identify the killing fields. Earth Report follows the trail from Africa to the US and Japan. 'The Ivory Poaching Wars' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT:
Friday 8th February - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 11th, 15:30 on Tuesday 12th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 13th.

Green Fish

With scientists warning that fish stocks could collapse by 2048, Earth Report goes to the Netherlands to find out how supermarkets and top-brand retailers are demanding fish from sustainable sources. It’s putting pressure on commercial fishing fleets to introduce nets that catch fewer immature fish – and so reduce one of the main threats to stocks. 'Green Fish' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 1st February - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 4th, 15:30 on Tuesday 5th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 6th.

Waste not Waste

Every flush of the toilet sends 27 litres of precious drinking water down the drain. Scientists are urgently seeking less wasteful sanitation techniques. Earth Report visits Morocco and Tunisia where water is scarce and human waste management a top priority. In Germany waterless urinals and dry toilets are being developed. The Dutch have invented a device that fills compost bags with human waste, right there in your toilet. 'Waste not Waste' is broadcast on BBC World at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 25th Jan - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday 28th, 15:30 on Tuesday 29th, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday 30th.

Gas Gas Gas

China’s frantic development depends on escalating electricity generation, at great cost to the environment. But in the remote south-western province of Guangxi the application of simple technology allows millions of poor families to cook and keep warm with biogas made from human and animal waste. Over 13 millions tonnes of firewood and nearly 8 million tonnes of coal are saved every year. 'Gas Gas Gas' is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 18th Jan - 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday, 15:30 on Tuesday, and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday.

Race to save the Albatross

In the last few decades the Albatross has come under threat of extinction. Traditionally a symbol of good luck for the mariner, the mariner is fast becoming a symbol of bad luck for the albatross. Long-line fishing techniques drown birds as they dive for baited hooks. Earth Report investigates if there is still time to reverse the trend using new fishing methods to save this majestic, iconic bird.

'Race to Save the Albatross' is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 16 June at 10.30, Sunday 17 June at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

Back from the Brink?

The Aral Sea is notoriously regarded as the world's worst man-made environmental disaster. This vast inland sea has halved in depth and lost 90 per cent of its volume. Fishing ports are now 50 kilometres from the sea and ships lie stranded in the salty desert. With World Bank help, the Kazakh government has built a massive 12 kilometre dam to re-flood one part of the sea - but abandon the rest.

Back from the Brink? is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 9 June at 10.30, Sunday 10 June at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

Arctic Blues

Half the Arctic summer ice may have melted by the end of the century. The upside - access to a quarter of the world's oil and gas resources. The downside - the neighbouring countries, Denmark, Russia, Canada, Norway and the United States - are all vying to share the bounty. From the scientific research schooner "Tara", Earth Report asks how much this geopolitical scramble will further damage the Arctic.

Arctic Blues is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 2 June at 10.30, Sunday 3 June at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

The Sea That Nearly Died

The ecological collapse of the Black Sea has cost billions of dollars. Fisheries and tourism alone have lost $500 million a year. Ten years ago, Earth Report found that beyond this catastrophe there was a glimmer of hope. Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia signed up the Bucharest Convention, in an international effort to bring the Black Sea back to life. One decade on, Earth Report returns to assess progress.

The Sea That Nearly Died is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 26 May at 10.30, Sunday 27 May at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

Blast!

In the Philippines fishermen kill their catch with explosives - and Jojo de la Victoria was shot dead for trying to stop them. The Visayan Sea has lost almost 90% of its coral and much of its marine life to over-fishing, blast fishing and cyanide poisoning. Jojo's killer was caught and the blast fishermen have taken a new and surprising tack. Earth Report investigates.

Blast is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 19 May at 10.30, Sunday 20 May at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

Billion Dollar Bonfire

Some 150 billion cubic metres of gas is burnt off or 'flared' every year - before it even leaves the gas fields. That's US$20 billion worth - enough to supply the whole of the United States for three months. Flaring sends 350 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - more than cancelling out the proposed annual reductions under Kyoto. Earth Report examines possible solutions in Russia and Nigeria.

Billion Dollar Bonfire is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 12 May at 10.30, Sunday 13 May at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

Payback Time

Householders installing wind turbines and solar panels must wait many years for a pay-back on their investment. So it's an ethical not an economic choice. Now Germany is buying back spare clean energy from customers at four times the price it charges them for conventionally generated electricity. Demand for renewable energy systems is up, installation costs down. Forty countries now follow the German lead. But some countries like the UK use a quota system which critics argue is inadequate. Earth Report investigates.

Pay-Back Time is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 5 May at 10.30, Sunday 6 May at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

Sink or Swim

There is a dramatic increase in the frequency and magnitude of disasters caused by extreme weather. Even average weather no longer follows predictable patterns. Earth Report visits Vietnam and Honduras to find out how communities are working with disaster managers to improve the natural defences against disasters.

Sink or Swim is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 28 April at 10.30, Sunday 29 April at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific).

All of a Quiver

How will plants and animals survive climate change? Earth Report travels to Southern Africa to see proof of nature already changing, with the succulent Quiver Tree in the Karoo already under stress, and asks how we can help the natural world adapt to climate change.

All of a Quiver is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 21 April at 10.30, Sunday 22 April at 03.30, 14.30, 21.30.

Adopt, Adapt and Survive

Many East Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Earth Report travels to the equatorial region of East Africa, and shows how adopting new drought tolerant crops and returning to traditional multi-crop farming methods promise the best chance of withstanding the changing climate.

Adopt, Adapt and Survive is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times quoted are for UK timezone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 14 April at 10.30, Sunday 15 April at 03.30, 14.30, 21.30.

A Tale of Two Cities

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." Earth Report uses Dickens' opening to 'A Tale of Two Cities' to compare London and Beijing. Both cities will host the Olympics, both trying to move to a sustainable future.

'A Tale of Two Cities' is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times GMT):

Saturday 9th December at 21.30 GMT Repeated: Sunday 10th December at 11.30 and Monday 11th December at 02.30 GMT (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia)

Timber Futures

Could the market place be the salvation for the world's forests? The debate over saving natural forests has been raging for 30 years, yet each year an area of forest the size of Panama is lost. Earth Report travels to Indonesia and the UK to track the coming together of buyers and sellers of timber in a new market place. The seller sells only certified replaceable timber – and that's only what the retailer will take.

'Timber Futures' is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times GMT):

Saturday 2nd December at 21.30 GMT Repeated: Sunday 3rd December at 11.30 and Monday 4th December at 02.30 GMT (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia)

Potted Shrimps

For every kilo of shrimp netted, up to 20 kilos of other marine animals are needlessly killed – not only harming marine creatures but also damaging commercial fisheries. That makes shrimp trawling one of the most wasteful methods of fishing. Earth Report travels to Mexico and the Philippines where the industry is using new techniques to dramatically reduce waste.

'Potted Shrimps' is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times GMT):

Saturday 25 November at 21.30, Sunday 26 November at 11.30, and Monday 27 November 02.30 (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia).

Disaster Class

Disasters may be unavoidable but a little bit of knowledge can reduce their impact dramatically. Earth Report visits three disaster prone countries to look at how simple awareness can make the difference between life and death.

'Disaster Class' is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times GMT):

Saturday 18 November at 21.30, Sunday 19 November at 11.30, and Monday 20 November 02.30 (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia).

Eden Reborn

For 5,000 years the Marsh Arabs lived in the mythical 'Garden of Eden' in the marshes of southern Iraq. Saddam decimated the marshes in the early 90s. Tens of thousands died; over 300,000 people fled into exile. With Saddam toppled the waters are returning. Earth Report discovers if 'Eden' will ever be the same again?

Eden Reborn is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times GMT):

Saturday 4 November at 21.30, Sunday 5 November at 1130, and Monday 6 November 02:30 (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia). Please check BBC World for further details.

After the Wave

In the wake of the Asian Tsunami, Earth Report travels to three of the worst affected countries to examine the recovery process. With so much funding flowing in to the region, are these countries re-building better than before or are they making the same old mistakes?


After the Wave is broadcast on BBC World at the following days and times (all times GMT): Saturday 28 October at 08:30, 13:30 (not Europe), 20:30, Sunday 29th at 1130, and Monday 02:30 (Not Asia Pacific or Southern Africa). Please check BBC World for further details

Cold Coral Deep

Less is known about the floor of the 'Cold Coral Deep' is broadcast on BBC World (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT +1 hour):

Saturday 23 June at 10.30, Sunday 24 June at 03.30 (not Asia Pacific or South Asia), 14.30, 21.30 (not Asia Pacific). Please check BBC World for further details.

Earth Report returns 21 October 2006

A new series of Earth Report starts on 21 October. More details coming soon.

FATE OF THE OCEANS - PART 1 - PLUNDERING THE OCEANS

In Fate of the Oceans, Earth Report travels to over a dozen locations to report on the state of global fisheries. The first installment delivers a story that should ring alarm bells throughout the world.

