All language subtitles for The.Earthshot.Prize.Repairing.Our.Planet.S01E01.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX

How many people over the years
have looked at the moon

and longed to visit?

This sight is one of the few
experiences that all of us,

all around the world share.

Over the centuries, it must have
inspired a lot of dreamers.

Little wonder that as soon as
the moon fell within reach,

we grasped for it.

We choose to go to the moon in this
decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy,
but because they are hard,

because that challenge is one that
we're willing to accept,

one we are unwilling to postpone
and one we intend to win.

And director of flight
to operations...

To what became known as his
"Moonshot" in 1962,

President Kennedy set out a dream so
outrageous and ambitious,

it demanded unparalleled,
urgent innovation

and effort from
a huge multinational team.

..two, one, zero.
We have commenced. We have lift off.

And when the Moonshot was
accomplished within the decade,

it was a success that inspired
people across the world.

A defining achievement
of human history.

But its greater lasting impact was
one that few in 1962 could foresee -

the view back from up there.

In reaching for the moon,
we found the Earth.

For the first time, we could see
that the world we live on

is finite and precious.

Ultimately, it woke us to
a distressing truth

we are still
trying to come to terms with.

The modern world we have built is
at odds with the planet we live on.

It's come to this,
our planet is now in crisis,

its delicately balanced systems
are becoming more and more unstable

with every passing year.

So for the sake of future
generations, let's act now.

Let's take inspiration
from the Moonshot

and set ourselves
a global challenge for this decade,

a common goal to unite behind,

to mend our broken relationship
with our planet

and build a better future for all.

It is for this very reason
that I launched the Earthshot Prize,

the most ambitious environmental
prize in history.

Each year, until 2030,
we will award five £1 million prizes

to those who we believe can
transform our chances

of repairing our planet
within the decade.

Five prizes because experts tell us
there are five great challenges

we must urgently overcome
to turn the tide.

Over the next ten years,

we MUST work hard
to protect and restore nature

so that the wild stops shrinking
and starts to grow...

..fix our climate to stop the rising
global temperature...

..clean our air so that
we can all breathe healthily...

..revive our oceans to become
as rich and productive

as they once were...

..and we must build
a waste-free world

by ensuring the waste of one process

becomes the raw materials
of the next.

As we work on these five Earthshots,

the science tells us
they will help each other.

In restoring nature,
we will help fix the climate.

In removing waste,
we will help revive our oceans.

To help me in this extraordinary
undertaking,

I've gathered together a group of
remarkable experts, influencers

and environmentalists -

the Earthshot Prize Council.

In this series, I will join some of
the prize council members

in exploring the five Earthshots,
one by one.

We will discover
the key problems we face...

..introduce you to people
already working on solutions...

..and finally, I'll tell you
about the new projects

we've shortlisted for
this year's prize.

This is a moment for hope, not fear.

A better sustainable future
is within reach.

We just have to grasp for it.

We humans can achieve anything
we set our minds to.

It's one small step for a man...

..one giant leap for mankind.

So let's all set our minds to this,

a decade of action
to repower our planet.

There's no time to waste.

On with the first of
our five Earthshots.

Here to tell the story of how we can
stop working against nature,

and start working with it,

is one member of our
Earthshot Prize Council -

Sir David Attenborough.

I've spent my life learning about
the natural world

and our place within it.

In doing so, I've been lucky enough
to see more of the wonders of nature

that I could ever have dreamt
of doing.

I've seen the greatest migrations...

..travelled alongside the largest
animals that ever lived...

..encountered our closest
relatives...

..and been dazzled by the
beauty of nature.

And I've tried to share much of
these experiences

with audiences around the world.

But now our planet is
a lot less wild than it was

when I began my travels.

Here in the British Isles, over the
centuries,

we've long since turned
our natural wildernesses

into a tamed, orderly landscape.

The same is happening
right now across the globe.

And this has consequences.

A less wild world
is a less stable world.

And that is a world less able
to support all species,

including ourselves.

That's why I agreed to join
the Earthshot Prize Council.

We CAN protect and restore
the natural world,

and as we do so, we start
to bring stability to our planet.

