Shared Planet

[Sounds of nature] Narrator: The Sepilok Forest Reserve in the equatorial jungle of Borneo, home to one of our closest relatives, the orangutan.

This little one has just turned 3.

It takes a lot of patience to raise a hyperactive tree climber.

A lot of trust, too, 60 feet above the ground.

Young orangutans have so much they need to learn from their mothers.

And, like humans, their childhood lasts a long time.

This mom is still learning herself.

She was only an infant when her mother was killed by loggers who cut down her forest home for its timber.

Now, it's all been converted into oil palm plantations.

And this deforestation isn't just happening in Borneo.

All around the world, we are destroying our forests.

Fire!

Forests regulate our climate.

They create oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, protect the soil, and are essential to the global water supply.

We need them to survive, as do the wild animals that make them their home.

Now, some of us are learning to share the forests, and it's creating better lives for both animals and humans.

Orangutans are resilient.

They can survive even in small patches of forest left around palm oil plantations.

But males and females get cut off from each other.

This lonely female will likely have no chance to reproduce.

150,000 orangutans have been killed in Borneo in the last 20 years.

Palm oil has a huge environmental impact.

It's also used in half the products on our supermarket shelves.

But if we share this altered landscape, perhaps these orangutans here have a future.

[Sounds of nature] Wow.

Orangutan: [Makes noises] Narrator: Dadai Singgong has lived in the same village in the Kinabatangan region of Borneo for her whole life.

Singgong: Hello.

Orangutan: [Makes noises] Wow.

Narrator: She's seen a lot of change here.

Singgong: [Speaking foreign language] Narrator: Dadai works for HUTAN, a local conservation group.

She's the head of the reforestation program in charge of restoring the orangutans' habitat.

It's an enormous task.

But as the village matriarch, she knows how to rally the local women.

[Speaking foreign language] Narrator: The original forest was made up of thousands of different plant species.

[Speaking foreign language] Narrator: To be successful, they must painstakingly replant as much of the forest's original diversity as possible.

[Speaking foreign language] [Engine starts] Narrator: Because almost every aspect of an orangutan's life is connected to trees.

They use trees for food.

For shelter.

For traveling through the forest.

Orangutans are masters at using a variety of trees to get around their territory.

The problem with plantations is they only have one tree species, oil palms, which are no good for orangutan traveling.

So orangutans can get isolated.

This old male has survived the decimation of his original forest home.

And in this new landscape of oil palms, he's trapped.

He needs a connecting forest corridor of native trees through the plantations.

Dadai's team is trying to connect two isolated patches of protected forest.

A plantation is providing some of its land to be replanted with native trees.

[Speaking foreign language] Narrator: Today, the plantation manager has come to meet with Dadai.

[Speaking foreign language] Things grow so quickly here that only 3 years in, orangutans are already moving into some of these areas.

[Speaking foreign language] Narrator: And the plantations benefit as well.

They normally have a lifespan of only 50 years before the soil runs out of nutrients.

But new research shows how adding native trees to a plantation can replenish the soil and regulate temperature, extending the life of the oil palms.

[Speaking foreign language] Narrator: Over 15 years, Dadai's organization has planted and kept alive over 200,000 diverse native trees.

It's part of a bigger plan by the Malaysian government to add 100 million trees back into the region.

The hope is to create a shared landscape for both palm oil and orangutans.

[Speaking foreign language] Narrator: Their work is far from done, but Dadai and her team are showing us what is possible.

People in Malaysia are rebuilding forest habitat that was lost.

In Guatemala, local people are trying to harvest their forests in ways that keep them intact.

Humans have lived in this jungle for thousands of years.

Mass: Yo vengo de la dinasta maya, maya q'eqchi, entonces, para m el bosque es parte de lo que yo soy.

Narrator: For Erwin Mass, this jungle is home.

Mass: Al entrar en el bosque, entrs en conexin con la naturaleza.

Se siente esa energa que genera porque el bosque es vida.

Narrator: This is the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the last large tract of rainforest left in Central America.

Inside the reserve lies the village of Uaxactn.

Erwin is the mayor.

Everyone here makes their living from this protected forest.

Villagers like Erwin and his family also collect food from the forest.

Hola, hola.

Hay ramn?

Women: Yes.

Mira cunto hay de ramn.

Mira all.

Narrator: Maya nuts are a superfood, high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.

They have been collected and used by people in the forest for thousands of years.

Mass: Nosotros, ac en la comunidad, realizamos este tipo de actividad para poder sobrevivir.

El bosque contiene muchas oportunidades.

Ya.

[Laughter] Narrator: Erwin is head of the community's logging operation.

Mass: S, mira.

Este es el rbol que se va a extraer.

[Engine turns on] [Engine turns off] Narrator: The government has given Erwin's village rights 200,000 acres of the reserve to take what they need to survive.