Development with Destruction

The critics of a new US military base on Okinawa - Japan's 160 island sub-tropical archipelago - say it threatens coral reefs and a dwindling dugong population. The Base at Henoko has been ten years in the planning, and both the military and the authorities of Japan's southern most Prefecture, say environmental impact studies show it will cause minimal disturbance. This is not a straightforward case of governments being heavy-handed. Most people in Okinawa want the air base in densely populated Futenma closed. A notorious rape by a US solider and a recent helicopter crash has reinvigorated the protest. Some Okinawans question the need for another base when a staggering one fifth of the island is already occupied by 38 facilities.

Hands On - Shed Loads

They've been called nature's water towers. They are the planet's watersheds - the vegetated slopes of the catchment areas of the river basins. Countries spend billions of dollars every year conserving and cleansing water - but watersheds do it for nothing. Worse, when trees and other forms of vegetation cover are recklessly removed, as countries such as China have discovered, the cost can be counted in the lives of the people who perish in flooding and mudslides. This week Earth Report scours the world to find places where good business sense prevails - as far apart as India and New York State we find markets are being created to reward communities for conserving nature's 'taps'.

Remaking Shangri-La

British writer, James Hilton, while trekking in the mountains of Pakistan in 1931, was so taken by the scenery that he coined a term for an earthly paradise, calling it 'Shangri-La'. Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic influences that passed along major arteries of the Silk Road produced a unique cultural legacy at this confluence of three great mountain ranges. For the people who live in the kingdoms of the Northern Areas, it is hardly a 'Shangri-La'. The built and natural patrimony have both suffered. But in this remote area, unnoticed by a global media fixated on terror and extremism, a cultural and environmental revival is underway.

Hands On - Health Matters

If you are rich the chances of you dying of a controllable disease like malaria are miniscule. People die sooner and suffer more when they are poor. In the rich world it is our lifestyle that is the main killer. Often it is a question of choice - junk food, smoking and lack of exercise will kill you. That's our choice. In the poor world killer diseases still stalk and the billions who earn less that a few dollars a day don't have a choice. In Hands On this week we report on cost effective developments that can give the poor chances to suffer less and reduce the risk of dying of a controllable disease such as malaria.

Gross National Happiness

GNP is how most countries measure their wealth. At a time when making poverty history is all the rage, the government of the Himalayan mountain kingdom of Bhutan has other social indicators to measure 'wealth'. Wellbeing is chief among them, and included in that is affirmative action to keep people in the villages where Bhutanese culture has its roots. But cheap goods imported from neighbouring India are undermining local production and the government is contemplating joining the WTO. Can Bhutan maintain its traditional culture while benefiting from trade liberalisation?

Hands On - Energy Matters

With the Pacific Rim countries agreeing that they have to cooperated to develop new energy efficient technologies, Energy Matters is especially timely. Earth Report's Hands On team reports on five stories from Asia, Africa and Central America where green energy is yielding environmental and commercial benefits. As with all Hands Ons an on screen information service guides would be entrepreneurs to an information tool kit.

Hands On - Green Beginnings

Over a third of the world's food is grown in the gardens and plots within the town boundary. As agriculture gets bigger and more mechanised we grow fewer varieties. Its here in the garden where we can do our bit to promote diversity...not only in varieties grown but in taste. "Feed the world and nurture the earth...this is what we can all do if we are lucky enough to have a plot to grow food that tastes of something", says Bodyshop founder Anita Roddick.

Hands On E-Frontiers

Hands On travels the developing world to see how readily-accessible, modern communications have the potential to enable the global south to close the digital divide with the north.

Hands On - Africa Works

This edition of Hands On travels the length and breadth of Africa to show a side of the continent which is seldom seen in TV and newspaper coverage: one bursting with social entrepreneurs, creativity and invention.

Among the Hotspots

Africa has become a byword for poverty and conflict and the graveyard for well meaning development projects. But its also known for its spectacular and diverse animal and plant life. This great 'living' resource is vanishing just as fast as Africa's human cargo of desperately poor people is increasing. On this continent, poverty threatens nature every bit as much as wealth. In this week's Earth Report we visit two hotspots for wildlife diversity - the Republic of Congo and Kenya, to find out why this natural wealth is being destroyed. But we also see how even the most disadvantaged communities can develop the means to make wildlife pay its way.

Darfur - Earth, Wind and Fire

Darfur, in Western Sudan, is gripped by human tragedy. Over the past two years 180,000 people have died. Every month another 15,000 perish. More than two million have fled their homes. This Sudanese province is caught in a complex tangle of civil war and dwindling resources. The creeping desert has fanned the flames of conflict between nomads and farmers over land and water. The dry season is drawing to a close and it will soon be time for planting. Farmers come back to check the land they left behind. But they risk attacks from roving militias. Despite heavy restrictions on international media access, Earth Report has filmed inside Sudan to investigate the environmental roots to Darfur's humanitarian crisis.

Keep it in the Family

In Senegal, West Africa, imported rice from Asia is unloaded at Dakar docks. The port, one of the biggest in West Africa, receives over a million tonnes of imported rice every year. At first glance it’s a benign image - cheap food to feed hungry people. But just 200 kilometres to the north, locally grown rice is proving difficult to sell - despite the fact that it costs the same. Local livelihoods are at risk. Awa Faly Ba works for the International Institute for Environment and Development, a non profit organisation which promotes sustainable development. So why are local farmers struggling to compete? Some modernizers blame small scale family farms for being resistant to change but others argue that small farms can be extremely successful. In this episode of Earth Report we join Awa on a journey throughout rural Senegal to visit some of the country's 440,000 small farms. As the government puts its finishing touches to the new agricultural policy Awa makes the case for investing in the African farmer and keeping it in the family.

Death on the Nile

People living in Egypt's Nile Delta are getting sick. Everyone is convinced dirty water is the cause. Dr Nadia El-Awady, was born in America but trained as a medical doctor in Egypt. Laying aside her calling, and her US citizenship, she's now a UN award-winning investigative journalist on health and environmental issues, at IslamOnLine. To start Earth Report's month long coverage of Africa, we join Dr El Awady's investigation to find whoever is responsible for threatening the health of those living in Eygpt's Nile Delta.

Little Geek

In this week's Earth Report we hitch a ride into the abyss to find a world that we know almost nothing about. Kilometres below the ocean surface there may be as many as five million species as yet unknown to science. And the way to find them is with an ROV or Remotely Operated Vehicle.

Last Pockets of Paradise

The Mediterranean is the meeting place of three continents and a hotspot of natural and cultural diversity. In last week's programme Concrete Coasts, we saw how in just a few decades, a ring high rise apartments and hotels extending from Southern Spain to the heel of Italy is annihilating nature and the vestiges of ancient civilisations. In this week's Earth Report we visit the last pockets of Mediterranean paradise and report on what's being done to keep them that way.

Concrete Coasts

150 million people live within 20 kilometres of the shores of the Mediterranean. Incredibly each summer that population almost doubles as swarms of sun-seeking tourists from Northern Europe, occupy millions of hotel rooms. It's a cruel irony, because what they come to enjoy is being destroyed. After more than a quarter of a century of international treaties and plans to save the Med, the battle is on to stop the last pieces of untouched coastline, being covered in concrete.

A Gift From the Earth

Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a devastating, disfiguring disease which makes life a misery for hundreds of millions of people throughout the tropics. It is caused by a tiny parasitic worm that can live inside the human body for up to 14 years. Even those who escape the disease themselves, don't escape the suffering. Usually they are children and they often have to act as guides for those who have been blinded. But scientists have discovered cures for many terrible illnesses - often in the most unlikely places. The story of the battle to find a cure for river blindness is no exception.

Four of a Kind - Part 2

In part one of Four of a Kind, Earth Report featured a scientist and a social entrepreneur. What they have in common is recognition by the Sasakawa Prize.

Previous laureates include Chico Mendes, the Brazilian rubber tapper assassinated for opposing those who were intent on clearing the rainforest; Maurice Strong, architect of the first two earth summits, and Jacques Cousteau for his tireless work to save life in the oceans.

In part two, Earth Report catches up with two more single-minded individuals to find out how they have been making a difference.

Four of a Kind - Part 1

In a two-part programme Earth Report features individuals who have been awarded one of the most prestigious environmental prizes in recognition of their outstanding contributions toward safeguarding the environment. Without their work and commitment, an ailing planet would be in a far worse condition.

Middle-earth Report 3

Changing the Future

The epic film triology The Lord of the Rings revealed the equally epic wilderness of New Zealand to cinema-goers worldwide.

While New Zealand's wild places are a big draw for both New Zealanders and a growing number of visitors, most of the people in this small country actually live in cities.