Before we can understand
what's going wrong,

we need to understand
how the system works

when it's functioning as it should.

The natural world,
of which we are an intrinsic part,

is mind boggling
in its complexity...

..teeming with billions of
individuals, of millions of species.

No one organism lives in isolation.

They work with others in
communities called "ecosystems",

held together
by countless intimate relationships.

Species may feed on one another...

..pollinate others...

..disperse seeds,

compete for mates...

..or for space in the sun.

Biologists try to sum up this
remarkable variety of life

in one term -

biodiversity.

All this life evolved
together over millions of years

into the resilient
and stable natural communities
that we see today.

We need the natural world to be
diverse and thrive in this way.

That's because
a thriving natural world

provides a long list of
services for us, for free.

The services such as locking away
vast stores of carbon

to keep the climate stable...

..keeping the water cycle moving
to bring dependable rains...

..providing the world with oxygen
and filtering the air we breathe,

replenishing soils
and pollinating our crops...

..not forgetting all the materials,

foods and medicines
that ecosystems provide.

Everything that humanity has
achieved is built

on the foundation
of a healthy natural world.

Without it, life as we enjoy it
could not happen.

And yet, the life we now enjoy
is threatening biodiversity.

This could prove catastrophic,
since ecosystems are held together

by intimate relationships.

When one element is removed,
the whole community may collapse.

So what, of the things we do, pose
the biggest threats to biodiversity?

The island of Borneo lies
across the equator...

..which means its tropical forests

have been constantly bathed in
regular sunshine, heat and rain.

The perfect conditions
for life to flourish.

Many species
are found nowhere else...

Such is the case
with the island's largest primate,

the Bornean orangutan.

In recent years,
the increase of oil palm plantations

has been one of the leading causes
of deforestation in Southeast Asia.

In the process, an immensely
diverse ecosystem

is exchanged for lines
of a single species of plant

and little other wildlife.

Over the last 50 years, Borneo has
lost 30% of its tropical forests

and half of its orangutan.

The reason wild areas across the
world are still being destroyed
is simple.

In today's world, a wild habitat
brings less financial income

than a cleared one.

We place little value on nature,

even though it is our
essential life support system.

In Borneo, the felled hardwoods
are worth money

and the palm oil that is then grown
on the land is worth more money.

So there is double incentive
to cut down the forest.

But Mislin has a different approach,

one that she wants to see rolled out
across the island.

She only grows oil palm
on existing farmland

which lost its native trees
decades ago.

Because of this, the palm oil she
produces can now be labelled

"deforestation-free".

Forest corridors help to provide
safe passage

between larger patches of forest,

as well as food and homes
for much of its wildlife.

To stop the complete removal of
Borneo's tropical rainforests,

conservationists like Mislin are
trying to change the palm oil trade.

And that means changing
the entire chain

from where the oil is produced,
to where it is consumed.

I'm Cat Barton,
I'm a wildlife conservationist.

My journey into palm oil started
in Borneo,

but I quickly realised that
it was a battle

that we could also fight
right here, in England.

Palm oil's found in so many
different products on our
supermarket shelves.

The biggest challenge
is educating people

that deforestation-free
palm oil exists.

Right now, only
a small portion of palm oil

can be classified as
deforestation-free.

But that can change,
if more consumers demand it.

Cat's work has helped Chester to
claim the title

of the world's first
Sustainable Palm Oil City.

So far, more than 50 organisations

have made a commitment
to use only sustainable palm oil.

There is so much more to do,

but we can only do that
if we work collectively

with plantations on the ground,
all the way through to consumers

that buy the products
in the supermarket.

Although habitat loss today is most
obvious in the tropical rainforests,

we need to remember that
natural habitats were lost

across much of
the rest of the world centuries ago.

Today,
we have a manicured landscape.

We tamed our wild
a very long time ago.

We don't want the same
to happen elsewhere.

The conflict between humankind and
the wild habitats of the world

goes back over 10,000 years
to the dawn of farming.

And one source of food has
had a greater impact across the
world than any other.

The single largest cause of
biodiversity loss

comes from the land we cleared
to raise and feed livestock.

Dani Alves is the most decorated
footballer in history

and has captained
Brazil's national team.

