leticia council election for a year and a major blow to the pro-democracy camp she described it as the hardest decision she's had to make in months and cited coronaviruses a reason but opposition politicians say the decision is politically motivated. a prominent author and opposition spokeswoman are among dozens arrested in zimbabwe as police tried to put a stop to anti-government protests opposition parties are calling for demonstrations on saturday against food and fuel shortages as well as 700 percent inflation the afghan government has freed more taliban prisoners their release coincides with a 3 day cease fire during. both sides have signaled that peace talks could start when the holiday is all right yeah stay with headlines we have more news here on out sara right after the thrice.

in conflicts one of the silent and forgotten casualties is often the environment. from the chemical contamination of soils and the collapse of water and food supplies to the habitat damage caused by displacement. has devastating consequences. not sunni manmade infrastructure has but also not to ecosystems are destroyed and i'm a lives lost as well as human. but even amidst the most vicious struggles

through people fighting to protect the world we live on to cover what was lost. i'm tanya a sheet and bangladesh in the world's largest refugee camps where people are working to co-exist with the elephants for which this region is home and i'm happy to talk to lebanon on were group of scientists is rebuilding a seed bank that was displaced by the war in syria. in august 27000 a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing began in myanmar. the military and buddhist radicals claimed the lives of more than $6000.00 in a single month. fearing death thousands more fled the country for the 4th of bangladesh. the scale of the exodus was enormous. today they are still unable to return home but. there are over 1200000 rohingya refugees living

inside of the sprawling kept the bunker that. this is now the biggest settlement of refugees in the world. many of them don't have access to clean water sanitation or even electricity. but after they arrived the survivors faced a new threat wild elephants rampaging through county. i'm meeting on one about them who witnessed the initial episode firsthand it came from there we did. that looked and came to a cost you know from the jungle over that way when directly to her shoulder and started beating her heart with it but it struck. this was no one on on the fence truck repeatedly throughout the camp killing 13 people in the space of 5 months.

can you tell me a little bit about what happened was it was rather the other side of the just sort of the body was difficult on her own to hold on to the little or little bit of a little bit i believe that i do agree with what happened after that but i took a little bit of that i will put it to you in wimbledon or the us in the morning a lot of you only knew go down ahead of the us well you know for sure but i didn't hear jojoba mother that they ducked behind a mother that said the home as if it had told the family did was i love you i got lost in his official mind what okun is all about budget boom is about i want. to know a lot. more got how to google with gold or whatever you will hold over here boy a little bit moving. the attack sparked an investigation into what was going on. recchi but i mean from the international union for conservation of nature believes the rapid expansion of the

settlement had a profound impact on the natural environment this is the edge of the camp or a cave right yeah this is where the forest began yes what's been going on was the cause behind all of these that you see on all camps they used to be forest there seems to be an elephant have habitat. the cap expanded at an astonishing rate over $1500.00 hectares of forests were cleared to accommodate the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees. but nobody realised the devastating impact this would have the growing camps severed a vital lifeline for some of bangladesh's last remaining wild elephants blocking a herd of 40 from their only path to financial grazing ground. just over. there is a species we call the elephant now the since the camp is completely blocking that coated elephant cannot pass through this have it's in search of his shelter in

search of his food essential for his migration path elephants was trying to come inside the camp elephant came so many times and 13 you know sent a life force and lost. an elephant is not necessarily a violent mammal it's very intelligent understands it has these emotions and is show us that he's lost his habitat he's desperate to do this animal migration. it's in their d.n.a. elephant is a genetic memory is it didn't know exactly where they have been growing where they have been roaming generation after generation they take the same part. the elephants of bangladesh are critically endangered there are just $268.00 left and they're increasingly under threat. $15000.00 hectares of land are already deforested in the country every year. and this cap only adds to the problem. to

help me understand what the elephants are up against i've hired a local guy. so the man in front of me. his name means golden boy and he's our tracker for the day i think we're going to have. it's not long before we find clues that we're on the right path. that is if we're not there boggling going to say is that the default bond for the bank if the recall didn't add up without i would have basic i thought that i believe bank living is that. we find evidence of hungry elephants everywhere we're just sick our system it's just guys like the elephant whisperer. tells me that by the end of the summer much of the elephants food here will be gone. then they face a nightmare scenario attempt to migrate through the camp to me in march in search of fresh vegetation or risk running out of food. this is

a face with a gun i guess if they don't go there very we're following the actual footsteps of the elephants elephants have walked along this path every season for thousands of years until they really excited i wonder for actually going to encounter some elephants or being told that just a few steps away that they're there then against the odds a moment i can't believe. a majestic standing proud on the horizon. it's just i think what i experience i've never seen an elephant like while my 1st time. it looks so peaceful in its natural habitat it's just really crazy to think that before the caps were put in place. that the sis what it was a large 4. animals roaming about and now there's