The income from this one tree could feed a family for months.

But this forest is also a refuge for much of the region's wildlife... and home to the last of Guatemala's scarlet macaws.

There are fewer than 200 left.

Scarlet macaws raise their young in tree hollows, which means their survival depends on large, old trees like this one.

S, mira.

Este es el rbol que andbamos buscando.

Mira.

Por el dimetro y la altura, el valor comercial puede ser mucho.

Narrator: What makes this a valuable tree for Erwin is exactly what makes it valuable to the macaws.

Est en excelentes condiciones.

Est bien ntido el rbol.

Narrator: Erwin has to consider many factors when deciding what trees to cut down.

Lo vamos a dejar para semillero.

Narrator: Luckily for the macaws, Erwin and his community are thinking about the future.

Mass: El valor comercial puede ser mucho, pero el valor de lo que produce en semillas s es bastante.

Jaime!

Pngale la S ah.

Narrator: The S stands for "semillero," seed producer.

This tree will not be cut.

OK, muchachos?

Todo bien.

Excelente.

Gracias.

Todo ntido.

Mass: Qu se gana al tener aprovechamientos masivos o descontrolados?

Yo s que en un ao puede ser muy productivo financieramente, pero para mi futura generacin, le estoy quitando la oportunidad.

Narrator: But not everyone here cares about the future of the forest.

Drug cartels dominate this part of the country, and they have no use for trees.

In the past 20 years, almost 5 million acres have been destroyed, even inside national parks.

The cartels use the land for cattle operations as a way to launder drug money.

And right on the edge of Erwin's community forest, a fire has been started.

Sgale, vamos!

Mass: ...a los dems, que estamos en el punto de... Mass: Rpido.

Rpido, rpido.

Man: Va al lado sur!

[Yells] Que le pidas que monitoreen... Narrator: The team needs to create a fire break to prevent the flames spreading into the forest.

Ey!

Ey, vmonos!

Oigan!

Ya nos vamos de una vez!

[indistinct] Narrator: So far, the villagers have stopped every fire at the boundary of their forest.

But Erwin can never let his guard down.

Mass: Si toda la comunidad vive del bosque, la comunidad est muy unida para proteger el bosque.

Narrator: Amazingly, these community-run forests also increase biodiversity because the selective timber harvesting creates more varied habitats.

It's helped the macaw family keep their chick alive and ready to leave the nest.

Adding even one more chick to this endangered population is a big win for the species.

In Guatemala, it's not the national parks that are most effective at safeguarding the forests an its wildlife.

[Indistinct voices] It's the local people who live and work here.

Mass: [Laughs] Vuela.

Mass: Vuela!

[Laughs] Narrator: Erwin's community is helping to ensure that the next generation, both people and wildlife, will have a future here.

Mass: Y ese es mi sueo.

Dejarles ese legado a mis hijos y a mis nietos.

Narrator: In southwestern Spain, locals are being equally innovative in trying to save their land and their wildlife neighbors.

These Mediterranean forests may not look as lush as the tropical jungles, but they are a biodiversity hotspot.

It's an ideal habitat for rabbits, the main prey of the region's top predator, the Iberian lynx.

Look, look, here you have a lynx going down.

Narrator: Iberian lynx have a huge fan here in southern Spain.

Uh-huh.

Very nice view.

Narrator: Antonio Rodrguez recently bought an old farm in the Spanish countryside.

Rodrguez: I have cameras all over my property.

They help me monitor fires, but also the animals.

Good boy.

Narrator: Animals are a big part of Antonio's life.

He's a veterinarian in the capital, Madrid.

Rodrguez: It was always clear that I would be a vet.

You prefer here in the sun?

[Smiling] Uh-huh.

I love helping animals.

It is in my soul.

Narrator: And the animal he loves more than any other is the lynx.

Rodrguez: The first time that I saw a lynx in our property, I was about to cry.

[Laughs] It's my favorite animal because the beauty, and they are mysterious.

Lynx have something special.

Narrator: But the Iberian lynx are in trouble.

There are less than 2,000 left in the wild because their forest habitat is disappearing.

These forests, known as "dehesas," have been carefully created by humans over centuries.

The trees are used for cork production.

And underneath, the vegetation is grazed by livestock, creating open meadows filled with almost as much plant diversity as the Amazon jungle.

But for decades now, people have been moving off the land.

So these dehesas are not being maintained.

And invaders have moved in.

Rodrguez: Pine trees.

They are an invasive plant here.

Kill all around.

Narrator: Introduced over 100 years ago as a source of pine nuts, they've now spread everywhere and suck up so many nutrients nothing else can grow.

So there is less food for the rabbits, which the lynx need to survive.

And a sea of pine trees is highly flammable.

Spain has had catastrophic wildfires in recent years.