Brazil produces
vast amounts of beef,

and its 215 million cattle

graze an area the size of France,
Spain and Germany combined.

Farming the livestock
and the crops to feed livestock

is the country's leading cause
of its habitat loss,

including parts
of the unique Amazon rainforest.

Scientists predict that if the
Amazon forest is reduced

by another 5%, it could fail to
create enough moisture

to keep itself stable.

And that could trigger
an unstoppable transformation

into a far less biodiverse savannah.

At current rates of deforestation,

this process could begin
within the decade.

Once that change happens,

large parts of the ecosystem,

with the greatest variety
of species on land,

which has existed for tens of
millions of years,

could be gone forever.

In the UK, very little of our beef
comes from South America,

and some farmers do raise
livestock more sustainably,

such as grass-fed
free ranging herds,

and livestock as part of
regenerative farming.

The problem is that these methods
can't provide the huge volume

of meat that humanity currently
consumes.

Globally, the area we now use to
rear and feed livestock

takes up land equivalent to the size
of North and South America combined.

Of course, on land,
this loss of the wild is obvious.

But beneath the surface of
our planet's rivers and lakes,

it's surprisingly easy for changes
to go unnoticed.

Travelling across the Earth's
surface,

rivers play a vital role
in nature's water cycle

and support their own
freshwater ecosystems,

rich with species that are often
unique to particular regions.

Rivers also transport
minerals along their length,

feeding the plants of flood plains,
marshes and deltas

with vital nutrients.

The continual flow of freshwater is
essential to everything

that lives on land,
including ourselves.

The Mekong River runs
almost 3,000 miles

from the Tibetan Plateau
to the South China Sea.

Here, straddling the border
with Laos,

are 18,000 square kilometres
of flooded forests -

essential nurseries for millions of
fish that migrate here to spawn.

The nurseries underpin the world's
largest inland fishery,

supporting the livelihoods of over
60 million people.

In 2020, Don Sahong Dam
came online

close to the
Laos-Cambodian border.

The Mekong River has been dammed
more than many river systems -

13 hydropower dams have been
built across it so far,

and many more are planned.

Hydropower can be a positive
renewable source of energy,

but large dams on the main river
channel can be devastating,

blocking the flow of fresh water
and its nutrient-rich sediment

and creating a barrier
for the migrating fish.

As more dams are built,

the spawning grounds of the flooded
forests are emptying

and the world's largest inland
fishery may simply collapse.

Our impact on rivers globally
is staggering.

In North America alone, two-thirds
of major rivers are dammed.

What's more, across the world,
we extract ten billion tonnes

of fresh water every day.

Over 90% of it is used
in agriculture and industry.

As a result,
the flow of fresh water can falter,

threatening both the ecosystems
and the people that rely on them.

The facts are clear,

the natural world is in crisis
because of us.

Humanity has left its mark on almost
95% of the Earth's land surface.

In the short period since 1970,

the populations of mammals, birds,
fish, reptiles and amphibians

are thought to have declined,
on average, by 60%.

We risk causing the biggest
extinction event

since the end of the dinosaurs
65 million years ago.

In the face of this onslaught,

the interactions that tie species
together are untied

and the planet's ecosystems
fall apart.

In turn, the clean air, freshwater,

fertile soil, stable climate
and foodstuffs

that the natural world provides for
us will be jeopardised.

That is the reality
of the road we are on.

But we can change direction.

It's not yet too late.

We need a global response to pull us
back from the brink,

and we all have a part to play.

We need an Earthshot.

Fortunately, there is
some cause for optimism.

Individuals, communities,
companies and even governments

are finding ways to protect
and restore nature

that might be
rolled out across the world.

Just 20 years ago,

this land in southern England was
a typical modern arable dairy farm.

But the two passionate landowners
embarked on an experiment.

They decided to work with nature,
rather than against it.

They stopped the spraying
and fertilising,

they took down the fences between
the fields,

they stocked the land with
a mix of livestock

that resembled the animals that once
roamed wild

in this part of the world.

They harvested
some of the livestock as meat,

in effect, replacing
the absent wild predators

that kept the ecosystem in balance.

They gave the natural world
the chance to rebuild.

