small matter of a looming election join me steve clemons in conversation with leading voices on the bottom line your weekly take on u.s. politics and society on al-jazeera. back. to cope with our growing population we have tripled our exploitation of natural resources in just 40 years as a result of the vast expansion of mining industrial scale farming fishing and other human activities natural ecosystems have lost nearly half the area and $1000000.00 plant and animal species a facing extinction without the ecological networks which regulate our planet's

from cleaning and water to providing food we simply cannot survive but there is still time we meet the pioneers striving to protect 2 of our most valuable remaining ecosystems. are buried in sweden where an inventive clothing company is using groundbreaking technology to fight before station and i'm a man to borrow in tacking where one man is fighting to protect a wetlands haven for migrating birds why. the fashion industry is worth $1.00 trillion dollars every year tax when you factor is made billions of garments why only be born once a choice before ending up in a landfill the so-called fast fashion is incredibly resource intensive and perhaps surprisingly one of the key troilus. biodiversity loss and deforestation. i'm in

sweden where one company is working on a green solution to this global problem but 1st i want to understand the impact of fast fashion. so just 20 kilometers of sage still cool is to try to meet in the forest a forest that we're in a way that to me the cool right but she's conservationist and she's on a mission to protect against forests around the world and it's. great to see you thanks so much we come to stockholm to do a story about fashion why everyone for it is so there's 115000000 trees that disappear every year into the clothing that we all wear and slated to double within the next decade i have never heard of that connection between the train and fashion and and the forestry the overall it's not an intuitive flick that something that soft and soaking extra skin and actually it starts off as a tree many of these trees come from endangered forests thousands of years old

known as primary forests around the world 50 percent are already being lost due to human impacts such as logging. nicole brown's canopy an organization dedicated to protecting those still remain it's a complete breakdown of the ecological function of that area and is a massive release of carbon into the atmosphere and disrupts species of attacks even though trees can grow back ancient and in danger of farce or clay simple. after the forest to clear the wood is poked and processed into fabrics called rail and viscous but is shockingly wasteful. as much as 70 percent of the harvested wood is dumped or incinerated. just 30 percent ends up in the going to be where. people works with businesses that source from primary for. it's to find the green

alternatives one of their main focal points is the global fashion industry what's your strategy how are you going to make a difference in this my experience is that it's some of the speed global brands they have the ability to actually engage their suppliers to stop them from logging in ancient and endangered forest ecosystems and if we can redirect it to be more sustainable now using recycled fabrics rather than ending up in landfill and for the current capacity that's already in production let's just make sure it's not coming from really important ancient endangered forest regions. so you're talking about kind of a 2 prong approach one is the kind of conservation stopping that deforestation in the 1st place and the 2nd one is this recycling element so reusing what's already been produced so that's a big priority for canopy is to really help kick start commercial scale production on things next generation solutions like recycled clothing being used

a confession to make have to get thermal because i was terrified we're going to freeze and i looked at the label and the way here is that there is 3 percent this go there we go i wouldn't feel bad as you i was surprised when i 1st discovered the link between ancient and endangered far some discos. can appear helping to transform the fashion industry. one of their partners is a recycling company in the town of christian called the new cell. they've invented a pioneering technology that promises to transform textile manufacturing. became of age in 2014 when a catwalk modeled on the yellow dress made from 100 percent chemically research group fabrics the 1st time i. see your math is johnson is offered to show me how it all works. right at the beginning yeah this is coach don't you this is the blue jeans that deep. where the chair and them disposed off so what's next for

this it goes into our frederick that is the protests in a dry state where we separate any home and then it goes into what stage we just told you just lowering that it would take out some of the color we believe and then we draw it what would be happening in itself if you guys weren't using it you approach it most of it would be a landfill or. we're getting from evil no from you guys i think if we don't weed in the machine i don't know if it didn't break down. every stage of the process is being carefully considered. the dyson chemicals are all recyclable. in the water as we used to. after the drawing process the fabric is pristine packed into people like sheets. surprising to me they could be the end product this is most of the basis on things i'm not