In this final instalment of the Middle-earth trilogy, we focus on New Zealand's urban and industrial challenges.

Dakar Dialogues –

The Earth Report Debate

If there's a threat from a new contagious disease - SARs, Bird Flu, Ebola - it makes the world's headlines. What doesn't make the headlines are the six thousand children who die every day from preventable illnesses caused by dirty water and poor sanitation. That's the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every hour on the hour.

The international community is still committed to cutting by half the number of people without proper sanitation, and there's only ten years left to reach the target.

In preparation for the New York Commission on Sustainable Development, ministers and experts from the world over descended on Dakar, capital of Senegal.

Pipe Dreams

For most people, living without access to a safe, clean toilet is unthinkable. Or is it? For nearly two and a half billion, almost half of us, it's a daily reality. It has a profound impact on health. The spread of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, kill more than 2.2 million people every year – most of them children. It also in turn affects education and development.

The picture may look bleak, but in some places there are signs of hope. Around the world people are spreading simple hygiene messages and creating their own safe sanitation systems, without having to spend millions of dollars.

Earth Report travels to Senegal, Uganda and India to see what communities are doing to clean up their act. We meet people whose vision of a world with clean water and sanitation for all is more than just a ‘pipe dream’.

Aliens in the Field

Genetic modification is a new frontier in science, giving us the power to reconstruct the building blocks of life itself.

But when it comes to food, do genetically modified crops offer the hope of a new Green Revolution? Or are they poised to contaminate our environment and make farmers dependent on agri-business bent on maximising profits? Do the risks outweigh the benefits ? And who decides?

India's farmers have been attracted by claims of higher yields, while Zambia refused desperately needed food aid because it was GM. Argentina on the other hand, has enthusiastically embraced GM crops, sowing half of its land with GM Soya. Earth Report went to these three countries to find out how genetically modified crops are changing the world.

SOS - Save Our Sushi

Starting this week Earth Report will be broadcast on Saturdays at the following times (GMT): 01.30, 08.30, 13.30, 20.30


Three quarters of all the world's fisheries are in serious trouble. The Western and Central Pacific is one of the few that's still in a healthy state. It's coveted by wealthy fishing nations and they're building bigger and ever more sophisticated vessels to tap its riches.

The tiny island states of the region are at risk of losing their most valuable resource. This week, Earth Report goes to the Pacific to find out if a new fisheries agreement can achieve a breakthrough - and conserve a great fishery.

The Eco-Economy Part 2

In over 300 programmes Earth Report viewers have witnessed how our global economy is being undermined by the unravelling of the web of life. For over four years 2000 scientists have been reviewing all the essential services that ecosystems give us - which we humans too often take for granted.

In Part One, Earth Report looked at areas where the needs of economic development appeared to be on a collision course with protecting ecosystems.

In this second episode we travel to Trinidad, Sweden and Cameroon. We see how positive government policy is fundamental to ensure natural support systems are maintained. We examine areas where saving the environment can go hand in hand with saving money.

The Eco-Economy Part 1

The next two episodes of Earth Report travel the world to join field workers taking part in one of the biggest investigations ever made into the state of the world's environment.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has taken four years and involves 2000 leading scientists. A key finding is the complexity of the trade-off between economic development and preserving our environment. Many believe we can only achieve one at the expense of the other.

In this first episode we visit Brazil, India and Peru. We find areas where the economy is destroying its natural support systems. But we also discover saving the environment can go hand in hand with saving money.

Middle Earth Report - Growing Things

The Oscar-winning Lord Of The Rings was a showcase for New Zealand's stunning scenery - from mountains and wilderness to the pastoral landscapes which provided the location for the Hobbit's home shire - Hobbiton.

In reality, farming is just as vital to New Zealand's wealth, as it is to the fictional shire.

Earth Report goes behind New Zealand's clean, green 'Middle-earth' image, to find out how farming is affecting the country's environment.

Middle Earth Report - Caring for the Woods

Filming the cinematic epic The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand has given the country and its incredible landscapes, huge international exposure. New Zealand's forests gave virtuoso performances as the woods of Middle-earth. Lothlorien, the Golden Wood of the Elves, was played by a native beech forest.

Like the woods of Middle-earth, the forests of New Zealand are not immune from destructive forces. The trees are under attack from a predator just as voracious as Saruman's orcs.

But is it really as Treebeard prophesised - does anyone care for the woods anymore? Earth Report finds out.

Hands On - A Switch in Time

Across Asia, development is happening at breakneck speed. Yet over a billion people still have no access to electricity. Most of them are the rural poor, who live far from the mains electricity grid. Lack of power places tight limits on education and on livelihoods. Off-grid solutions are an ideal way to bring electricity to the Asia's poorest communities. But making it happen needs the collaboration of many partners. The Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy Programme, or ASTAE, was set up by the World Bank in 1992 to promote alternative energy schemes. A Switch in Time profiles five of these projects that show how renewable energy can beat poverty.

Before the Tsunami - Part 2

According to the UN, between 1980 and 2000, 75 percent of the world's population lived in areas that were affected at least once by earthquakes, cyclones, floods or drought. But as each new disaster takes its toll, what are the lessons that can be learnt? In this episode, Earth Report travels to Kobe in Japan, to Bam in Iran and to the Swiss Alps, to see how communities are planning for the next natural disaster.

Before the Tsunami - Part 1

The scale of the death and destruction wrought by the Tsunami in Asia has shocked the world. Few disasters of this magnitude have ever been recorded. Though earthquakes are difficult to predict, questions are being asked. How many lives could have been saved if people had been more aware and better prepared? In the next two Earth Reports we go on a journey to the world's disaster hotspots. We assess what is being learned from the natural disasters that affect the lives of some 200 million people every year. And we find that even in the poorest nations, the loss of life and damage can often be reduced by modest investment in early warnings and public education.

Hands On - High Tide

Around the world 200 million people depend on fish, directly or indirectly, for food and employment. But by one estimate, 70 percent of world fish stocks are now in urgent need management to ensure their longterm survival. Ocean ecologies are particularly vulnerable because they're easily exploited, and the damage is not immediately visible. This month's Hands On goes beneath the waves in search of the solutions to the global fisheries crisis: a fishy delicacy in Armenia; farming Lungfish in Nigeria, and seaweed in Brazil; breeding the African tilapia fish for conditions in the Philippines; fish farming in the rice paddies of Bangladesh and a volunteer marine research programme in the Mediterannean.

Fisherman's Blues

The Sao Francisco River stretches three thousand kilometres through Brazil. Only the Amazon River is longer. The river has provided a living for countless fishing communities along its banks. But breakneck change - mainly dam building and industrial development - is affecting the health of the river. In this week's Earth Report we go on a journey down the Sao Francisco to a place where it joins another great waterway - the Rio das Velhas. We assess the prospects for the survival of this inland fishery and for a traditional way of life.

Is Small Still Beautiful?

Since Independence India has sought to industrialise. Initially this was along the lines of a centrally-planned economy, but now its government appears to have abandoned protectionist policies and opted for free trade. There are many at all levels of Indian society who resent their country embracing the Western model of economic development. In the firing line are the 'tribals' who have never been part of the caste system. Their age-old way of life is vanishing fast as the authorities seek to 'consolidate' smallholdings and remove them from the dwindling jungle. Officials tell Earth Report it's part of the process of modernisation and they will be properly compensated. The tribals tell Earth Report their basic human rights are being trampled on.

Hands On - Green Currents

Hands On investigates high and low tech ways to purify water.

Slum at the Summit

The high Andes must be one of the most inhospitable places on earth. There's precious little oxygen, and the temperature never rises much above freezing. So why is there a town in this unlikely spot?

Robbing Pedro to Pay Paul

In 1994 trade barriers were lifted between Mexico, the USA and Canada in a deal called the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA. 10 years on, Earth Report goes to Mexico to find out how the country - and its environment - has faired under the agreement. US maize, grown with huge government subsidies has flooded into Mexico, undercutting the price of local produce. Mexican consumers may be happy with a lower price of corn, but the country's unsubsidised farmers simply can't compete. The future looks bleak for Mexico's small-scale farmers, or campesinos and - for the huge variety of maize varieties they grow. NAFTA has also opened the door to genetically modified maize varieties. Taken together, these two factors may pose a threat to indigenous maize varieties, both wild and domesticated, that are essential to the maintenance of world corn production.

Hands On - Making the Connection

The Information Technology revolution risks leaving large swathes of the world out of the communications loop. But, as this edition of Hands On finds out, there are plenty of ways to bridge the 'Digital Divide'. In Karnataka India, the state government is computerising the land records which used to be controlled by local officials, many of whom were corrupt. The system now helps farmers to gain faster access to secure and unadulterated legal records about their land. In Sierra Leone, a country emerging from the strife of civil war, two projects are promoting information, education and much needed social cohesion through radio. One encourages take up of do-it-yourself solar-powered radios, and another has helped establish a radio station. Meanwhile in South Africa a new network of regional and local 'e-learning' centres are offering deprived communities a chance to get connected. Hands On also reports on initiatives in Bolivia and Spain.

