but it's what you do with all our waste. we can make a difference by choosing smaller solutions overstrained said in our waste. little boy genius genius a series of moves resulting only to double down on. romania's bread basket is disappearing climate change and decades of overexploitation is resulting in the growth of a huge desert is it possible to stop the expansion of the sahara on the danube something like this for no reason to exist. we should break what is now 50 maybe 100 years it will also be covered with signs. can they still be prevented them when we are in an ongoing race with the sand and

climate change the marketing. octavian birch onno is an environmental activist and opposition politician from bucharest his mission is to stymie the expansion of the desert and prevent his homeland from becoming desolate this forestry expert fights nonstop for his cause sacrificing both his private life and his career he even confronts the mafia when necessary. octavian is driven because around him the

desert in romania is expanding and due to climate change the situation gets worse and worse every year there's a. across europe and europe doesn't mean only signs on the ground sand on the ground but only losing vegetation trees and things like this behind you can see. landfill the highest structure in bucharest and we lost our vegetation here it was a forest in the past now become a desert without 3 just ropes and things like this octavian has identified 2 culprits that are responsible for turning the outskirts of bucharest into sandy plains illegal garbage dumps and deforestation planting trees helps prevent the sand from advancing further loss of trees guerrilla planting is what tevi him and his helpers call what they do reforestation without official permission the work is

arduous every time when i'm arriving here we are donkey caucus. have to fight a lot to maintain by the 1st in this area. here because. we try to plant 30001003. garbage in this place to keep them bars the. best possible way. the sand at this garbage dump has traveled 200 kilometers a desert is growing here that is already 800 square kilometers in size the sound travels as far as bucharest other european countries including spain portugal and greece have a problem with just certification to octavian is determined to find a way to counteract it as a member of parliament for romania's 3rd strongest party save romania union

octavian walks through the corridors of power he has far more influence now as an elected official than he did when he was soley an environmental activist today he's known far beyond bucharest. concerned citizens from all across the country sent him photos and videos that show the full extent of desert of the cation. this is there are going to learn from the south korean you know we saw for harlem and scape actually this year was a new one this is an ordinary landscape in the south of rome and you know you see knockoffs far from being ringo. bringing a lot of. across half a room and you know. octavian sets out to the 2 main sources of encroaching sand to the region known as little

one like here he has found people there who have taken up the fight to preserve nature he plans to meet them and later promote their cars in the capital octavian is doing pioneering work in small communities in the countryside ones that are often ignored by the authorities. i go exactly what i. doubt or it is a state is. doing nothing i start looking on the satellite to my. to see the origin of the airport ocean and i saw those points in on the map and i realize that the have to go to find actually what happens in the field talk with the communities and. or the stakeholders. he doesn't benefit financially from this on the contrary it costs him money i actually don't

have a financial support for what i'm doing all the money came from my pocket and my pocket is very small because i mark in the part of the state actually the state based. on the euro's as the city council. today octavian is pinning his hopes on a forest owner names down popescu down has deeper pockets he earns his money by selling timber. but these trees have much more than just economic value for the entrepreneur. but you won't because when i touch this tree i feel connected to my father he planted this forest and i continue planting for him as he's no longer alive 1000 hectors were felled in the 1970 s.

for large scale agricultural projects it was my father's dream to replant the forest not only do i want to fulfill my father's dream i want to plant even more trees to remove. this part of all it has always been threatened by drought due to the sandy soil for centuries large forests prevented it from becoming a desert downpour peskov wants to reverse the clear cutting of the past but climate change makes the struggle to rectify previous environmental missteps a race against time. reforestation not only offers protection from further devastation it is also a sustainable source of income these workers earn 800 heroes a day for their back breaking work that might not sound like much but it is enough to live on in this region many of them previously went abroad as harvest and seasonal workers but now they are able to make

a living here. than protests go plans to plant 100000 hectares an area larger than berlin germany. down popescu a need someone with influence in the capital who will campaign for his reforestation plan and ensure the land is his to use octavian not only has good contacts and politics as a former greenpeace member he is also well connected in europe's environmental protection movement. was. former mayor aleksandra do know you works on gaining the trust of small farm. as in convincing them to give up their plots of land for the forestry project it's no easy feat at the start he had to push hard to win them over. which was offered us which we have 45 years of communism and cooperatives behind us and the people were dispossessed of