a fan of know that's one of those really good start for making gold fibers. this is to roma to you from which to fiscals fabric is finally made. and this is the best you can put it like a normal fiver then you got done with it could be woven into any our clothing. when we go here this is the famous yellow dress this is the world's 1st chemically recycled piece of garment wow ok it's made from blue jeans you know from the same stuff it doesn't look like a would be environmentally friendly garment this looks like any other garment you would see in the high street absolutely and that's why we are not necessarily call this recycling we call it absolutely right. i'm inspired but we're seeing here that when you sell hoping to open another 3 plants within the next 5 years manufacture is art. taking steps towards reducing the pressure on primary forests for all this

to make a real difference in this to be a demand that demand starts here high street. we are aware that there is a connection between the fashion industry and deforestation. these are both good do you know what frisco's is. you know it's synthetic material rather. more material you know where it comes from no idea are you aware of this connection between the fashion industry and the forestation no i had no idea. but judging by these shoppers there's some way to go before awareness we drive to my. organization kind of be working to bring suppliers like we knew so together with brands can stalk their products big fashion brands they are driving a lot of the problems that we're seeing how do you dress that sure seems to be a bit with this connect the clothing touches all of our lives on a daily basis it produces 100000000000 gallons every year it has

a big footprint and you can not have a big footprint when you're that big and it's exactly because of that reason that we need them to be part of the solution so it's fun to be here i think on on high street name and tween canopies brand partners kampala and who are part of 170 plus brands that we're working with in the fashion sector to transform the disco surrounds might change so you said you've been working with them and we see some of the stuff you've been working on yeah absolutely let's just go inside and have a look. try to be success is growing all the time because hoopy soon every store will store clothing. so this is a frac of clothing that has a variety of different environmental quality so this product here is really interesting as far as you can tell just a pair of denim jeans 20 percent recycled caught reduces. we saw them producing

a kind of a feed stock which was 100 percent recycled cotton do you think we're going to get to that point i do and i think you know in the short term this is what's available today and when you sell is hopefully next season it's clothing so that this moves from having 20 percent recycled cotton to 100 percent recycled. h. and m. recently partnered with the new so to support its continuing research this is part of the clothing joints pledge to use 100 percent sustainably source of clothing by 2030 which will be traced the same cost as non-sustainable items and in-store customers are encouraged to drop of unwanted garments to be recycled by companies like what you sell. i'm quite serious to see if there's anything in here if there's that's the only thing in your own look at that they can be any quotes they can be any brands of clothing we have been working with big global retailers and designers on ensuring that this recycling program actually continues to increase so that it

gets fed back into the calling supply chain and ultimately becomes next season's fashion so literally kind of closing the loop on it that's where we want to get that's that's where we want to get to. discovering the link between the fashion industry and deforestation was deeply shocking i think with organizations like canopy and when you say oh raising awareness there is hope for the future it's a massive challenge but i think in the public are armed with the right information they'll be able to demand more from the retailer is and then we might see a precious forests stop being the victims of fashion. ecosystems. are just like the systems of the but as long as they are looked after and managed well then the body is in good shape and if they're mismanaged and

not cared for the body could potentially die. ecosystem collapse is akin to organ failure in our own bodies if enough of the organs that make up the terrestrial body are removed or are made sick the body dies. again the earth is no different. each of us has a role to play in fixing this problem. we could have a world that is beautiful and vital and alive. or one that is quite bleak and quite brutal it's directly related to what we choose to do whether or not we actually choose to do the work necessary to mend and repair and rehabilitate our ecosystems or to participate in their death.