Death Roe

The Kamchatka Peninsula at the edge of Pacific Russia is one of the world's most important salmon habitats. But desperate poverty in the region has led to a rise in poaching. The salmon’s caviar, is sold on the black market to wealthy consumers throughout the world. Earth Report joins an an anti-poaching unit which patrols the vast expanse of remote terrain by helicopter. The patrol, a joint venture between Moscow State University and the Wild Salmon Center in the USA, finds evidence of a large-scale poaching operation and poachers apparently operating close by a police outpost. But saving the salmon requires not just a stick, but also a carrot: UNDP has established a project to develop salmon-friendly economic alternatives for poor communities. But this good work may yet be undone by a new gas pipeline that is opening up the territory. Earth Report assesses the threat.

Hands On - Health Matters

In Britain there is one doctor for every six hundred people. In Tanzania it's about one per 25,000. And even if find one there, they may cost too much or lack the drugs and equipment to treat you.

This episode of Hands On looks at how new ideas are saving lives and improving health in countries where governments are too stretched to provide decent medical care.

Eggs on Coast

The bizarre-looking horseshoe crab is a living fossil. It pre-dates the dinosaurs and it hasn't changed for 250 million years. It's not even really a crab - it's more closely related to a tick. Somehow it has survived the planetary catastrophes that wiped out a majority of the earth's species. In this week's Earth Report we go on a voyage of discovery to find out more about this remarkable creature.

Message in a Bottle

Small islands often face big environmental problems. Earth Report travels three small island nations, to find out what they are doing to protect themselves from threats - both local and global. In Mauritius, extraordinary efforts are being made to remove invasive species and conserve what remains of the country's wildlife. In Samoa, where the marine environment is under pressure, a conservation project is encouraging better marine stewardship using traditional tribal social structures. But not every conservation problem can be dealt with at the local level - as demonstrated by global warming. It's already having an impact on ecosystems throughout the world and is being blamed for the unusual severity of the hurricanes that recently hit the Caribbean. In Portland, Jamaica, communities are taking steps to lessen their vulnerability by improving the way watersheds are managed. The aim is to prevent heavy rains from washing soils, sewage and other wastes into rivers and oceans.

Old Growth and Gorillas

The BBC's Anita McNaught leads a debate on the issues raised by Earth Report's coverage of forestry and wildlife in Africa and other tropical countries. Convened at the UK House of Commons, the debate has brought together high level participants from conservation organisations and the timber industry.

Blood Timber Two

This week Earth Report is back on the trail of the bushmeat poachers and traders of Central Africa. Travelling throughout South East Cameroon and Northern Congo, we witness some of the impacts of the logging industry. We find that the roads built to get the logs out have become a highway for the bushmeat traders. While logging companies, governments and some wildlife groups claim their control measures are working, Earth Report has obtained undercover footage, filmed by a former poacher, that reveals the true extent of the bushmeat trade, and asks is the public is getting the full picture?

Power Struggle

In Uganda, just 3% of the population has access to electricity. In towns and cities across the country, economic growth is stifled by the lack of power. This edition of Earth Report looks at another African power struggle – the struggle to get light and electricity.

Hands On - The Paddy Chronicles

If an alien landed from outer space, the chances are it would end up in a paddy field. If that sounds surprising, consider that rice helps feed almost half the planet and that almost a billion households in Asia, Africa and the Americas grow rice for their livelihood. Hands On wades through the paddies to see how rice systems and rice products, are leading the fight against world hunger and poverty.

Smokeless in China

China is the world's fastest growing industrial power-house. As demand for energy grows, the government is investing in large-scale energy projects like the Three Gorges Dam. These kinds of projects may be a short-term solution for delivering energy to people in cities, but there are over six hundred million people living in rural areas who all need energy to survive. Earth Report travels to the remote province of Yunnan to find out about a new project which aims to provide rural people with alternative, low-impact forms of energy.

Abu Anouk - Son of the Scythe

Earth Report visits Syria to report on a project that aims to help the Bedouin revive their severely degraded rangeland.

During filming there's an extraordinary discovery. A colony of Bald Ibis - a bird that was once widespread in the Middle East and worshipped by the ancient Egyptians - is found. There had been no reported sightings for a century and it had been declared officially extinct.

How did the colony get there? And where does it go for half the year? Led by a local hunter, two intrepid European scientists try to solve the mystery.

Hands On - Packing a Punch

It's a paradox - never have more people been better off in material terms than they are today. But never have there been so many poor people - and their numbers are swelling.

In this week’s Hands On we look at a range of ideas which give people who've been excluded the chance to pack a punch by giving them the chance to make their own choices.

Last Summit Two

In August 2002, around 100 heads of state, 8000 lobbyists, as well as 25,000 protestors gathered in Johannesburg for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Earth Report was there - following three groups of people from the north, the south and from the heart of Jo'burg itself, to record their hopes and ambitions for the world's largest ever UN conference. Two years later Earth Report returned to find out if those hopes and ambitions are any closer to being realised.

Hands On - Source to Sale

This week's Hands On looks at a new scheme to stimulate private enterprise in Albania, checks out the international trade in mangoes, finds out how bottles are being turned into drinking glasses in the UK and how Camerounians are finding ways to get more from their forests.

Crossing the Divide - Part 2

In this week's edition of Crossing the Divide, Earth Report meets two more leading green politicians. This time we meet Australian Senator, Bob Brown and Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva.

Crossing the Divide - Part 1

In a two-part programme, Earth Report talks to four environmental activists who have become leading politicians. Their backgrounds could not be more different, but they have all used their green campaigning, as a springboard into politics. Earth Report finds out what motivated them to become politicians, and asks them if they believe they made the right move joining the political establishment? In Part 1 we meet Wangari Maathai, founder of the Kenya's Greenbelt reforestation movement, who became a government minister, and we meet Tuenjai Deetes, the Thai Senator who made her name as an environmental campaigner.

H₂O: Hilltops to Oceans - Part 2

In the second part of Hilltops to Oceans Earth Report goes to Spain, Iran, Russia, Brazil and Fiji to see what’s being done to safeguard the watercourses flowing into our seas.

H₂O: Hilltops to Oceans

The UN Environment Programme has identified 150 ‘dead zones’ in the world’s oceans - zones where marine life cannot exist due to lack of oxygen. Some of the dead zones are less than a square km in size, while others are up to 70,000 sq km.

Hands On - Energetic

A programme looking at the world’s energy entrepreneurs. From photovoltaic irrigation schemes in Brazil to wind power in Senegal, these stories show enterprises based on harnessing eco-friendly power sources.

Not a Dirty Word 2

A sequel to an Earth Report looking at water and sanitation. For information on the first programme, see Not a Dirty Word on the Changing Currents page.

Hands On - Cash, No Questions

Banking with a difference. This Hands On episode of Earth Report goes to Brazil, USA, Mexico, UK, Poland and India to report on innovative micro credit schemes that are putting profits from green enterprise back into the community.

Marooned

Descendants of escaped African slaves, the Maroons of Surinam have preserved their culture in their jungle refuge. Timber and mining companies are starting to move in on one of the world's last untouched tropical forests. The Maroons and the indigenous Amerindians don't want the government to sell off their inheritance.

Azhar Park

There is less than 30 square centimetres of green space for each resident of Cairo. A new park reclaimed from a former dump for rubble will open this month. A welcome space for Cairo, but the planners have struggled to involve the people of the local neighbourhood.

Hands On - Green Endings

From potatoes to plastic and plastic to pencils 'Green Endings' tracks the latest and most inspirational recycling initiatives from around the world. Some peoples’ commitment goes beyond this life by ensuring they are buried in 'ecopods' made from waste paper.

Invaders of the Wild

Rats, cane toads, Asian longhorn beetles, hedgehogs...the list of alien invaders is growing ominously long. Professor Hal Mooney, one of the authors of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, says the threat is so serious that the international community should set up a rapid deployment force to deal with alien species.

People Power

At the Johannesburg 'sustainable development' summit, governments made commitments to involving their citizens in decision-making. Are they keeping their promises? Earth Report goes to India, Brazil, Ireland and Malawi and find that citizens associations are making themselves heard.

Upstream, Downstream

Rising in the northern hills of Thailand, the Ping River is a vital source of water for irrigation for lowland farmers. But with mounting demands from tourists and hill-tribes, the Ping does not provide enough water in the dry season. What can be done to head off a looming conflict over water?

Hands On - Volt Face

The migration of the monarch butterfly to Mexico is one of the wonders of the natural world. A biosphere reserve protects the butterfly but local people have lost their woodfuel supply. Improved stoves are helping to meet their energy needs. One of five stories in Volt Face on the contribution alternative energy can make to conservation of natural resources.

