named after a native mangrove, the island became famous for its surfing scene, considered the best in the philippines. but the main draw for many is siargao's largely unspoilt natural environment. and when you are zipping around on a bike it's easy to see how stunning this place is. in 2019 siargao was voted the best island in asia, and was dubbed the next bali, with plans for further development on the horizon. in december 2021, everything changed. category 5 super typhoon odette hit the island off—guard,

with wind speeds of up to 195km/h. these winds caused huge amounts of damage, while storm surges flooded coastal areas. oh my gosh. so, it has been a little over a year since super typhoon odette hit this island, but you can still see the scars. it has been a tough time for the islanders, who are so heavily reliant on tourism. visitor numbers have almost halved since 2019, following the double whammy of the global pandemic and the typhoon. but the industry is slowly recovering, and developing new and resilient

tourism strategies. this farm offers visitors the chance to learn how the island is evolving. siargao relies heavily on food imports, so wants to grow more of its own crops. and tourists who want to try something away from the beaches get tojoin in. the tour company we have created is called lokal experience, so it's all about experiencing the local livelihoods and the local ways of life, and part of it that they really enjoy is they really get to interact with the locals, people like our farmers who spearhead the tours, heartheirstories, hear about their lives. we will do... analyn is originally from siargao and returned home ten years ago after working as a nurse in manila. you need to put one, only one seed per...

0k. and what was it like here during typhoon odette? there was something like two stages. because in the first stage there is wind... and heavy rains, i wasjust smiling, ah, this is normal. because here in the island it is normal, that every december, every rainy season it is something like a typhoon every day. tropical storm. yeah. then there is one, two, three, four successive... something like 30 minutes go by, going bang, iwasjust there, and then... the roof of the house is all gone, and i am so really worried at that time. wow. but you've rebuilt.

yeah, still when it rains hard, it is like going again, so that was my really really, very traumatic experience. in some ways, life after odette was the worst part. the island was completely cut off, and supplies ran out fast. so were you here during odette, typhoon odette? i was here during odette. probably the worst experience of my life. there wasn't any power, there wasn't any water, and so for the first few weeks we were just eating whatever was left over in our fridges. i mean, hoping that it wouldn't spoil. and at a certain point i realised that the fishermen weren't going out

to sea, because there wasn't any fresh produce in the markets. fishing communities were severely affected, with many fishing boats damaged or destroyed during the typhoon. david decided to help. the best way to do it was to help repairfishing boats, so we could get them out on the water right away, so that's what we did. i used a service like a platform to raise money. i was planning maybe 30 boats, we ended up helping maybe 360 boats. oh, great! and do you think that has created more of a bond for you guys? i think so, a lot of the fishermen we have helped before, we still get fish from them now, and we know them more now, because we went through the worst in our lives, and we kind of helped each other bounce back.

the philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands, surrounded by seas that are heating up. and this, scientists say, puts the nation at a greater risk from climate change. super typhoon odette sadly claimed around 20 lives in siargao — though many believe if it wasn't for the mangroves that cover 50% of the island's coastline, more lives could have been lost. oh, it's vitally important, it's the heartbeat of the island. without the mangroves, the island would be exposed to natural disasters like typhoons and tsunamis and storm surges, which is a regular occurrence in the philippines. this february, the philippines government recognised siargao's mangrove forest of del carmen as a wetland of international importance.

this is good news when you consider in bygone decades, mangroves were ripped up forfirewood and building materials. when we came out the day after odette, you could clearly see that all the leaves of the mangroves were gone, it was bare, it was like a nude mangrove. but the roots and the trunks were all intact, you could really tell those communities were much more protected than those communities that were exposed on the coastline. those were completely, 100% demolished. but those communities that lived behind the mangroves had much less damage. the island might always be in the firing line of extreme weather events. but people here are harnessing the benefits of their natural environment, as they seek to deal with the impacts. and if you're thinking of coming

to the philippines anytime soon, here are some of the travel show�*s top tips. siargao's main surfing spot, cloud 9, is not for the faint—hearted. with thick—tubed waves breaking over razor—sharp corals, some pro surfers call it a "death ride". but if surfing isn't your thing, there's plenty of other activities you can do in the water here. you can take a boat trip through the mangroves to end up at sugba lagoon. it looks like a tropical paradise you would see on a postcard — well, if your idea of paradise is throwing yourself off a i2—foot diving board. further afield from the shores of siargao is the island of bohol, the home of the tarsiers. these little animals have been around for 45 million years but are now almost extinct.