And climate change is making things even worse.

There is now twice as much forest burnt each year compared to 20 years ago.

Antonio, voice-over: I'm worried because lynx and many animals need this kind of forest.

Without trees, this will be a desert.

Narrator: Antonio had a fire almost burn him out entirely last year.

Antonio, voice-over: Se vean las llamas perfectamente, el humo.

Los aviones intentando apagar el incendio.

Narrator: In order to protect this land for both his family and the lynx, he must learn from the past.

What do you think?

Wow.

Very old tree, eh?

Narrator: A neighboring family has been harvesting cork here for over 100 years.

[Birds chirping] Narrator: 80% of the world's cork comes from this dehesa region.

These forests provide a good living for farmers and keep the land healthy for wildlife.

The trees provide protection from wildfires, too.

The cork oak trees are widely spaced, surrounded by low-ground vegetation, and have incredibly thick bark, making them naturally fire-resistant.

Antonio, voice-over: OK, let's go.

Mira, Tony, este pino lo tenemos que quitar, vale?

Vale.

[Chainsaw buzzing] Narrator: To protect his land, Antonio needs to restore it to a traditional dehesa.

Este es otro que quitar, vale?

[Chainsaw buzzing] [Chainsaw buzzing] Narrator: Getting rid of the highly flammable pine trees is just the first step.

Come on, let's go.

This is a very good place to plant a tree, OK?

OK.

Let's go.

Narrator: Antonio enlists his A-team to help with the next phase.

Whoa.

It's a hard work?

Yes.

Yes.

You prefer do this or stay in the school?

Do this.

[Laughs] Narrator: Antonio is part of a recent trend of people returning to the land.

You have to put inside, OK?

OK.

One, two.

Wha.

[Cheers] [Laughs] Very nice.

Narrator: His work to reclaim the forest will help protect it from fire and increase biodiversity.

There have been 3 litters of lynx kittens born on his property in the last 3 years.

[Purring] [Growling] Narrator: Antonio knows that the future depends on continuing the relationship between people and forest.

Se cosecha cada 9 aos.

T ahora mismo, cuntos tienes?

9 aos.

Pues igual que t.

O sea, tarda lo mismo que t, imagnate.

Un poco... Antonio, voice-over: Ahora estn en una edad que empiezan a entender que existe un futuro.

Y realmente no tenemos otro planeta donde vivir.

Narrator: Off the coast of Africa, on the island of Madagascar, people are discovering that protecting forests for wildlife could improve their welfare, too.

[Birds chirping] [Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: Emile Rajeriarison is a forest guide and self-taught naturalist who has dedicated his life to studying the Madagascan jungle.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] [Shrieks] Narrator: He's been following this family of lemurs most of his adult life.

Narrator: Emile's extensive knowledge of the lemurs in this forest brought him to the attention of lemur researcher Dr.

Patricia Wright from Duke University in the United States.

Wright, voice-over: He's the best natural historian in all of Madagascar.

He just loves everything about the forest and understands it.

Narrator: Lemurs hold a special place in the hearts of Emile and Dr.

Wright.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Wright, voice-over: Lemurs have this otherworldly approach to life.

They have these important relationships with their family and with their neighbors.

They show a lot of affection.

They groom each other to show that they care about each other.

And yes, they do have an occasional fight.

But very different than monkeys.

They may have aggression once every minute.

It's a different lifestyle.

It's very peaceful.

Narrator: In 1986, Dr.

Wright hired Emile to be her guide.

Wright, voice-over: I first came to Madagascar to try to find the lemur that we thought was extinct.

Narrator: And eventually, after weeks of searching deep in the forest, they found the long-lost bamboo lemur.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: Together, they helped establish the Ranomafana National Park to protect this species and all the other lemurs they found here.

But even a national park can't guarantee these lemurs' safety.

[Birds chirping] Narrator: People are clearing the forest right up to and even crossing into Ranomafana National Park.

The average income here is less than 50 dollars a month.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: But the soil is poor, and food crops quickly depleted.

So, after only a few years, more forest must be burned and cleared.

It's a vicious cycle that has impacted the whole island of Madagascar.

Once, it was mostly forest.

Now, 80% of it is gone.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: Emile wanted to find a way for his village to survive without destroying the forest.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] [Birds chirping] Narrator: The key was right in his own backyard.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: He grows more than 20 different species and other native forest plants in his garden.

And there is one orchid that has an especially high value to humans.

Vanilla.

So Emile decided to try vanilla farming around the park.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: And because vanilla is a vine that needs shade and trees to grow on, farming it adds a protective buffer zone around the park.

But vanilla is not native to Madagascar, so there are no insects here to pollinate it.

Each flower must be pollinated by hand.

If he wants to convince the locals that vanilla farming is viable, Emile needs to teach them the technique.