Mountain Road

Koreans have a strong spiritual link with their mountains. When the go-ahead is given to drive a road through a mountain it is like 'a dagger thrust into the soul of the nation'. The programme assesses the clash between tradition and modernity.

Middle-earth Report

New Zealand is the stunning setting for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This film shows that this sparsely populated country is not the unspoilt environment many suppose. For starters a booming possum population - a relatively recent arrival from Australia - is wreaking havoc in the native forests.

Game Over?

In downtown Nairobi a restaurant serves choice cuts from East African game. Most of it is farmed on ranches, showing that wildlife can pay its way. But how can farmed game be distinguished from animals poached to satisfy demand for bush meat?

Hands On - A Growing Trend

Anita Roddick introduces a programme that shows farmers are cashing in on a growing consumer demand for organic, non-GMO food. In countries experiencing economic crises, urban garden farms are feeding the unemployed. In St Petersburg roof-top gardens are all the rage.

Soaking it Up?

Earth Report stays in the Amazon to investigate the role of the rainforest as a 'sink' for carbon dioxide. Forests of all kinds soak up greenhouse gases, so we should preserve them as well as plant new ones - to mitigate the impact of climate change. But, as with most simple solutions, delve deeper and you find it is all a lot more complicated.

Chico’s Dream

A new government in Brazil is espousing a new policy and new hope for the Amazon. But in 2002 deforestation increased 40% above the previous year. The main culprit is clearance for soya. New environment minister Marina Silva is in the eye of the soya storm. We follow her as she seeks to reconcile conservation with the Lula government’s anti-poverty agenda.

Communicating for Change, Part 2

Earth Report continues its look at communities around the world bridging the digital divide.

Communicating for Change

Received wisdom is that the digital divide between North and South is one of the reasons why the poor in the developing world are not able to practice sustainable development. With an eye to the agenda of the World Summit on the Information Society, Earth Report goes on a two part journey across four continents to find that there are lots of people with lots of schemes that are bridging the divide.

Conserving the Peace

Could nations go to war over water, fish and other dwindling resources? From Bolivia to Uzbekistan to India, riots over water appear to back the case. NATO and the European security organisation are now backing a new UN environment and security initiative – a sign that governments are taking the warnings seriously?

Svetlana’s Story

Mystery illnesses are plaguing the people of Berezovka in northern Kazakhstan. Mother of three, Svetlana Anosova, is leading a campaign to make the operators of the nearby Karachaganak oil field accept responsibility.

Transparency

Despite possessing vast reserves of oil, gas and minerals, Angola is one of Africa’s poorest counties. At the Johannesburg Summit, British Prime Minister Tony Blair promised the UK would spearhead a transparency agreement that would mean a better deal for the poor and the multinational companies that operate in war-torn, failed states. Has peace yielded any dividends for the poor in a country whose government refused even to sign up to the ‘voluntary’ transparency agreement?

Woodn’t You Know

Earth Report comes up with the anti-dote to ruthless timber practices. Carbon trading, mangrove conservation and saving the ancient cork forests of Portugal show that diversity and shareholder dividends can co-exist.

Blood Timber

The insatiable demand for hardwood and bush meat is laying waste not only to primates and other wildlife in west and central Africa but also to the indigenous Baka people. Earth Report assesses the prospects for the survival of the forest people.

Naturally Yours

All too often consumers do not think about the consequences of their choices. What is needed is more people to become aware of the impact consumer markets have on the welfare of people around the world. This week's Hands On - Earth Report programme, gives a lot of food for thought by highlighting stories about how we can buy products that safeguard the environment and do the poor a power of good.

Home on the Range

The pastoralists in the lowlands of Ethiopia live by shifting season by season to feed and water their animals. Their ways of life are well adapted to these harsh environments but they're not always understood by outsiders. Will they be allowed to keep on managing their own lives?

Seeds of Conflict

Environmental campaigners accuse a Texas rice firm and a Swiss university of stealing traditional varieties and know-how from Indian farmers and African healers. We find that under international patent law and WTO rules, they are not acting illegally - a test case for the international community to practise what it preaches?

Cash - No Questions

Banking with a difference. This Hands On episode of Earth Report goes to Brazil, USA, Mexico, UK, Poland and India to report on innovative micro credit schemes that are putting profits from green enterprise back into the community.

Wealth and Wilderness

Doug Tompkins sold up the clothing firm, Esprit, and invested a large chunk of his fortune in buying up the last of old growth forest in Chile. He has created the largest privately owned park in the world. Hammered by the US and Chilean press for this elitist behaviour, he refused to speak to the media, but allowed in TVE's Uruguayan camera crew for the first coverage in 5 years.

Sky Pirates

Despite the rapid elimination of ozone-destroying chemicals, the hole in the ozone layer has not been plugged. One reason is the illegal trade in CFCs and other ozone-damaging chemicals. On World Ozone Day we catch up with the latest science and report on progress with the timetable to phase out the culprit chemicals.

The Equator Show

Just 15 plant and eight animal species supply 90% of the world's food. Most originate from the tropics. In one view, parks and protected areas can only provide a limited role in conserving biodiversity. Crop and animal diversity has much more to do with human experimentation with nature's originals. It makes sense, therefore, to encourage the guardians of biodiversity to continue doing so. We feature five communities given UN recognition for their role as protectors of biodiversity.

Oil's Well...?

Oil rich Gabon in West Africa has escaped wars, ruthless loggers and bushmeat poachers. The whole country is a 'hotspot' for wildlife diversity. Shell has teamed up with top scientific institutions such as the Smithsonian to work out how to conserve wildlife while keeping the oil flowing. But what will happen when the wells become uneconomic?

Benefits Beyond Boundaries

David Attenborough kicks off Earth Report's countdown to the World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa. The film takes viewers to Cambodia, Surinam, Congo and the Galapagos to see how parks and protected areas are doing much more than saving rare animals and their habitat - they are key to sustainable poverty reduction.

Pulp Aid

It is done with the best of intentions. Waste paper from Europe is sent to India for recycling. Trouble is, in India there are charges of dumping disrupting local recycling efforts.

City Slickers

In the slums and shantytowns local services for sewage, housing and waste barely exist. We feature five stories from around the world where citizens groups and neighbourhood committees are finding ways of working with cash-strapped local councils.

Waibulabula

In the Fijian language it means 'Living Water'. But most of the water running off the Pacific island is laced with untreated sewage and pesticides. The run-off is killing the coral reef and tourism. Environmental awareness is growing, but there's a long way to go before the island's marine ecology is nursed back to health.

Wetting the Appetite

Is China paying too high a price for its spectacular economic growth? Alarmed at sinking water tables, Beijing is responding with a crash programme to restore wetlands – even if that means ejecting over a million farmers from their paddy.

Sila Alangotok

For millennia, Inuit peoples have thrived in the Arctic. Skilled in fishing, hunting and trapping, their very survival depends their intimate knowledge of nature, and their ability to read the weather. Now, climate change threatens their environment and way of life.

Patagonia: Peace, Naturally

Rugged and remote, Patagonia in southern Argentina, is still a wilderness intact. After a six year gap, Earth Report returns to Argentina to find that a project funded by the Global Environment Facility, has seeded a new respect for conservation.

Think Global, Act Natural

Anita Roddick introduces six stories on eco tourism. In Kenya the Maasai have switched from warrior to eco-warrior and in Peru the Ese’Eja indigenous people are guides for intrepid tourists who want the authentic 'jungle' experience.

Dyke Hard

The Saemanguem project on South Korea's Yellow Sea coast will destroy one of Asia's most valuable wetland sites - a vital feeding area for threatened migratory birds and nursery for dwindling fish stocks. Can this longest sea wall in the world be stopped?

Net Profits

A staggering one third of the world's protein comes from fish. But 11 of the 15 world's major fishing grounds are seriously depleted.

Hands On - The Equator: Pure Gene-eous

This week's Hands On provides an antidote to depressing coverage of wildlife destruction in the world's tropical countries. 'Pure Gene-eous' profiles communities from Africa, Asia and Latin America, with their own strategies for saving local bio-diversity. They are doing it for a simple reason - they are making money out of it.

Hands On: Waste to Wages

Take two sisters, a heap of bicycle tyres and a passion for way out fashion and you have the 'tubular belles' - the latest in rubber ware from the Netherlands. Rubber isn't the only waste from the throwaway society, which can be turned to wages. Two Thai scientists have come up with bio-degradable food containers made from cassava. Hands On reports on how a new breed of entrepreneurs are seeing riches in rubbish.

Tunnel Vision

Dutch film-maker Joshka Wessels spent two years making Tunnel Vision. Wessels has recorded the revival in Syria of a system of underground irrigation that started to fall into disuse at the time of the Roman occupation. The 'qanats' are a membrane of tunnels starting again to supply water to farmers in this arid country. In the Gulf it's called the 'fallaj'. It is believed the Persians invented the system almost three thousand years ago. A case of back to the future?

