Mountas, s sucas in ththe kuish h regi of nonorthern iraq. Its one of the most conflictridden areas. Borders drawn after world war i left the kurdish region straddling four states turkey, syria, iraq, and iran. This has resulted in uprisings, violence, and wars that still continue today. Most recently, against socalled islamic state. Over the decades, millions of people have been displaced. Some fled to isolated mountain areas. Kurdistans wildlife has also been badly affected. Many species are now endangered. But theres new hope in the qara dagh region of northern iraq, thanks to dedicated conservationists. Reporter summer temperatures can exceed 40 degrees celsius here in the qara dagh in the kurdistan region of iraq. Thats why biologist hana raza and her colleague koresh ararat like to get an early start. Theyre looking for traces of the biggest predator here, a leopard thats considered the top of the food chain. Reporter the persian leopard is virtually invisiblble. People who live here in the mountains of qara dagh know of the leopard, but very few have ever seen it. Even hana raza, whos been working and doing research here for years now, has never encountered a leopard in the wild. Thats why they use camera traps. Hana so, this is the wild goat. We get a lot of pictures of them on our camera traps, w which ia good indicator of the prey available for the persian leopard. This is s one of the reaeasonsy different mammal species, and also a lot of birds. We have the wild goat, we have the grey wolf, jackakal, fox, wildcats, the asiatic wildcat as well. Reporter the leopards have to compete with wolves for their prey, and occasionally other leopards. But persian leopards have become very rare in these mountains. Hana so this leopard is the the persian leopard in 2011. This one is a new individual that we discovered in qara dagh in 2017. And this way we know for sure that we have three adult leopards living and roaming these mountains. Reporter worldwide, the population of persian leopards is estimated at less than 1300. The graceful yet ferocious big cat is listed as endangered. The conservationists climb the steep rocky terrain as often as possible. They havent given up hope of spotting a leopard on one of the other cliffs. This is its main hunting ground. Hana this is a typical habitat for the leopard. The persian leopard normally prefers oak forest and rocky areas. So, what they do is when they hunt, they normally sit on a tree or under a tree and looking out and overlooking what is going on there, and then once they locate a prey, they just jump down the mountain. It is easier for them, because they are so powerful and they jump so high as well. And once they are lucky to get a prey, then they drag it onto a tree, and then thats where they eat it. Reporter the fate of the persian leopard is dependent on its habitat. Four decades of war, violelenc, and human migration in iraq have left their mark on both people and animals here. Hana the strength of the leopards could be compared to the strength of human beings, especially kurds who witithstooa lot of conflicts and unrest in our region. My family is a peshmerga family. Peshmerga are freedom fighters. Those who fought against saddam hussein. So, i was born in the mountains while my parents were actually fighting against the regime, and my connection with nature and the mountains goes that long. And i felt that as i grew up, that my parents fought for the mountains, but now there is nothing to see on the mountains. So i am striving to see wildlife back again on the mountains. Like, if you see this mountain without animals, then there is no point of it. Reporter for years now, hana raza has been negotiating with iraqi authoritieies to establisa protected area in qara dagh. Her efforts seem to have paid off. 2300 hectares of mountainous terrain are to be designated a nature reserve for the leopards. The locals have to be convinced as well. Years of unrest have forced people to leave, so there arent many left. And the Younger Generation often look for jobs inin the big citi. But atta Mohamed Saleh stayed. Atta for me, the leopard is a kind of natural heritage. Id like to see more of them in these mountains. Reporter the new nature reserve is also meant to attract tourists, a much needed source of income. A Tourist Lodge is currently being built with the support of is for vacation anand for havig fun, but actually i can promise that this regionon is very saf. Reporter but the first visitors are not the guests they were hoping for. Oil reserves are believed to be situated along the border of the protected area. Even though the oil company is considering ways to support the reserve, drilling would nevertheless be inevitable. After half an hour, the unwelcome visitors leave. Hana my personal thinking is that oil and Oil Exploration is one of the biggest negative impacts on the environment, and no matter how they try, they would still leave a big footprint on thehe environmen. Reporter the isolation of the mountains in the kurdistan region is the best protection for iraqs leopards. Only if the area is left untouched, says hana raza, does the spirit of the qara dagh have a chance. Hana mymy vision for r this fe and especially t the conservatn of wildlife, partiticularly, iso have a netwowork of protecected areas established for our region, to have prosperity, and to have more peaeace for the lol people, and the local commmmunities that live arouod them, and also foror the wildli. Host this weeks global ideas is also about species protection. The number of insects worldwide has fallen drastically. Agriculture takes a big share of the blame. Our reporter Mabel Gundlach went to morocco to find out about a Research Project that hopes to benefit fafarmers and ininsec. Repoporter these e corider flowers attract a lot of insects. Researcher Stefanie Christmann is delighted to see them. After all, theyre essential for pollination. Here in morocco though, many simply view insects as pests. Now a scheme designed to e educe farmers about the need to protect them has been introduced. Simply planting strips of wildflowers, as