their land and only had it returned a few years ago a lot so then we came along and asked them to make their plots available again. in the 1st villages we approached the people were very reluctant woman or for that we returned with the mayor and officials from the ministry of agriculture to show them we meant what we said we were there we didn't want to take their fields away from them we just wanted to work with that 10 years later we gave them wood to sell what they gave us sand and we gave them back a forest and we kept our word of the go. after him but you have trust in him better money and. we are always available to answer questions that are better landowners come to me and ask why is it like things how do you explain not why did it happen like this but that is how you just have come back that i like sundra do know you also owns a plot of land that he wants to offer to done for reforestation here don demonstrates how the forest affects the climate. it's relatively cool today

only 30 degrees. let's see how hot the ground is 53 degrees normally at this time of year the air temperature is 40 degrees and the ground is 70 degrees chips. this summer it wasn't as hard and sunny as it usually. which is why alexandra do know you was able to grow watermelons in his field this year. this was an exception to the rule in the last 3 summers nothing grew on this desolate sand in the blazing heat it's just not possible in places where there are no trees and the land can't be arrogated. by another temperature check this time in the shade of this fast growing acacia

planted only a few years ago just a few metres from the fields. dropping $27.00 degrees and is now at $23.00. a 30 degree difference between the forest floor and the open field after several hot summers the climate is relatively bearable this year is the soil always. not usually this summer is different after many dry years it's a real exception as it's rained once almost every week everything is usually bare at this time of year normally this would all be parched dry and you'd see dunes bordering the forest with brothers and layer it is quite the cure isn't. the sand is very deep i don't know how deep it goes we dug up 2 metres once and there was still sand we didn't reach any stone. at the end of a long day octavian returns to his hotel deep in thought not only is he battling

the. ever expanding desert he also has to deal with corrupt officials who do business with the waste mafia it all takes its toll. this is an order is spread for force before because for a moment to think that you have friends about the one things are going to be. march off and usually. they disappear. but it is more difficult to disappear in the middle of the. shirley sherrod location you have something her point just for a follow up to this location a search for my body and things like this. to my birth of their lives of course bottle for others for my parents for my family for my girlfriend it's very difficult. uncertain fates of the little

boy like here propels him forward in the former bread basket of romania it is now so dry that the yields from wheat and corn harvests are very low a few fields are still tended to but only to collect in you subsidies farmers reveal privately was the small town of double ina is located in the center of desert of the cation in the lake here the only plant that still thrives here is the watermelon not only is the sandy soil ideal they also need surprisingly little water what bordeaux is to french wine double leaner is to remain ian melons but there is a limit to what they can withstand the entire harvests have withered under the blazing sun here too we can see the effects of climate change.

but octavian suspects that climate change is not the only reason for the devastation the cause of the desert if occasion goes back much further down introduces him to ian spirit the mayor of the small community of seeker who is at the forefront in the fight against the expanding desert. you know the mayor uses this map to explain to the tavi and how the sand spreads from west to east but the. 3rd in 50 to 100 years the sands will have taken over all of southern romania if the desert is not stopped bucharest will also be colored. large oak forests can still be seen on old maps from the 19th century they were planted by ian spirit and ancestors to protect the soil the fear of little while

a clear being silted up is not new. the problem has existed here for centuries and centuries ago say this was once a sea floor a body of water reached up to here leaving a long chain of dunes. about 300 years ago when people noticed that the sandy soil was slippery and planted trees that. they created huge forests from us here in to the jew valley what happened to the force of the forests were cut down under communism and the land was used by a great culture you know how it was back then in order to gain more farmland hold lake was drained in this region and a complex irrigation system was created and really get. how has the authority s. deal with the situation today the institute for agricultural research is run by the

romanian state director are really at dia kono understands that the climate is changing and is conducting research on fruits that can be grown in the sand. through a civilian court that we are looking for alternatives aside from melons of course melons from double unit are a trademark both in romania and abroad. but we also need to develop new trademarks for the region so that farmers have alternatives in the future feeding me a growing melons as a short term business. she's we are trying to teach the farmers to invest in long term enterprises for example in orchards or berry bush plantation exist ask a pretty gentleman whom. it was from this very building that the state once dictated to farmers what they should plant nowadays the emphasis is on

teaching the. class 3 types of peas or different types of peanuts we have cultivated all of these here. she and this is our traditional wine. this also grows in fairly dry conditions largest the quantity. the institute has many large fields which are regularly inspected by her really. a wide variety of crops are grown and tested here under the hot sun for example chinese dates kiwis peanuts beans raspberries black berries and several types of wine all part of the agricultural programme that the institute runs as they try to adapt to the new conditions more heat and less rain this month.