The Knepp Estate is once again
home to species that were

long gone from its former
ploughed fields.

Even in the British Isles,

one of the most nature-depleted
countries in the world,

biodiversity can recover.

Knepp is just one small scale
solution,

evidence that nature can return
quickly when given the chance.

Yet, even some of the places
we already consider as being wild

can do with a little help.

My name is Kira Cassidy and I'm
a scientist studying grey wolves.

The Yellowstone area
looks like a wonderful wilderness,

America at its wildest...

..but, in fact, until just recently,
it wasn't truly wild.

In 1926, the last wolfpack
in Yellowstone was wiped out.

Without its top predator,

the Yellowstone ecosystem was
thrown out of balance.

Elk numbers soared,

and they overgrazed the plant life.

This had knock-on effects throughout
the ecosystem,

and reduced biodiversity.

The park authority tried to
manage the elk,

but even culling them
wasn't enough.

It was time to bring back
the wolves.

No-one had reintroduced this
kind of predator in the US before.

But the wolves acted as
if they'd always been here.

Right away they started hunting
and forming packs.

I think I have the best job in the
world.

I get to track the wolves.

And that way we can see where
they're going,

but most importantly,
we can find out what they're eating.

We knew they'd reduce elk
and deer numbers,

but that was just a start.

With wolves about, the remaining elk
and deer could no longer

stay in one place for long
browsing on the trees and shrubs.

They had to keep moving.

This simple change
brought about a transformation.

Berry bushes grew back,

which helped the bears.

River banks sprouted
saplings like aspen and willow,

which retained the soil and changed
the course of the rivers.

This helped beaver populations,

which in turn created pools that
provided homes for more fish.

Moose flourished with
the returning vegetation.

As did scavengers, like coyotes,
foxes and eagles,

drawn to Yellowstone
by the carcasses left by the wolves.

The wolves had brought order
back to the entire ecosystem.

It has now been 25 years
since the wolves were released,

and this area is the wildest
it's been in over 100 years.

Removing wolves was a mistake,

and I think we should correct
our mistakes whenever we can.

An ecosystem runs best
when it has all its component parts.

This also helps another of our
Earthshots,

to fix our climate,

because a healthy ecosystem means
more plants growing more rapidly

and capturing more carbon
from the air.

We often think about our impact on
the world as being pretty negative,

but the Yellowstone reintroduction
is an example of a really positive

impact that we've had on the world.

Every time I step into this
wild place,

I'm reminded that the biodiversity
loss we see across the whole

planet can be changed,
and it can be reversed so quickly.

Sometimes we just need to give it
a little helping hand.

Yellowstone was the world's
first national park.

It's part of the 15% of our planet's
land that is protected.

But it is publicly owned.

Most of Earth's land surface
is in private hands,

which means the land has to generate
income for its owners.

So, how do we make wild places more
valuable

to the people that own them?

The Maasai, who occupy thousands
of square kilometres

of wild savanna in East Africa,
have found a solution.

A system that enables them

to earn more income the wilder
their land becomes.

When I was a little child,

my grandfather told me about rhino.

To me, it was like me telling my
children about dinosaurs.

It was just a story.

The rhino was gone from this place.

Cattle are central to the
Maasai culture,

a vital source of both food
and income.

For centuries, their cattle have
roamed these areas,

coexisting with local wildlife.

But recently, as some traditional
lands were fragmented or

turned into national parks,

and as the Maasai population
and their herds increased,

the balance with nature was lost.

The land became overgrazed

and both the cattle and local
wildlife

struggled to find enough food.

We all were suffering.

Something had to change.

The community conservancy idea is
that people living on the land

are the guardians of the land.

It means coming together to
agree on ways to use the area

so that humans and nature
can benefit side-by-side.

It protects wildlife
and our culture.

The conservancy model, first
proposed by conservationists,

helps communities to create
a new source of income

from the land they own.

A source that can also protect
and restore the wildlife.

In this case, it was ecotourism.

I was a young boy then
and I opposed it.

Not because I knew what it was,
because I thought it was

another way of somebody trying to
grab our land.

It took us
almost two years to be convinced.