Water on the Brain

Water will be on the brains of thousands of delegates and non-governmental organisations gathering for the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan. Many hundreds of thousands are also internet participants via the Virtual Water Forum. In this programme Earth Report features a cross-section of experts, ministers and the people who live daily with the struggle to find enough clean water to survive. Will the world emerge with a do-able plan for meeting the water 'crisis'?

Plumbing the Rights, Part 2 - Governing the Right to Water

Is access to water a human right? According to the United Nations it now is. And yet more than a billion people still go without a safe regular supply. But it is one thing to recognise a right, quite another to apply it to poor communities who cannot afford to pay the bills. The United Nations World Health Organization wants governments to take responsibility to guarantee their people affordable water. As Changing Currents counts down to the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan, Earth Report visits Bolivia and the USA to find out why people are taking to the streets to claim their rights.

Plumbing the Rights - Part 1

For one in six people on the planet, finding water for drinking, cooking and washing is a daily struggle. As freshwater resources become ever scarcer, the UN has set a target to halve the number of people without enough water by 2015! How can this possibly be achieved? The fashionable panacea is privatisation, partnerships and community mobilisation. Plumbing the Rights meets the people at the sharp end of the water crisis to find out their ideas on how to solve it.

Pumping Pressure

Globally, agriculture uses more than 70 percent of the fresh water drawn from lakes, rivers and underground reserves. But with a rising population and growing water demand, Earth Report asks whether there will be enough fresh water to grow sufficient food, let alone provide enough to drink. Although there has been great progress in feeding growing populations over the last thirty years, largely as a result of expanding irrigated areas (already 85% of the world's food comes from irrigated land) nearly 830 million people still remain chronically undernourished. More disturbing still, the rapid growth in food production over the last few decades has begun to slow down.

Dam Dam Dam

Big dams. Love them or hate them, we have to live with them. Environmental campaigners contend that vast schemes such as the Three Gorges in China or Narmada in India are social and environmental catastrophes in the making. But their backers have a different view. Big dams provide non-polluting energy and control flooding. On the eve of the World Water Forum Earth Report presents the case for and against big dams.

Boiling Point

"If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water." Ismail Serageldin 1995, Chairman, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)

Before he became UN Secretary General, Boutros Ghali raised the spectre of a war over the waters of the Nile. No nation has yet gone to war over water. But this week's Earth Report finds disturbing evidence of a rising number of international water flashpoints.

Tell-Tale Signs

Ever more erratic global weather patterns – caused by climate change - have added 170 million people to those already experiencing water shortages. The UN's Panel on Climate Change - comprising over 1000 of the world's leading scientists - warns that those numbers will rise. Earth Report goes to China, Mozambique, South Africa and Orissa in India to catalogue the impact of climate change and find out about new strategies for coping with it.

Not a Dirty Word

A single jumbo jet crash makes the world's headlines. But each day the death toll from drinking dirty water is equivalent to 20 jet crashes.

The victims are poor and they live in the shantytowns and remote villages of the developing world. They are dying from easily preventable water-borne diseases. But there are signs that basic hygiene education can make an impact. Earth Report goes to India and Philippines and Pakistan and finds that sanitation need no longer be a dirty word.

Land of the Rising Water

A football stadium on stilts is just one innovative solution to living in a flood prone country.

The 2002 World Cup final was played in a stadium built on pillars over a swamp. Yokohama, used to be one of the world's most flood prone cities. Like the nearby Japanese capital Tokyo, its built on a flood plain. Japan is a world leader in civil engineering to control flooding and conserve wetlands. As the venue for the 3rd World Water Forum, its fitting that the Changing Currents season kicks off with coverage of how the host country is managing its water.

Out of the Woods

Introduced by Bodyshop founder, Anita Roddick, Earth Report returns in the New Year where it left off. Razing the world's tropical forest makes no long term economic sense. In Out of the Woods we feature stories from Africa, Latin America and S.E. Asia where local communities - of their own accord - are safeguarding their trees for their own welfare.

Hands On: Fair Trade, Fair Profit

From toothpaste to coffee, babassu nut to mosquito nets 'Fair Trade, Fair Profit' finds out what makes green enterprise work and bring in a fair price for the producer. We find that what the economists call 'externalities' are the catalyst: in Mexico it's about ownership of the land; in Tanzania, a campaign to prevent malaria; and in Brazil it's all about getting the products into the supermarkets.

Boiling Point

Before he became UN Secretary General, Boutros Ghali raised the spectre of a war over the waters of the Nile. No nation has yet gone to war over water.  But this week's Earth Report finds disturbing evidence of a rising number of  international water flashpoints.  On the USA/Mexico border, water shortages are spelling disaster for farmers.  Washington and Mexico City are working for an agreement, but local politicians are not playing ball.  In Africa Angola has emerged from a civil war to be confronted with the prospect of a new conflict with its neighbours over the Okavango.

The Last Summit?

Will the Johannesburg Summit be the last of the UN mega-meetings? On-the-spot pronouncements varied from the 'best we could do in the circumstances' to 'a downright scandal'. But that was from delegates heading for home. Will hindsight alter that view? Throughout the Summit, Earth Report followed two delegations, from Norway and the Philippines, as they traded draft resolutions until the early hours. Exhausting work, but was it worth it? Two months on, we interview the players and ask for their verdict.

Rich Pickings

Exotic birds, reptiles and mammals are sold to wealthy buyers as pets and collectibles. Animal body parts are sought after as ingredients in traditional medicine, as aphrodisiacs, or as exquisite dishes. The rarer the breed, the higher the price. It's this compulsive pursuit of rare specimens that drives the black market in wild fauna.

Hands On: Waste to Wages

Take two sisters, a heap of bicycle tyres and a passion for way out fashion and you have the 'tubular belles' - the latest in rubber ware from the Netherlands. Rubber isn't the only waste from the throwaway society, which can be turned to wages. Two Thai scientists have come up with bio-degradable food containers made from cassava. Hands On reports on how a new breed of entrepreneurs are seeing riches in rubbish.

Hands On - The Equator: Pure Gene-eous

This week's Hands On provides an antidote to depressing coverage of wildlife destruction in the world's tropical countries. 'Pure Gene-eous' profiles communities from Africa, Asia and Latin America, with their own strategies for saving local bio-diversity. They are doing it for a simple reason - they are making money out of it.

Where Families and Mountains Meet

Eking out a living on the slopes is never easy at the best of times. For the people of the former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, economic collapse meant that food and fuel subsidies have gone. One result has been the stripping bare of the once thickly forested hillsides for fuel. An intimate portrait of three families documents their hardships. But aid from the Aga Khan foundation is getting through in the form of soil conserving farming methods and rural hydro schemes.

The Angle on Hunger

Out of an estimated 800 million undernourished people in the world, a disproportionately large number live in mountains. Thin, easily eroded soils and a harsh, unpredictable climate means crops are few and difficult to grow. Medical care is often far away. The distance from markets also means it is difficult to trade modest surpluses to enable farmers to enter the cash economy. In this third instalment on mountains, Earth Report travels from the High Andes to Ethiopia to visit communities coping with hardship by blending traditional with modern farming techniques.

Summit to the Sea (Part 2)

Mountains are home to 10% of the world's peoples and an extraordinary range of plants and animals. They are also the source of the world's rivers. In this UN International Year of the Mountains Earth Report travels the globe to examine some of the problems mountain people face as their way of life and the ecosystems that sustain them come under serious threat.

Last week we zoomed in on some of the world's most dramatic mountainous environments, and found out how the people who live in them cope with the effects of a changing climate. This week we continue our journey to the Italian Alps, where the challenge is balancing conservation and the needs of local people with those of tourists, to Lesotho where the social and environmental costs of exploiting the country's one valuable resource, water, are on the increase, and again we visit Ecuador where indiginous people are protesting against the building of a giant oil pipe cutting straight through environmentally sensitive areas.

Summit to the Sea (Part 1)

Mountains are home to 10% of the world's peoples and to an extraordinary range of plants and animals. They are also the source of the world's rivers. In this UN International Year of the Mountains, Earth Report travels the globe to examine some of the problems mountain people face, as their way of life, and the ecosystems that sustain them, come under serious threat.

Hands On: Fuel for Thought

Anita Roddick returns to introduce an issue that's proved to be one of the most popular with Hands On viewers - renewable energy: Italian engineers make a breakthrough in tapping energy from hot springs; in the Dominican Republic, solar energy has put slum dwellers on the grid for the first time; in the UK ASDA - a major supermarket chain - is experimenting with running its fleet of lorries on used cooking oil, a cleaner source of fuel than diesel; villagers in Kenya are benefiting from mini-hydro, and in Bangladesh solar-powered fridges are ensuring vaccines are conserved.