a human made crisis at play with sprawling refugee camps and it's just a very sad situation. but a select band of refugees is working to solve the problem with the support of the international union for conservation of nature there formed a group dedicated to safety shepherding the elephants from the camp. they call themselves the tough course. central to their strategy our $94.00 watchtowers which they built around the camp perimeter. they are manned by a team of over 500 brave refugees ready to intervene and protect both the people and the elephants. i'm heading up for a bird's eye view. of. ok so what's going on there simulating what actually happens when the calmest and you see the yellow

shirts yeah. possibles men less so they are using their megaphone they know how to respond and they want to form one of them and say it will and slowly moves to us alison said the delavan understands this danger i had. down on the ground it's clear how committed the test scores are. happening condition training go to the right. i stand. by the hockey ice in the town that i'm the one of the 7 i think. quite loud and scary i think that would certainly show an elephant off. since the times 1st started there has been no loss of life here despite 45 incursions by elephants it's an effective temporary solution until a long. term plan is made for managing the animals migration. the

tusk has motivated the community with over 500 people signing up to join and has supporters throughout the camp. what are you doing over here what is this. the idea i think it's all these different patterns and colors seems like it's a lot of work to do why go through all this trouble to do it. by that had to be. ready. do you feel that there is more danger of living on the edge of the forest versus people who live in the interior of the camp and. get out that. i sort of look is no good. at them but.

i've been lucky. and both. not only do people feel more secure they are also more sensitive to the elephant situation and saving the animals is now even part of the school's curriculum t.v. you know i still. am doing. the objective is not to build on this momentum. recchi was already taking steps to find a permanent solution to the problem beginning with an in-depth scientific study of the elephants migratory habit. we are planning to put radio caller on the allison this will give us valuable data valuable science to have a better management of the whole situation once the exact migration route is no the goal is to clear a path for the elephants so that they can migrate unhindered once again of course

we want to open the cordoned off from last possible that are so few of the issues that we need to consider before doing that it will take about $100000.00 people going to people to move somewhere else that would be an immense logistical challenge but as human refugees continue to resettle around the world full moves are needed to reduce the impact on local animal populations what i've seen here gives me hope that animals do not always need to be victims of conflict and that a peaceful coexistence is possible. and. there are over 40 armed conflicts happening in the world today. each of them will leave a dangerous environmental legacy. and we can see that protection the environment is a norm and something which we do better standards in place yet during conflict it's almost that anything goes because whatever damage your mind can there's no

accountability there's no redress. we see very severe damage to many countries and many different ways damage to infrastructure such as serious risks a water facilities over extraction of resources. tax on industrial sites causing bust massive pollution so you can have these impacts there's going to spiral on and last for decades after the conflict ends. when iraq in 20162017 islamic states at $530.00 oil wells something's been for 9 months covering hundreds of square kilometers and for lots of pollution. dealing with health temptation caused by these fires is going to take years. so for the last 10 or 15 years we've seen increasing interest from governments around to actually implement to relations conflicts he's got a new favorite scotsmen fostex know all the conflicts of merriment embalm spandau mission many ways and that has consequences. so unless we focus on the environment you're in conflict and storing up a lot of problems in feature. we

live in a turbulent world where conflicts and climate change are threatening our environments and the scary part is that the crops ruined for food are increasingly finding it hard to survive and in some cases they're going extinct. crop diversity is essential for food security and has declined by 3 quarters since in 1000 hundreds. but there is an insurance policy a global network of seed banks these are backup repositories of seeds which safeguard their biodiversity. and can be turned to in times of crisis. when more broke out in syria in 20111 of these vital stores came under threat. on the outskirts of aleppo the team of scientists charged with maintaining the seed bank were forced to abandon their work and flee the country. but they never gave up

hope. when some of them resettled just over the border in lebanon's bekaa valley they began rebuilding their collection. i'm traveling to the i car to seed bank to meet one of these scientists dr alisha hardy hi ali good to see that what happened to the seed bank in aleppo syria it became possible to access to the g.m. by god the premises and the public 2015 because every band accessed through the sent by the armed group controlling the area. they stole the vehicles they stole the lot of equipments nothing left in the head coach to exit the buildings and the june by. the war forced 5000000 refugees out of syria right now it's not safe for a doctor so how did to continue his work at home. how hard was it to leave that

seed bank behind i spent more than. 27 years of my life for going to the gym bag so it's a like you someone who left behind the babies or a long long history we dealt with them day by day we knew everything about the behavior of those plants in the field in the plastic houses even in the dream bangs time effort made by everybody. both syria and lebanon lie in the fertile crescent which is where farming began. it makes this part of the world an ideal place to work on safeguarding future food supplies this is the central origins or weekend probably the center of the misty cation because it's gone things all the forms of crops like barley we lentil chickpeas all these crops originated from this area.