is often done in germany, isnt the best solution here. Stefanie this wildflower strip is a nice approach maybe for rich countries, but it is not scalable to low and middle income countries. So we decided to select a middle income country with a welldeveloped Agricultural Sector like morocco, develop a model for sustainable and scalalable pollinator protectin here in morocco, and then scale it out to the other countries. Reporter unlike other common insect protection plans, the focus here i is on enabling farmers to generate an income from everything they grow. Farming with alternative pollinators, or f. A. P. For short,t, is the name of the e. It works like this three quarters of the land is used to grow the main crop, like eggplant, for example. Cultivated around it are plants that attract more insects because of their colors, shapes, and when theyre in bloom. The farmer can also sell them. As a control, there are fields on which only the main crop ows. That way, the researchs s can assessss the effectitiveness oe intervrvention. Ahlam sentil is a phd student on christmanns team. Here shes collecting insect samples that will later be examined in the lab. When it comes to protecting pollinators, she says economic arguments are just as important intaining the diversitity of e ahlam iwewe talk ly a about intereststed. But if we talk about increasing their yield and meanwhile we can conserve the pollinators, then they will be interested. So i think that t the f. A. P. Approach is s the best approacho provide all those things to the farmers. Reporter Stefanie Christmann works at an institute in the moroccan capital rabat. It was here that she developed f. A. P. She says the consequences of global insect disappearance could be dramatic, such as loss of f food crops, soil erosion, d even human m migration. Stefanie we mightht get intna world which is not peaceful anymore. In all areas, because everybody will be affected. And i think we have to start thinking on pollinator loss and on pollinator protection also in terms of keeping global peace. Reporter the thousands of samples she collects help scientists gain an overview of insect populations. We can, for example, take this one. This is a mason bee. So, the mason bees, they will make nests above ground. Reporter the researchers have been studying eating and breedingng behavior. Theyve also shown farmers how to spot insect nests. Stefanie we did interviews with farmers. They donont recognize nenests. So for this we have to go to the field and to s show them nests,o make them see their landscape and their fields with the eye of a pollinator. Also, when they have a large monoculture, like, kilometers of cereal fields, from the point of view of a wild pollinator, this is a sahara. And they cannot cross, a as we cannot cross by footot sahara. Reporter wheat t does not ned insectcts to reproroduce, so e bumblebees are lucky i if they find any flolowers in the vast fields, especially since, unlike honeybees, they cant fly very far. One problem is the growing tendency toward monoculture in morocco as the country modernizes its agriculture. A Government Agency is cooperating with the f. A. P. Team. It says the insect protection model can easily be inintegratd into the countrys agricultural planning. Malika i think f. A. P. , or the inclusion of wild pollinators in agriculture, f fits in perfecty with the ministrys current strategy. It involves making agriculture more intelligent in the face of Climate Change. Reporter agriculture in the face of Climate Change. The agency now offers training based on the f. A. P. Model. Farmers learn that plalants tht rely on pollinators usually consume less water than wheat, for example. Thats useful to know, because in the future water will be even scarcecer. Stefanie we cannot train the farmers now what to do in 2050, but we can educate them in a way that they are able to respond to the reality they will have then. And sustaining pollinators will definitely increase the Climate Change resilience of their livelihood, and the more knowledge they get on pollination protection, the better. Reporter farmers as insect protectors. Based on the current data, the model seems to be working. Stefanie yeah. So, lets check in the zucchini. It is in very, very good condition. Very good. Reporter the farmers make more profit from the areas with more pollinatorfriendly plants. This is the second year that Mohamed Chokri has been farming using the f. A. P. Method. Mohamed our income has increased, a and with it, ouour lives have improved. We benefit from m it. We can sell more. Previously, we only sold wheat, vegetables, and pulses. Now i know that i can grow different products. As well as other vegetables besides the traditional ones. Reporter chokri wants to use the method on a much bigger field in the future. And if other countries adopt the f. A. P. Model, the impact on insect populations could be significant. Host coral reefs cover an area of around 600,000 square kilometers worldwide. They grow almost exclusively in warm, tropical seas. The reefs are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, with 60,000 species discovered there so far, including thousands of different fish. The reefs may be home to up to a million animal species. But rising sea temperatures are causing whats known as coral bleaching, with fatal consequences. Fishing harms biodiversity, too. And garbage poisons the marine life in the reef. Turning things around is a big challenge. Reporter with its breathtaking beauty, belize is paradise on earth. Or at least, thats how it looks. S. Were eating pig today. You guys want some pig . Reporter but t e countrys most prized posssssion li undederwer the e incredible biodiversity of its 7000yearold coral reef, the second largest in the world. The reefef was dying, but isw gradually y being broughght bao fe. Monique vernon is one of those fighting on its behalf. She cant think of a more wonderful job, she says. Even as a child, the 25yearold knew she would one day become a saver of reefs. Monique what i feel like when i go to work is like, yes. When they call me and