Tell-Tale Signs

There is now little doubt that the earth's climate is changing. But what will be the impact on the world's fresh water? Devastating droughts are ravaging huge areas of Asia and Africa, and scenes of some of the worst flooding in human memory have been hitting the headlines with alarming regularity. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that around the world, 170 million more people will face extreme water shortages as a result of global warming. This week, Earth Report visits two climate change hotspots in India and Southern Africa, where the tell-tale signs of a changing hydrological system are beginning to show. Will current methods of managing water be able to cope under ever more extreme weather patterns?

Children of Rio (Part 1)

In 1992, as decision-makers prepared for the planet's largest ever gathering of politicians at the Earth Summit in Rio, TVE film-maker Bruno Sorrentino turned his back on the technocrats and environmentalists, and went in search of babies from around the world born in that year. The idea was straightforward: if the Rio Summit was to mean anything at all to ordinary people, surely it would have affected the lives of these babies and their families? Ten years after Rio, in the year of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, TVE revisits seven of the children to find out just what has changed in their lives, and what the future holds for them. At ten years old, they have their own stories to tell. In this first programme we meet Rosamaria, born just a few kilometres from where the Rio Earth Summit took place, in one of the city's largest slums; Erdo, born into a family of nomadic cattle herders in northern Kenya; and Panjy, born into a family dependent on the local fireworks industry in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Children of Rio (Part 2)

For 10 days in 1992, the Rio Earth Summit focused the world’s attention and hopes. Nearly all the world’s leaders assembled for what was billed as a last chance to save the planet from environmental ruin. Frameworks and agreements were signed to protect bio-diversity, curb greenhouse gas emissions, and combat desertification. Despite the varying arguments and interests at the summit, one theme above all else was universally accepted: that poverty and environmental destruction were inseparable.

TVE film-maker Bruno Sorrentino however, instead of focusing on the politicians, the technocrats and the environmentalists, went in search of babies from around the world born in that year. The idea was straightforward: if the Rio Summit was to mean anything at all to ordinary people, surely it would have affected the lives of these babies and their families?

This is the story of the Children of Rio, of the generation born in the wake of the promises made at the conference. Ten years after Rio, in the year of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, TVE revisits seven of the children to find out just what has changed in their lives, and what the future holds for them. At ten years old, they have their own stories to tell. In this second programme, we meet Kay Kay from the commercially successful, but heavily polluted city of Guangzhou in southern China; Justin and Vizumsi, growing up under very different circumstances in post-apartheid South Africa; and Hailey, from a traditional mining family in the UK.

Hands On: Funding the Future

In poor and disadvantaged communities there's no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit - it's how people survive from day to day. But for business ideas to really take off, people need skills training and financial backing. The problem is that conventional banks won't lend to the least well off. This week Hands On looks at 'Challenge Funds' which are helping former prostitutes run their own businesses in Brazil, ex-convicts become gardeners in Zambia, and a group of elderly Thais run a rubber plantation to fund their retirement.

Pay Now, Pay Later

In 1992, the Rio Earth Summit promised to help redress wealth imbalances by bringing people out of poverty through the sustainable use of the environment's natural resources. This week Earth Report travels to Uganda, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Spain and Jordan to take a look at five projects that embody those aims. Talking to leading commentators such as Ian Johnson, Vice President of the World Bank, and Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University, we look at whether sustainable development can bring about real change and what lessons can be learnt for the second world summit taking place next month in Johannesburg.

Children of the New Millennium

Ten years ago at the Rio Earth Summit, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UNICEF warned that "environmental degradation was killing children". Urgent action was called for. Today, one out of every five children won't live to see their fifth birthday, mainly because of environment-related diseases. Almost a third of all diseases in the world can be traced back to environmental causes, with water-linked diseases as the biggest killer. This programme investigates why children suffer disproportionately from pollution and environmental degradation, and looks at what the Johannesburg Summit can do to put children's health on top of the agenda again.

Three Planet Syndrome

Modern living requires enormous amounts of energy. New houses in the West are designed to sell, just like any other consumer product, not to save energy. If everyone in the world were to consume natural resources at the same rate as people in the UK, we would need three planets. Therefore, we need to learn fast how to live with the one planet that we have. But can we expect to live sustainably and comfortably without overspending our planet's capital resources?

This week's Earth Report looks at sustainable living in and around London. At the Millennium Eco Village and the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED), eco-friendly living meets innovative design and architecture, proving that an environmentally sound lifestyle is no longer the preserve of the "beards and sandals brigade".

Silver River: A Journey Down the Arno

The Arno River flows 200 kilometres through the heart of Tuscany, in Northern Italy. For thousands of years it has been the lifeblood of the province.

The river helped build the region's wealth - but at a cost. Like so many of Europe's waterways, Italy's Arno River has been badly damaged by a century of industrial development. In the last 100 years, the effects of dam building, industrial development and the pressures of a modern tourist invasion have taken the sheen off the silver river.

But since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, European Union environmental legislation has become increasingly tough and, as a result Europe's rivers have begun to show a gradual improvement. This week's Earth Report takes a journey down the Arno to meet some of the people who are working to bring the river back to its full health, showing that pollution does not have to be the inevitable price of prosperity.

Healing the Rift

Land plus water equals food. An obvious equation, but one all too frequently overlooked. But this is the policy behind a project to revitalise Lake Baringo in Kenya's Rift Valley. Since the 1980s, the lake has been rapidly turning into a swamp. As the lake has shrunk, its fish population, and the wildlife that lived around the shores, went into a sharp decline. Soil run off from farmers' fields is a major cause of the crisis. Not only was it choking life in the lake, but the degraded land could no longer produce sufficient food for the local population. Their only option was to hunt and forage for anything that could be eaten. Now local farmers are being encouraged to use techniques which stop the soil being washed away. They're already getting better yields and hopes are growing that the lake itself will one day recover.

Africa: Breaking the Circle

Rich in natural resources, but crippled by debt, poverty and poor governance - Africa, and its environment, are uniquely vulnerable. But can Africa ever break out of this circle of environmental degradation and social upheaval? Earth Report looks at the continent's recent history and speaks to a range of African ministers and commentators, to assess what directions Africa needs to follow if it is to be able to build a brighter future for its environment and its people.

Paradise Regained?

The Philippines were known as the Paradise Islands before they were given their current name by Spanish colonisers. The over 7000 islands were originally blessed with lush rainforests and abundant marine resources.

However, a rapidly growing population has now taken most of the fish, most of the rainforest, and occupies virtually all the land. Without control and with thinking that saw the bounty of nature as limitless, these islands have been stretched to the limit. A third of the Philippine population of 81 million live under the poverty line. Despite burgeoning cities, 60% of people still make a living from the over-exploited land.

Earth Report goes to one island, Leyte, where environmental rehabilitation schemes like rainforestation are trying to recapture paradise.

Not a Dirty Word

The latest UN assessment is that 1.1 billion people live without access to clean drinking water and more than twice that number is denied hygienic means of sanitation. The same assessment found that while progress has been achieved in the 1990s in meeting international targets, the increase in the numbers of the absolute poor had all but wiped out the advances. The second World Water Forum in The Hague agreed an ambitious target of halving by 2015 the number of people who have no access to decent sanitation and clean water. It is a daunting target. Earth Report goes to Sao Paolo, Nairobi and Manila to report on cheap community-operated schemes that offer new hope.

Land of the Rising Water

In June 2002, the eyes of the world will be on Yokohama. It's the site of the football World Cup final. Yokohama, like the nearby Japanese capital Tokyo, is built on a flood plain. It used to be one of the world's most flood prone cities. But Japanese civil engineering has been up to the task of dealing with the threat of inundation. And there is no better advertisement than Yokohama's international stadium and venue for the Final. It's built on pillars that place the stadium four stories above the swampy ground beneath. It's a small component of a nation-wide policy of heading off the threat from flooding while conserving valuable wetland areas. The Japanese can't help but build on flood plains - they've got nowhere else to live. So they've developed both grand and modest schemes to save themselves from drowning. Millions worldwide who watch the soccer tournament will see on the giant video screens in the Stadium how the Japanese plan to get people involved in the debate over the world water crisis and the Japanese solutions to the problems.

No Hiding Place (Part 2)

Part two of Earth Report's disturbing assessment of the chances of survival of the Great Apes in the wild. Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans are now on the 'Red List' of endangered species. Although protected by national law in virtually every country that they inhabit, lack of enforcement means that poaching, illegal logging and mining are all taking an appalling toll on ape populations. No Hiding Place, Part Two examines the prospects for success of the UNEP initiative - the Great Apes Survival Project - as it seeks to stiffen national resolve and mobilise international support. Earth Report follows Ape Alliance director Ian Redmond and Ugandan conservationist Eve Abe as they visit Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo - and in consultation with relevant 'stakeholders', develop a survival plan tailored to the needs of the country and the species in question.