His first pupil is his 16-year-old niece, Nanta.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] [Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: Emile and his family harvested 500 dollars worth of vanilla this season.

That's more than a lot of Madagascans make in a year.

It's motivated many in his community to take up vanilla farming.

[Women speaking foreign language] Narrator: Which is helping to inspire even more planting of cleared land around the park.

[Chatting and laughing] Narrator: The villagers have already planted almost half a million native trees.

[Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: Emile is also inspiring the next generation of Madagascans.

[Speaking foreign language] [Speaking foreign language] [Rajeriarison speaking offscreen] Narrator: There are countless ways forests can benefit people's lives.

And in Japan, they're learning how much they can improve people's health.

Japan is one of the most densely forested nations on Earth.

[Birds chirping] Narrator: And close to 20% of it is old growth.

Old growth forests create rich wildlife habitats that boost biodiversity.

Japanese macaques live in large family groups under the shelter of the forest canopy.

Much of their day is spent grooming, which strengthens their family bonds.

Their diverse forest home provides them a rich bounty of food.

Sitka deer live here too.

They've also learned how to get the most from the forest by following the monkeys.

The deer benefit from the monkeys' connection to the forest.

Macaques have long lived around people in Japan's forests.

Centuries ago, they were believed to be messengers from the gods.

[Birds chirping] Narrator: Many people today still believe in the presence of spirits in the landscape.

And honor them with daily rituals at shrines throughout the forest.

But in recent years, the Japanese people's relationship with nature has changed.

[Cawing] Narrator: Most of the population has moved from the countryside into big cities like Tokyo.

[Honks] Narrator: A third of the entire country now lives in this one mega city.

And crowded city life is contributing to a mental health epidemic that is seeing rapidly rising rates of depression and suicide.

Ghosh, voiceover: Our bodies are actually under so much stress in a busy city.

Narrator: Priyanka Ghosh is a young professional who felt the great pressure of running her own business in the heart of Tokyo.

Ghosh, voiceover: I was under so much pressure and stress and anxiety that I would just start crying.

And I had no idea why I was crying.

And then the energy just started building and building.

It was like a volcano.

And I felt like it was going to burst out of me.

Narrator: Priyanka must find a way to ease the pressure.

So she's come to the forest, seeking relief.

Sugishita, voice-over: We are living in a big city.

Everything is man-made and controlled by human beings.

But really it's so important for us to remember that we are part of the nature.

[Sighs] Narrator: Makiko Sugishita is a forest therapist who practices the art of forest bathing.

Priyanka has decided to give it a try.

But it's not going to be easy.

Ghosh, voice-over: When I went into the forest, I felt like, "OK, where should I go?

"What should I do?"

And I'm still very activated.

Narrator: To realize the benefits, Priyanka needs to slow down and try to connect to the forest.

[Speaking Japanese] Sugishita, voice-over: The forest is the therapist.

And I'm the guide to open the door for participants to meet with the forest.

[Speaking Japanese] Ghosh, voice-over: I didn't really know what to do with touching the moss.

It just didn't really click.

[Speaking Japanese] [Speaking Japanese] [Speaking Japanese] Ghosh, voice-over: She told me to imagine the center of the tree.

And then breathe with what I was touching.

And then she was like, "Put your forehead "because I think you're able to feel it more."

Sugishita, voice-over: We cannot hear what the forest is saying unless we slow down, unless we are open to the world.

[Speaking Japanese] Ghosh, voice-over: So that was a very deep kind of like eye-opening experience.

It was very new, and I felt much more connected.

I was co-existing.

I felt very blissful.

Sugishita: [Speaking Japanese] Narrator: Priyanka and the others share their reactions to the day.

Ghosh: [Speaking Japanese] [Speaking Japanese] [Birds chirping] [Speaking Japanese] Narrator: Medical research is now revealing that forests can help not only with mental health but also with physical health.

Several Japanese studies have shown that spending time in forest environments can boost immune systems and have a positive impact on conditions ranging from heart disease to diabetes, and even cancer.

These health benefits come from airborne chemicals that trees use to protect themselves against insects.

When we spend time in a healthy forest, they enter our bloodstream like a dose of medicine.

Sugishita, voice-over: Japan is the first country to generate scientific evidence on health impact of forest therapy.

Narrator: Remarkably, forest therapy is estimated to save the Japanese health care system billions of dollars per year.

So the government is creating 100 designated forest bathing areas around the country, which are also investments in the wildlife that lives there.

Sugishita, voice-over: Forest remind us of who we are.

We are remembering that we are part of the nature, so I will be more conscious of what I would do for the earth, because I'm a part of the earth.

Narrator: We humans can't survive on this planet without our forests.

Around the world, people are working to make their lives and the lives of wildlife better by learning how to share the forests.

Because a shared planet is a better home for us all.