i want to get a closer look at the operation dr mariana yes big leads a team of 20 scientists including 3 who have relocated from syria. their task is to painstakingly rebuild the syrian seed collection the seed vault here has a capacity to store 130000 seed varieties for over 100 years. the seeds are preserved by freezing them at temperatures of minus 20 degrees. all right. there we go. through. areas called. sea can see here south poles of the fresh crops are being conserved we're looking here. and you to me this is the heart the hard that is used for pasta making so we have a big collection of this and so i just decided fair process a fear that you're going to get you know 530 times all the cups are here you have

here barley a very important crops when you talk about dry areas and you talk with the 3 main crops which are we to talk about rice and you talk about corn so these are 3 main staple food that most of the users are using so important place this is a treasure these are important samples that we have to make sure they are surviving they are monitored they are available to the international community. there are $1750.00 strategically placed seed banks around the world each keeps a backup copy of their collection at the jewel in the crown of seed banks norway's fall of our global vaults. the doomsday vault it is built into the side of an arctic mountain so that the seeds can be frozen without the need for power. over 1000000 c varieties are stored here so when the syrian seed bank was abandoned due to the war dr yes because team were able to recall their backups so that this is it

was made to reconstruct our connection we did treat it trumps all of our we brought part of it here to 11 up and you could build our collection here we could make it available again for researchers. all the seeds that come here are tested in the lab for viability some are then cross-bred to increase their resilience and improve productivity. they have to make sure of 2 things 1st that they are free of diseases 2nd that they can actually germinate they can produce plants they're alive and work and. each one of those should have at least 85. out of $100.00 that proud and good have that's the rush that's the pressure. these seeds are thriving. but back in syria the war has decimated the country's ability to grow food one of the goals here in lebanon is to

create a healthy seed collection to help ensure the future of agriculture in syria when the conflict ends. up here from the roof i can see that there are fields there are greenhouse is there is even some cattle and it's not just about saving the seeds but also testing that trying to find out the best variations that can withstand climate change and secure our food supplies in the future. this region has been struggling with worsening drought for decades the dry soil in lebanon a similar to serious by testing seeds in the harsh conditions here doctors and how they and his team can be confident that the crops will be resilient enough to survive the arid syrian farmland. what are these plants right here this is a wind we this is opposed to domesticated wheat they are very unique and very volatile for a while then you can close it because they have adopted already to the harsh

environment and that has very very useful genes to overcome climate change africa disease. frost he. with climate conditions changing the biodiversity found here is vital not only for local but also global food security. already one of the wheat strains bred here has proven resistant to a disease known as yellow rust and has been sent to the us where crops were failing to fight it. but with global warming seed banks themselves can be vulnerable. what's worrying is that melting permafrost is even threatening this fall bar doomsday vault. research shows that the arctic town in which it's based is warming faster than any other. which makes the work being done in lebanon even more

critical. 25 syrians in the same number of locals attend the farmland here. so it looks like they're doing some really important work over here can i give them a hand yes of course they are doing the hand weeding. seems that modern science hasn't quite figured out an alternative to getting down your hands and knees and just getting your hands dirty so we're just looking for the weeds we don't want weeds interfere with his experiments we want to make sure that his crops grow right and we have to also be careful not to hurt the crop so the weeds kind of grow in between here so you really got to have a good i. haven't read it as so good. but. but then fairly and i had a civil lawsuit on him from the issue and stuff he'd been over with. dr ali has invited me for lunch meals are of course the final products of the crops

grown here it's a chance for him to tell me more about the life in syria he was forced to leave behind this is actually the. nice memory everybody had a role for leading because we had. failed infested biota wonky unit had decided to go all together the breed the. international the scientists the technicians assistant their labors even the tea lady contributed to that when they happy days it was happy days one of the most beautiful days and you're sure you'll go back yes very confident to go back. i should go back. and nothing like home. it would've been easy to write off the card a seed bank as just another casualty of the syrian conflict but the hard work and dedication of ali and his team have ensured that their work transcends the conflict and is able to continue to play a vital role in protecting global food supplies. environmental

fallout of who can linger for decades but what is being done to heal the damage. the charity hainault trust have cleared nearly a quarter of a 1000000 mines from cambodia helping to make over 6000 hectares of land safe for farming. in cameroon almost 50000 trees to be planted on degraded land around mina wow count which shelters refugees escaping violence in 1000. until after 50 years of conflict in a. was able to protect colombia's gibby cattail rain forest a former guerrilla stronghold. declaring this rich spider virus arian to be a world heritage site. in the midst of war the consequential damage to the environment can easily be overlooked but if we don't act to protect our natural

world be nothing left to fight for. a $150000000.00 trees disappear every year into the clothing that we all wear from uk cycling to save the forests the famous yellow dress fade from blue jeans. to conserving the world's dwindling wetlands 3 of the aids world's global bird migration watch reacher 6 right where we are the basic discovered a treasure trove it is one of the most special low clouds on the planet after ice ecosystems alight on al-jazeera.

and counting the cost of the wealth of banks prime minister as a parish because built on the backs of slaves how much does britain know about french an album pandemic could wipe out latin america's holiday and social and economic gains plus wild cards missing billions counting the cost on al-jazeera. japan is doing the math it's the way to protect against devastating tsunami one o one east investigative nature can be can time break the rules will expose commuters to greater danger. on al-jazeera.

an impact that will be felt for decades the coronavirus warning from the w.h.o. as americans of top disease experts offers some type of vaccine. we feel cautiously optimistic that we will have a vaccine by the end of this year and as we go into 2021. but on the clock this is.