went to the richest habitats on the planet in this remote corner of north eastern turkey is one which is proving to be an ecological jam conservationists have only recently realized it's vitally important not only for local birds but also for those migrating from all over the world and yet the arris river wetland is under threat i've come here to me some man who's hoping to save this remarkable part of the world's. chance check a geologist as a world renowned on apologist souljah to form a professor in the united states every year china returns to his homeland of turkey and comes to this arid part of the country bush draws him here at the 5 kilometer square pocket of land the irish river where. chan came across it in 2005 and was looking just playing with google earth and i thought this looks like

a globally important oasis in critical spot for migration breeding and wintering birds and is counted the front coming here in person and i thought this is this is a place where i want to do long term research to really understand what birds use this area this rare wetland situated in a dry sub desert region is created when the iris river floods it's ideally located for migrating birds out of $35.00 global hotspots we're at the intersection of not one but $23.00 of the eights world's global bird migration flyways intersect right where we are in northeastern turkey it is one of the most special wetlands on the planet if you base it discovered a treasure trove how did you feel it was so exciting and it was so beautiful i mean i really did not expect after 15 years we would have recorded almost 300 burst species the 2 thirds of the end tar even far off the whole country. recorded over

centuries i mean in this one spot of the 290 bird species or a before and i documented here 21 globally threatened or near threatened including the gyptian vulture and the current but further danger is looming the government wants to down this tar valley as far as that village over there flood this whole place all this will be under 45 meters of water and every season i come here just seeing it still there is like a relief because i'm always afraid it will all be gone i have to come here and see it for myself. early the next morning chantix me to the burgeoning station down in the wetlands and. he's currently fighting the calls to reverse the government's decision to

build the dam he hopes the data gathered here look at the wetlands rich biodiversity and thereby ensure its protection we see everything here from minus 10 to plus 47 grade in the shade during a very cold here or very well that was 10 degrees today exactly to get inside sort of yeah we're going to see on the oh yeah we do we really are right in this turkey inside the team already hard at work on a raising the city to the tiny way and i touch i don't want to. miss you got. $600.00 metres of bird net that surrounds station every hour from sunrise to sunset during spring and autumn migration seasons the nets to check to see if any bad to flowing into them is going to check the raptor and that. there's nothing there so we go back but it's migrate to find conditions favorable for living and breathing it's early in the season here so bird numbers are low but

there are some beautiful specimens so we've got a birds ok and then that puts this this up. to the elect or. they hit the slide into our pocket and then get entangled. some of the birds courts here have flown for days nonstop and migrate from hundreds or even thousands of kilometers initially to be able to survive the journey is one thing they all need fat that's their fuel right before migration some birds will double their body mass and that's why places like this are so critical because they need these stop over locations to keep eating and to keep replenishing their fuel reserves now that i'm down in the valley i can get a sense of why they stop because it's warmer than just a bit higher up there's water everywhere it's a phone it's coming out and the thing that you can't see on camera is that there's actually less insects so there's a huge amount of food to be got here by migrating birds one in 8 bird species are

facing global extinction due to perils including habitat loss and pollution so it's only increases the importance of an oasis like this these days if you're studying biodiversity it's almost impossible not to become an activist because you know your study things that are being destroyed every moment you study them one roman ramírez is a spanish ornithologist one of $401.00 in tears from $33.00 countries who've come to work here since chancellor station in 2005 now we've got the birds from usenet that would go to the station would bring them think. that on the back of the right. it was born in italy last year and this is their 1st as being the nation for this bird it's amazing so even when it's just one year old it knows instinctively where it has to go that's incredible natural signs including changing day lengths trigger

the birds who moans which switch on the urge to travel. all the information gathered here is sent to a central database a chance university in utah. ready with on m.l.s. . jockeys. and some one of your 6 or. one of those. who will live to get on the. good. fat score free for this very very condition on the other one by blowing on the bird chest one can tell it's fact levels if it is pink they are low and if yellow the bird is clump enough to travel on its. ice just so slowly it's and i think that this bird has come from really thousands of kilometers forever for the start of its journey in africa he said it's just extraordinary is it so tiny.