say, alright, were gonna go do this here, go check the corals here, or whatever it is, im like, alright, lets do this, lets rock this, lets rock today. Reporter in the coastal village of plasencia, locals survive on fishing and tourism, both of which depend on the reef. Monique you know, i come out on this trip many times, many days, and i say, man, i am so blessed. And i look at everything that is in front of me and i think, i hope one day this doesnt become a memory. Reporter beneath the surface, its clear why the reef is struggling. The corals have been dying off. E seawaterer is too warm, to acididic. And the frequent cyclones have wreaked havoc. Hehere, climate e change is tug evererything grey. Y. Together w with marine b biolot and the frequent cyclones have lisa carne and her organization fragments of hope, monique is rebuilding the corals. Lisa were overdue, and so theres no time to waste right now. The corals are basically like the forest in the sea, so just like the trees in the forest provide habitat and shelter for so many other animals, the corals do the same on the reef. Reporter very meticulously, after Much Research and carell sectioion, ty takeke aew fragagments of some e especiay hardy, quiuickgrowing c cora. Then t they plant ththem in new places. Its called microfragmentg. G. Fit ththe cols arere c into small pieces. These are the fragments of hope. And time is of the essence. The divers plant the smamall pieces o of living cororal amone dead ones. Several times a ekek, theylacece the e coral pieceses in prepad cement, as they needed a see foundation. Moninique this seseems like at of work, but its for the future, and thats all that matters. Rereporter arouound 80 of thte fragmements survive. E. These ones have been growingoror 18onthths. Lifefes returning and attracting rere life th i it. A school o of sardines, fr examplple. The fish need the corals. Edlin leslie is a fisherman, like his father and grandfather before him. And his son is set to follow in his footsteps. Edlin watches the pelican. It shows him where his bait will go. Edlin i grew up out here. I quit school from 15 years old and i started fishing with my dad. But this is my school, the ocean. Reporter edlin also sees himself as a reef protector. He would never use large fishing nets, for example. They kill too many animals and corals. Edlin if you dont have a healthy reef you dont have any fish to go after. You know . The reef system protects the fishes. If you dont have the fishes cleaning these corals and stuff like that, the corals will die, too. Reporter edlin is dedicated to fifishing sustaiainably. Not t everyone is. S. He protects the crayfishjujust its notot yet fishingng seas. Though hes not so forgiving with the fire fish. Edlin this kills all the little fishes that live around the corals and groom the corals. Reporter the belize government has now divided the reef into zones in order to protect it. You can n only fisish in yourn area, to allowow species t o recover. R. Thats what edlin is committed to. Edlin weve got to protect, or else the future is not going to be here for our kids, you know. If you conserve as much as possible, the future will be beautiful. Reporter edlin was among those putting pressure on the government, such as when it handed out exploration licenses to oil companies. Images of the Catastrophic Oil spill in the gulf of mexico in 2010 shocked many here into action. Edlin helped organize petitions. The u. N. Supported the campaign. Only then did the Government Back down. Edlin we dont want oil in belize. We want no dredging, no oil plants, nothing like that on our reef, because one little oil spill and the whole reef will be dead. Reporter the people of belize are fighting for their reef. Monique takes stock k of the farm c coral shehell soon fid w homes fofor. The redonations. Ors work is they proudly sw w us theesulults ofof eight yearsrs work. Coral covehas increased from just 6 to over 50 . All the hard work is worth it. The reef has been able to recuperate. Lisa this is not solving the Climate Change crisis. All this is is a little bandaid buying us some time for the Coastal Community people here. Monique i say its all about political will. I think we can do this if we have the people behind us. We can do this. Reporter a long day draws to a close. Edlin sells his daily catch to a fish restaurant. From the sea, fresh to the plate. Now moniques coral has to take firm enough hold that it can withstand any storm that comes its way. Host once again, our reporters were invited to take a glimpse inside one of worlds living rooms. This time in pune, india. Nitika welcome. Thisis is my husbaband. Hello. Nitika we l live in thiss bebeautiful placace home in p. And we have e somehow foununde bebest of friendnds each otot, each other. And think kr ill tl yoyou why this paintin. There is chaos all around. Therees fire, thereres ang, theres haed. But buddha, hes alall lm and he is wiwith inner peaeace. And d i love that t about this paintiting. So n no matterer how much chaou haveven life, you can alwaysys find happiness. Cay overerrom my childhoodohe eces t tis home. Agaged t this b belonged to m my mother. My father hahas purchased d it , 60 years b back. And d to bring thihis here ano look into this mirror,r, i somew managed toto steal thosese mems and keep i it with me. Thank you so much fofor comingo our place,e, to our humbmble a. Happinesess, we wish y you hea, and we wish h we can see y you n on. Host thths it for r global 303000 this weeeek. Wed love to hear from you. Email us at global3000 dw. Com, or visit us on facebook. Youll find us under dw women. See you next time. Byebye. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] 05 22 20 05 22 20 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from new york city, the epicenter of the p pandemic, ths is demraracy now just unbelievable, a maid, that they would want to it shocks the conscious. You just cant believe it, but it is real in 2020. Amy authorities arrest a third white men for the killing of ahmaud arbery. This one charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to