No Hiding Place (Part 1)

The forests of Central Africa have until recently been one of the last strongholds for endangered great apes - gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. But in the last few decades hunting on an unprecedented scale has turned their haven into a killing ground. African forest people have always eaten 'bushmeat' - a term which describes any wild animal hunted for food. But their hunting has never had a significant impact on wildlife numbers. Now as forests are opened up for logging and mining, hunters are decimating the great ape species for profit. Once a subsistence food, bushmeat has become a delicacy for an urban elite who are ready to pay. And it's not just confined to Africa - increasingly that trade is becoming international.

From the forests of central Africa to the streets of Europe, this week's Earth Report goes on the trail of the bushmeat trade.

Prickly Profit

With desertification and water shortages representing huge challenges for agriculture in arid countries, agricultural systems based on the choice of appropriate crops are key to sustainable development. There is a great need for crops that can cope with water shortages, high temperatures and poor soils. Previous attempts to use the desert for agricultural purposes has only had limited success: growing fruit trees in hot arid areas seemed like a good idea for decades, but in spite of all the knowledge and energy spent on clever irrigation systems, it has never really proved to be very cost-effective. This is becoming increasingly the case as water is running short in many places. Israeli agronomist Yosef Mizrahi asks: why not to take desert plants, such as cacti, and convert them into crops?

Tiger, Taiga

The seemingly insatiable appetite of the ubiquitous logging industry is now rapidly devouring one of the world's greatest natural wonders; the Taiga Forest of Russia's Far East. The area is home not only to the indigenous Udege hunters, but also to the magnificent Amur tiger and other protected species, all of which are threatened by the destructive impact of tree felling on the area's unique ecosystem. Freed from the chains of Soviet control, the activities of the emergent private logging interests go largely unregulated. Tales of intimidation and corruption are widespread and environmental campaigners face a desperate uphill struggle in their attempts to expose malpractice. Tiger, Taiga explores the social and economic forces fuelling the destruction of the Forests, the environmental costs of logging plus the system of corruption that drives the loggers further into the Taiga.

The High Tech Harvest

World-wide food production has to double by 2020 to feed an estimated global population of up to eight billion. Nowhere is that pressure felt more keenly than Africa - a continent where for every five people, four are farmers - and yet where famine still occurs. Africa is a continent overlooked by the Green Revolution and where ancient fragile soils are particularly vulnerable to erosion. It's not surprising therefore that the benefits which enthusiasts say are offered by biotechnology - improved quality and yield from genetically-modified crops - are viewed with more favour and far less scepticism in Africa than in the well-fed West. High-tech Harvest examines the arguments in support of biotechnology set against the concerns of those who claim it's too early days to know what the long-term effects of GMOs will be on Africa's environment.

Baked Alaska

The winters in Alaska are not what they used to be. All across Alaska, people are reporting distinct changes in the weather, and the anecdotal evidence is backed by science. While Alaska suffers the first effects of climate change, the oil industry is trying to extend operations into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – an issue which on which Alaskans are divided. This week, Earth Report visits the largest state in the USA, where the threats and opportunities posed by the oil industry are thrown into the sharpest possible relief.

The Long Road to Recovery

It was the world's worst nuclear accident; the explosion and fire at Chernobyl's No 4 reactor in April 1986. Since then 8000 people have died, 2000 people have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer with a further 8 - 10,000 cases are expected to develop in the next 10 years. Now a new report from the UN claims the 'psycho-social' welfare of those evacuated from the most contaminated areas has also suffered; unemployment, depression and stress-related illnesses are rife. The Long Road to Recovery will put a human face to the statistical evidence and introduce us to the Ukrainian children who are seriously affected by thyroid and other cancers. It will also expose the everyday reality of living with low-level radiation for a Kiev household - and feature a controversial French programme that teaches people how to live with radiation in highly contaminated regions of the countryside. Could this form part of a long-term recovery strategy?

Green Gongs

It claims to be the premier green film festival - bigger and better than all the rest. Screened first at the Sony Centre in Berlin last November, filmmakers from widely different backgrounds were thrown together for Ecomove. From documentary to fiction, shorts to features, the nearly 100 films screened, were said to be the best of the international global 'Eco' output. But this was very much a test case for all involved. Earth Report asks did the partnership between sponsoring corporations and the environmental film community work?

Paper Tiger

Throughout the world there is growing concern at the speed with which the rainforest in the tropics is being cleared. But there is far less awareness that its counterpart in the cooler climes is even more endangered. The temperate rainforest is also home to an astonishing array of plant and wildlife species. Paper Tiger comes from Tasmania - one of its last strongholds. One fifth of Tasmania at the southern most extreme of Australia, has World Heritage status. That wilderness area, including rainforest, will never be touched. Some Tasmanians believe the Tasmanian Tiger - a marsupial wolf - might still find refuge there. But outside Tasmania's reserves, environmental campaigners and the timber industry are at loggerheads over the sustainable management of the Island's native forest. Its home not only to the tallest hardwood tree on earth, but also to extraordinary wildlife such as the Tasmanian Devil that's extinct on the mainland. And in isolated patches of the unprotected damp rainforest are to be found species unique to Tasmania such as the burrowing crayfish and giant velvet worm.

A Fish Too Far

Dramatic footage of the Royal Australian Navy boarding a Spanish pirate fishing boat in Antarctica is the opening to the first in the new Earth Report series. "Increased efforts to save the endangered Patagonian toothfish can be traced directly to the impact of Earth Report's expose of the Spanish pirates in Antarctic waters" says Alistair Graham of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust. Is the European Union now putting the fox in charge of the chicken coup? With Spain - a country notoriously inured to international criticism of the voracious activities of its giant fishing fleet - taking up the revolving Presidency of the European Union there are fears there may be backsliding in the halting efforts of the Europeans to stop overfishing. This time Earth Report goes to African waters and reports how one country Senegal has decided to take a stand against the bullying tactics of the European Union. The Union stands accused of dangling aid packages in return for gaining access to poor African countries' coastal waters. Hope and the Nile

Ten African countries share the world's longest river, the Nile. Its basin has long been a place of dispute, even war and without agreement, increasing demands for water could lead to real conflict.

Earth report travelled along the length of the Nile, from Rwanda to Egypt, to see what issues communities along this great river face and how a new international initiative could unite them at last.

The Long Walk

There are many reasons why the African continent has not benefited from the growth in the global economy. One of the most telling - and most frequently overlooked - is transport, or the lack of it.

Earth Report takes a look at a number of innovative low-cost initiatives and how they are helping to bridge the transport divide.

The Nature of Business

Today the global economy is five times greater than it was in 1950 and soon the world's population is set to reach eight billion. Can the Earth's natural resources continue to support unlimited economic growth?

In this week's Earth Report corporate leaders and the World Bank President give their vision of a sustainable future.

Water in Your Tank

Renewable and emission-free, hydrogen is being hailed as the fuel of the future. From cars to power plants, hydrogen could be the key to unlock the world from its dependency on oil.

This week Earth Report travels to Iceland, which is already on its way to realising an oil-free future, and to California where auto companies are test-driving their new hydrogen powered cars. But how far away is our hydrogen future?

Out of Asia

This 'Hands On' travels to India, Sri Lanka and Thailand to see how credit initiatives can boost more than just incomes; and how innovative fishing methods combined with changed practices can also improve livelihoods and safeguard the environment.

Radioactive and Reeling

Fifteen years ago the world reeled in shock after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine collapsed. But it was neighbouring Belarus that suffered the main effects of the ensuing radioactive fall-out.

In this week's Earth Report we see how the World Bank is trying to find a way to deal with the country's most pressing needs by focusing on the fall-out from the Chernobyl disaster and providing new opportunities to earn a living.

Up the Ladder

The international trade in toxic waste has been outlawed since the Basle Convention came into force in 1992. Since then, Earth Report has followed nations' efforts to enforce its provisions.

This week's film takes a look at how the Basel Ban has stopped toxic traders dumping their waste on the doorsteps of developing nations.

Line in the Sand

This week, Earth report travels to Alashan in the Mongolian Autonomous Region of China where the traditional grassland ecosystem is being eaten away by the desert.

Every year more than 1000 square kilometres of steppe disappears under the sand. Now experts are working together to find the cause of this desertification and ways with which to lessen the impact of the local population on this fragile ecosystem.

Beluga Blues

Out in the northern reaches of the Caspian Sea, where Russia borders Kazakhstan, there's a war going on - and it's all over a fish. An epic struggle is being played out between competing gangs of poachers and the police as they try to protect one of the world's largest and most ancient fishes.

This week, Earth Report visits the last stronghold of the sturgeon and uncovers how it has been brought to the brink of extinction after 250 million years on the planet and what can be done to save it.

Rescue

It had all the hallmarks of an impending ecological disaster: a crip