Our community came together

and built the Il Ngwesi
tourist lodge,

which was the first in east Africa

and still the only one that is
purely owned

and run by the community.

It overlooks the land that is
now protected.

Grazing is controlled so that trees
and plants have recovered

and the wild animals have come back.

The idea took hold and snowballed.

Now, other communities have
built conservancies,

and wildlife can roam
more of its original habitat.

As more wildlife returns,
it attracts more tourists

and brings more income.

Wildlife brought us tourism,
and tourism brought us jobs.

Things have changed
so much in our community.

Conservation brought
all of this to us.

The future generation,
like my grandchildren,

will not hear about rhinos
as a story,

and they will not have to pay
to go and see them,

because they will be
on their own land.

And they will be proud
to have the most endangered

animals within their land.

As the Maasai have found,
bio-diverse places,

wherever they still exist,

can become valuable to the people
who look after them.

We need space to live
and feed ourselves,

but we can certainly work
to be more efficient

and use as little as possible...

..like some pioneering
farmers in the Netherlands.

These aren't simple greenhouses.

They are super-efficient,
sustainable food factories...

..just one of a pioneering group
of farming businesses

that have helped this
relatively small nation

to become one of the world's
biggest exporters of food.

To create this much food as rapidly,

this farm, together with
other farms and research labs,

use state-of-the-art technology.

From seeds in biodegradable pots
to fully grown plants,

the growing cycle is
entirely automated.

It's not just the Netherlands
developing new,

efficient farming techniques -
it's happening across the globe.

There are farms growing tomatoes
without soil...

..vertical farms...

..even farms in our oceans...

..and laboratories researching

strong and efficient
crops of the future.

Across the globe,

we could begin to restore an area of
land larger than North America

and Brazil right now,

just by changing how we farm
and what we eat.

Pioneering farms like Siberia
are showing that there are

more sustainable ways of producing
some fruit and vegetables en masse.

And researchers are also exploring
new ways of producing

more sustainable meat
from less land.

My name is Shulamit Levenberg.

I'm a professor at the
Israel Institute of Technology.

Scientists around the world,
including myself,

had succeeded in growing human
tissue for medical research.

It's called tissue engineering.

And that was the trigger
for the new direction.

One of my students asked if we could
also try to grow tissue from cattle.

We thought that
if we could grow cultured beef,

it might have far-reaching,
positive impacts.

Cultured meat refers to the
growing process.

First, small sample cells are taken
from a healthy, living cow.

These are placed in a culture,

a soup of the nutrients that the
cells would normally be taking

from the cow - proteins,
sugars, vitamins and minerals.

In their culture,
the cells grow, multiply

and connect together.

So far, this work
has created a thin-cut steak

and developed the technology to
make the world's first

cultured ribeye steak.

What's produced is not just similar
to beef - it is beef.

Growing meat like this
is really fast.

So, we take just three weeks,
compared with an average

of two years using conventional
methods of growing meat.

And it uses a fraction of the
resources required for raising

an entire animal for meat.

It's great to see the reaction

when people try our cultured meat
for the first time.

It's such a surprise.

That realisation that this is meat

but we've not killed
any cows to have it.

Across the world, other companies
are producing cultured eggs,

chickens and fish.

It makes me feel proud
to be doing this.

We are helping give people choices
that help the planet.

Cultured meat is still
in its infancy

and will become cheaper

when production scales up
in the near future.

And if we are able to create
solutions like this,

which move us away from intensive
livestock production,

it gives us hope that we can stop
causing any more biodiversity loss.

There is no single solution to
restoring the natural world.

Every patch of land will
require its own tailored approach

so that we can both feed ourselves
and increase biodiversity.

If we choose to spend
the next ten years

perfecting all the new ideas
we've seen,

and searching for many others,

just imagine what might be possible.

A world in which landowners gain
more from building diverse,

wild habitats
than destroying them...

..a world in which we can work with

rather than against
natural cycles...

..a world in which we've become
so efficient at providing

for ourselves that we can spare
enough space

for the rest of life on Earth.

Tomorrow's world could be more
diverse, more stable, more wild.

It's within our power if we start
making the right choices from today.

It's clear that a thriving natural
world is essential to our own

existence on Earth.