we are in an ongoing race with the sand and climate change. that is why we are experimenting here with new irrigation technologies but above all with new plant species some of them are very promising we actually have good climatic conditions here comes very early in this area can plant seed in february and harvest new potatoes as early as april. for a really idea the expanding desert is actually more of a blessing than a curse properly harnessed sandy soils can yield exceptionally good produce as. aroma of the fruits that grow in sand is stronger than in normal soils the sugar content is much higher due to the strong sunlight and high temperatures they give the fruit its flavor color and quality. of.

the. can the region be saved by embracing climate change and making the best of the dessert if occasion up. tavi in a seriously considering this approach as well he wants to discuss it with experts from the world wildlife fund but one thing is certain growing other fruits will not improve the climate in the area and the devastation could continue. that's why you really are poor you and her assistant deanna from the w w f are focusing on the complete restoration of little lake. in addition to reforesting they plan to reestablish a huge lake one that was drained in the 1970 s. to make way for farmland. look that was a lake it went on for kilometers in both directions if the danube were allowed to

flow through its old flood plains again lake put tello would also fell appear within a few years. the w w f already revive this romanian lake large wetlands and the danube delta were successfully restored here to natural habitats were destroyed to create farmland today fishery and tourism are flourishing the combination of plants and humid conditions could secure the sound of lake patel low and keep the desert at bay. that is what it could look like here again octavian is campaigning for this and bucharest local authorities however do not support the project the state leases large areas of land here to international agricultural corporations octavian wants to know who it is that profits from this he's determined to find out his activism

is well known and romania he has tangled with the mafia and organized poachers as well as with corrupt politicians his projects receive a lot of attention. and approval which both protects him and amplifies his voice. octavian begins the last leg of his journey the worst is yet to come riven ari is the 2nd epicenter of romania's desert of the cation an old coal fired power plant has supplied the grid for almost 50 years it's surrounded by refuse from coal mining and the toxic sound has spread far beyond the region climate change accelerates the consequences of this environmental pollution. but there is reason for hope dino and his son catalin have been working for years to turn these dead and landscapes into living ecosystems again the note headed the

region's forestry office for many years and his son catalin has a doctorate in forestry both are researching plants that can bring the nature here back to life. or mardi gras. barren desolate landscape as far as the eye can see octavian is speechless at 1st then angry you remind some self that this is exactly why he began this journey a man made desert in the middle of an area that has already threatened by drought and no off already and the whole country seems to care. the adjacent land also look that desolate once but with the help of dino to and cut early in dino nature has reclaimed the land so it is possible to revitalize the area. on this great park we have been covered by. how the thought goes.

on besides we have an example a very good example of how nature. could cover this learned we've green. my mission how my mission is how to make people to understand the big picture how to involve them in the ecological fluxion and to make them understand the 3rd which you go through the forest with the throwing our body and our allies through and other our freshwater actually. here to the dino cars have used occasions they are the 1st line of defense. once a healthy layer of humans has formed on the ground in the forests native trees can be planted again. but how long does that take. a month or so just

planting the acacia stabilize the soil in reduced allow the fear article i wrote my doctoral thesis on planting in talks of soils. that in our case shows are like medicine for these areas because to take the how after about 20 to 30 years you can then replace them with multiple charges for the burial and nothing about all. the other don't go in that direction. you can see very well that actually does not exist. this is. the 3rd on top of. each 4th and this is the 1st the those are the 1st few movie methods of 2 or 4 media matters there's a 4th that's the cover of this before this his head now buzzing with new ideas and

concrete solutions activia and heads back to the capitol back to the heart of politics he now needs to win over a powerful supporters but it won't be easy because environmental protection projects are not money made. in the short term so why does he sacrifice so much of his time for the common good what drives to it. i don't have a proper us i because the game is from inside me it doesn't mean that i lost off if or when i'm doing something that i like it and that i love it and i have 5 children involved it's a for filling me with a lot of energy and hope that some of the some of things bad things will be change in the next in the future and a close future of. the desert is still advancing in romania. but it has for medical and creative opponents 1st and foremost octavian bear china

. was determined to fight and protect his homeland against. 0.

the only. time i'm orthodox and unexpected at times very crucial. is my great pleasure to be a man 17 years of jewish life in germany. little max. 13 w.

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this is deja vu news live from berlin alexei navalny loses 2 legal battles in one day a court upholds the russian opposition leader sentence for violating parole and finds him guilty of defamation not only will have to spend more than 2 years in a prison camp also coming up on the show us president joe biden aims to get the 2015 iran and nuclear accord back on track reversing a key foreign policy decision of the trunk of the destruction. and in the end.