beware — they're so sensitive that even a camera flash or a touch of a human can severely hurt or even kill them, so they're best to be looked at from a distance, guided by the volunteers. luzon, the largest island in the philippines, is home to the banaue rice terraces. this unesco world heritage site was carved into the mountainside over 2,000 years ago using traditional hand tools and techniques. visitors can hike or take guided tours to explore the terraces and learn more about the indigenous people who built them.

we are it's in sydney's enormous month long worldpride festival to find out how indigenous gay and lesbian people are being put front and centre at the celebrations. and that's what we're doing on stage. and you can also catch us on the bbc iplayer, and we are on social media, too, in all the usual places, along with some great travel content from around the bbc. but until then, from all of us here in the philippines, it's goodbye and see you soon. hello. things have been turning progressively colder through the weekend. hello.

things have been turning progressively colder today. we started with some rain across southern areas as that slowly cleared eastwards. it left a hang back of cloud, but also some bright or sunny spells. but the north or northeasterly winds have been starting to dig in. and with that cold air already embedded across parts of scotland and northern england, some of the showers that we saw here gave a covering of snow. and there's more wintry showers overnight for the northern isles, northern scotland, northeast england, perhaps even clipping parts of east anglia. increasingly clear skies for many away from eastern coast, but some cloud developing through parts of wales and southwest england, maybe a few showers here. and also temperatures here will be a few degrees above freezing. but for many, temperatures at or below zero, minus five or minus six for parts of northern scotland. so an ice risk where we've had the showers and a frost for many. so it's a cold and dry start to the new week. it doesn't last for long. it will soon turn wet and windy, but also very mild, particularly for the middle part of the week. this is how monday shapes up underneath an area of high pressure. it's the only day of the week that we see this set up. waiting in the wings is our next atlantic system. we'll see the cloud moving in ahead of that later in the day. but monday morning will be crisp,

plenty of sunshine for many. still some wintry showers for eastern coast. they will tend to fade once again. cloud for parts of south west. england and wales could bring a few showers, but cloud, rain, sleet and snow moving into the northern isles later in the day. still a cold feeling day, but we'll have lost that biting northeasterly winds. it won't feel quite as cold as sunday, particularly for northeastern coast. and a dry cold start to monday night before the cloud starts to gather ahead of this atlantic system that i previously mentioned. and this will be extending its way north and eastwards through the early hours of tuesday morning and then staying with us for much of the day on tuesday. and as it bumps into that cold air across scotland, the potential that we could see some snow for a time through tuesday morning, certainly some heavy rain initially across western areas, but then soon extending further eastwards, perhaps turning drier and brighter across northern ireland in the afternoon, temperatures rising a touch. but given the strengthening wind, the cloud and the rain still going to feel on the cool side. and then there's more atlantic systems moving our way as we head through wednesday, thursday. and an area of low pressure will linger through friday and saturday. so after that cold, dry start on monday, it will quickly turn wetter

and potentially windy as well through thursday and friday, but also much milder.

this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the headlines a state of emergency in mississippi— after a powerful tornado kills at least 26 people. nato has condemned russia for its "dangerous and irresponsible" rhetoric, a day after president putin said moscow would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in belarus. two boats carrying migrants sink off the coast of tunisia. 29 people have died and others are still missing. and early projections suggest voters in berlin have voted against making the german capital climate neurtal by 2030, in a referendum held today.