Celebrate Earth Month with stories of survival, restoration and resilience

March 29, 2025 Alyssa Beno Leave a Comment

This Earth Month, enjoy new programs premiering on PBS Wisconsin that highlight global efforts to preserve our planet and its resources.

Nature: Katavi – Africa’s Fallen Paradise

Premieres 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 2

In the heart of Africa’s Great Rift Valley lies Katavi, a little-known national park spanning more than 3,000 square miles of western Tanzania. Here, Nature’s filmmakers capture a once-in-a-lifetime event – a severe drought followed by heavy rains that tests the survival skills of all those that call Katavi home.

The Future of Nature

9 p.m. Wednesdays, April 2-16

Follow a growing number of inspiring people fighting to save nature. Understand the impact of carbon on our planet and how nature is helping to mitigate its effects.

NOVA: Secrets of the Forest

Premieres 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 16

Can forests help cool the planet? Follow scientists working in spectacular forest landscapes in Costa Rica, Brazil, Australia and beyond as they try to untangle complex networks of trees, fungi and creatures large and small – all in a quest to tackle the twin threats of climate change and species extinction.

Water for Life

9 p.m. Monday, April 21

Meet three extraordinary individuals: Berta Cáceres, a leader of the Lenca people in Honduras; Francisco Pineda, a subsistence farmer in El Salvador; and Alberto Curamil, an Indigenous Mapuche leader in Chile, all of whom refused to let government supported industry and transnational corporations take their water and redirect it to mining, hydroelectric projects or large scale agriculture.

Despite reassurances from companies and the authorities, they knew what lay ahead: contaminated water, environmental devastation and the destruction of their communities.

Changing Planet: River Restoration

9 p.m. Wednesday, April 23

In the fourth year of this seven-year project exploring the planet’s most threatened ecosystems, Dr. M. Sanjayan visits northern California where the largest river restoration project in United States history is aiming to bring life back to a sacred river.