or something. like oh for every individual with a couple of years. or you can feel its heart beating this tiny little heart once all the data has been gathered the birds can be released who doesn't want to go. over 14 years the team have rings around $108000.00 birds. when they are caught elsewhere researches can contact the station here and their migration can be tracked. i feel like i've learned so much about why this place is so important as a refueling station for those birds which are travelling across the world on their journeys and being here with a team witnessing of their passion and their commitment to the cool was has really brought home to me just how important this place is. but 16

kilometers is not the right answer in mind that despite its importance the fate of the ara through the wetland it's far from secure this is why i wanted to bring you here just to see what happens when you build a dam on your ever could but it's not if you can already and there's basically nothing i mean there is a couple things on the arid cliffs but where are the wetland birds nothing on the shoreline no waders on the mudflats. about a decade after this is built there is no or revegetation hardly anything has come back and remember at our us it's the floodplain of the river that's creating all those wetlands and because here by design there will not be any flooding you're not going to have that rich soil and all the vegetation that grows on the whole valley will look like this ecologically everywhere you go around the world the south find

balance between development and nature and of course progress has to be made what's needed is solutions that benefit both populations and the natural while. chan has some reason to feel hopeful in his efforts to win protected status for the arris river wetlands. in 2009 with data provided by him and his team make clear 70 kilometers north of paris was designated a ram style wetland international recognition as being of global importance i can see hundreds hundreds or any yeah i said it cannot survive the kitted out and see the cranes got there and there are some ducks in there these critical lakes when dealing and going out one by one so could you because one of the last and most important lakes in the entire north eastern turkey but from star status doesn't mean the lake is thriving direct impacts such as draining it for irrigation and

hunting have stopped but indirect threats remain groundwater extraction through need by wells is reducing the lakes water levels and animals still graze the retired state in september 28th the lake dried up completely it was just like dry mud during the season when it is the most important for birds there was no water and no birds the chance a it's a ram sar site and declare victory and walk away i mean. casu issues a never ending battle like as long as that place is there you have to make sure it stays chan is working on a number of fronts to save the lake and has just signed an agreement to protect it with the provincial governor meanwhile his struggle to prevent the dam from being built on the iris river wetland continues just coming here regularly year after year with eyes being the importance of the work we are doing and even if i lose all

have it on my conscience i'll know i have done my best and i didn't just turn my back and gave up. it is that tomatoes around half the world's wetlands have disappeared in the past century. lake and the arris river wetlands have chanted champion then because global development continues apace more wetlands in other parts of the world are going to need a local hero to fight that corner. across the globe ecosystems are falling victim to human exploitation. one possible way of ensuring that protection is to enshrined are right to defend themselves in law. in the us in the 1970 s. a legal scholar called christopher starr proposed that nature should be seen as a living entity with the same legal rights as people. it works through human representatives be able to stand up in court and defend itself against threats to

its well being. since then the idea has been gaining traction. in 2008 ecuador wrote it into its constitution becoming the 1st country to give nature the legal right to exist and flourish and in 2017 new zealand sad largest river to find a new e was given legal status after marriage tried for it for its rights to be preserved . the way forward isn't simple for the future of conservation may lie in ensuring nature has recourse to justice. global food production is wasteful and it's training our planet. but pioneers are adapting with new food sources jellyfish is delicious with a very light seafood taste and a texture and some that are aged. and innovative production techniques i've seen

are but so far before i would never in a restaurant after say this is great earthrise feeding the 1000000000 on a jersey. shirt

on rajapaksa brothers when a landslide victory in part of entry elections that could see them see their political dynasty. play watching al jazeera live from. world headquarters in doha i'm fully back also coming up protests in lebanon over a huge explosion that killed at least 149 people as french president emmanuel michel calls for a new political system saudi arabia's crown prince is being sued by a former intelligence officer he says mohammed bin soundman sent

a hit squad to canada to kill him and donald trump signs an executive order banning americans from carrying out transactions with the chinese own exotic town. thank you very much for joining as a governing body of sri lanka's president go to buy our rajapaksa has won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections and along with its allies it has security 2 thirds majority giving the president the power to enact sweeping changes to the constitution the sri lankans people's front is led by rajapaksa brothers the rajapaksa grab brothers. who service president and prime minister respectively the results now look certain to strengthen their dynastic rule but it's raising fears of weakening government institutions such as independent commissions for police.