It therefore worries me
deeply that nature is in decline

in so many parts of the world.

But it's entirely within our gift
to turn the situation around.

We can protect and restore
nature on a global scale.

And the Earthshot Prize is here
to celebrate and scale

the best solutions to achieve this.

I'm delighted to be able
to introduce you now

to the three finalists in the
running for the first-ever

Earthshot Prize
to protect and restore nature.

First, we head to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo,

where the Pole Pole Foundation is
helping to protect

the local population of gorillas
from bush meat poaching

by encouraging people to eat
a plant-based diet instead.

The numbers of the local gorilla,
the Grauer's gorilla,

have more than halved since 1995.

The main cause of this decline
is that they were hunted

for bush meat, and even heavy fines
weren't a deterrent.

Perhaps that's not surprising
in an area where many people

live in poverty and are unable to
afford regular, healthy meals.

Pole Pole are providing families
with an alternative source

of protein by growing
a nutrient-rich blue-green algae,

called spirulina, that can be
cheaply and easily produced

from little land.

It is grown in pools rich with salts
and other nutrients,

then dried in the sun,

and made into a nutritious paste
that is spread onto cookies.

Pole Pole is an impressive
and humbling project...

..created and operated by a local
team who understand all the issues.

Thanks, in part,
to the work of Pole Pole,

the gorilla numbers in the local
National Park are now on the rise.

With the support of
the Earthshot Prize,

Pole Pole want to help in other
areas where food is scarce

and wildlife is threatened...

..by teaching locals how to produce
their own plant-based super foods.

Our next finalist is the Republic
of Costa Rica government,

which has overseen perhaps
the most successful

ecological restoration
project in the world.

In the 1990s, financial incentives
began to be offered to anyone

protecting and restoring the
nation's heavily depleted forests.

At that moment,
our economic model supported people

cutting down forests.

We've realised that,
to have a healthy economy

and a healthy society,
we need healthy ecosystems.

We have learned to value nature
rather than take from it.

The government pays people
to preserve their ecosystems,

with experts advising people
on how to sustainably manage

and generate
an income from their land.

The initiative has doubled forest
cover in just 25 years...

..and boosted the economy
through a boom in ecotourism.

This nomination will
hopefully help to inspire

communities all over the world to
follow in Costa Rica's footsteps.

If other countries followed what
we have done,

we can not only stop tropical forest
loss globally,

we can reverse it
and have a healthier planet.

Our final idea is a free online
resource called Restor,

which can help anyone anywhere bring
back more biodiversity

to their land.

Its creator is ecologist
Tom Crowther.

Restor is like a Google Maps
for nature,

but instead of seeing coffee shops
and restaurants,

you see conservation
and restoration initiatives.

And it's underpinned by a huge
amount of scientific data

that can help users to re-wild any
terrestrial location on Earth.

You could be an individual wanting
to re-wild your garden,

a government looking to meet
carbon targets,

or a farmer trying to integrate
biodiversity into your practice.

The map helps identify what native
species to plant,

and can predict the amount of
carbon dioxide

a rewilding project would capture.

It also connects an international
network of environmentalists.

There are thousands of local
initiatives across the globe,

protecting and revitalising biodiversity,

but they're doing it alone.

We need to connect an immense
network of local,

sustainable projects with
governments, funders and consumers.

Though still in its infancy,
Restor is already helping

thousands of sites across the planet
to bring back nature.

Tom and his team hope that winning
the Earthshot Prize could help them

supercharge the growth of
their budding global network.

Those who work to protect

and restore the natural world
are doing us all a great service.

The winner of this Earthshot Prize
will get investment, support

and a global platform
to fully realise

the potential of their solution.

And, over the coming years,
till 2030,

nine more transformational
solutions for protecting

and restoring nature
will receive the same.

The natural world can return with
vigour if we choose to protect it.

And in return, it will protect us.

In the next episode,
we will discover how,

with the story of our second great
Earthshot - Fix Our Climate.

We'll learn about a community
leader who triggered

the transition of a whole nation
to renewables...

..meet a man capturing carbon
from the atmosphere as diamonds...

..and discover other emerging
innovations aiming to stop

climate change in its tracks.