we live in a competitive well it's just cold it's cold it's too cold water used to be free and the world is changing the most important commodity soon to. be freezing. water city or commodity starts march 22nd on d w. hello and welcome to eco africa vironment show co-produced by m.t.v. in uganda generous to the image area and in germany i am. with me on origins is michael hi chris how are you today very well sondra thanks a lot and a warm welcome to all you view also out there from 8 to 12

a lot in store for you on today's program so let's quickly take a look at what we have coming up. we investigate plus to go is 1000000000 on lake victoria. see how on the entrepreneur in cameroon this recycling banana trunks. and learn how women in the cambia are talking the country is huge plastic waste problem. what does block chain have to do with nature conservation. martin you might think now 3 young startup entrepreneurs in south africa have founded a crypto platform it allows users to trade digital animals and that helps the environment at the same time let's take a closer look at how it works. with. happy lions with nothing to worry about these big cats of the fin the game reserve

in south africa are protected but conservation initiatives like these cost money and drumming up the nation's requires a lot of time and effort together with 2 friends and fellow nature lovers jason sims came up with an idea to make donating to animal conservation more attractive with the aid of modern technology. all of us grew up in south africa and. all of us. expanse the bush. love those experiences us as children and growing up we want to preserve and we've all been following block take technology for a while and to be able to put that together and merge those 2 passions was was really special for us the 3 friends live in cape town and work as software developers every transaction in the digital block chain can be carried out safely

and transparently 1st importantly it is recorded so what is their idea exactly all of our different conservation partners on the wild cards platform these conservations have certain types of animals and species that they look after and for every animal that they have we represent that is a unique digital artwork on the block chain that only one person can have and if you own this wild card you essentially pay a monthly amount to actually support that organization and you can see that money essential flying directly through to that organization is from team on the wild cards digital platform can buy and sell rare animal cards using crypto currency with each card there is a back story details of its purchase history and even the photo of the animal in some cases and every month 20 percent of each card asking price is donated by its

owner to a conservation organization of their choice $1.00 of the 1st organizations to benefit is that while tomorrow funds and american ngo that wants to open up a corridor for wildlife migration and south africa the corridor will reconnect animal populations and the pin the reserve and the east among the least the wetlands park which are still divided by fencing before the fencing can come down the corridor needs to be cleared of invasive vegetation. so nella and the green members and the new landscape restoration crews are seeing to that. it's really important that we remove these plants. otherwise the animals eat them and could die. and they also get skin disease and sometimes. great canning is the general manager of baltimore a funded south africa the conservation organization who received more than 45000

euros in funding through wild cards the money went toward training between members and covering the cost of transforming what was once a pineapple farm into a wilderness area how it works do you not know unfortunately and what i do know is you know that we are able to fund a lot of our conservation work directly through cryptocurrency and and through organizations such as wild cards. while cards make supporting conservation simpler and more direct. because it takes away a lot of the bureaucracy and cure of pfizer to what people really care about which is protecting the environment the wildlife in the pin the game reserve will certainly benefit if more funds are generated big wildcard scientists are also aware of this attractive aspect of this. block change exactions consume large amounts of energy and have a huge c o 2 footprint around 30 kilos of carbon transaction you can uses

a lot of electricity and this is concerning and i actually don't believe it's sustainable but also taking a step a step back if we were to use the traditional financial system we would be paying you know all of the resources of the bank employees driving to and from work and all the construction of those big buildings but it's a huge concern and we are going to reduce that as much as we can over time as as new technologies come out we'll move to those technologies that are more efficient so while cause has a dollar might get to solve funny doing a modern and efficient way to help protect critically endangered animals without adversely contributing to the already critical climate crisis. from south africa to germany more precisely to the form of borders about what separates it east and west germany today more of the strip of land is a thriving nature reserve they have been even some sightings of links some dry can

you tell us more well during the communist era this was a well guarded sparsely populated stretch of months but in the last 3 decades it's been reclaimed by nature we escorted a by we're just on a trip to what used to be but humid summer boarder and it's now an extraordinary biotope. this was once a heavily fortified border dividing east and west germany today it's the hunts national park one of germany's largest nature reserves the park has been overseen by biologist going to cost ever since its creation 30 years ago. the unique thing about this national park is that we're giving nature nearly 25000 hectares of space to do what it wants. it's rare to have such a large forest area with no connection to the timber industry. where nature is free

reign to show what it can do. back when the national park was created staff had to start from scratch a stretch of no man's land 100 meters wide was known as the death strip because the communist border guards were under orders to shoot anyone trying to cross in 1989 soldiers were still patrolling the border the barbed wire and concrete fortifications were practically insurmountable. 3 decades later nature has filled the deathstroke with new life to build the birch trees have managed to prevail so many herbicides and pesticides were used here there is hardly anything would grow and yet so much as happened here in the past 30 years as a few. and it's not just the plants that are making a comeback several rare animal species are also reclaiming their natural habitats

the hidden camera has captured the latest arrivals. a leaks the predatory wild cat died out a little region around 200 years ago but today more than 100 animals have settled in the area thanks to the intervention of staff. there were links in the hearts region for a long time. until they were killed off by us. they deserved to be back in the hearts and so we started reintroducing them in 1995. it was a successful undertaking which took a lot of hard work the biologist has spent thousands of hours in the woods carefully documenting nature's campaign to recapture its territory along the former border. but staff at the national park are now facing their biggest challenge to date trees as far as the eye can see. there used to be

a huge spruce this year. long drought and rising temperatures weakened the trees and bark beetles finished them off our journey continues on words to the national parks highest point. at 1100 meters above sea level we reach our destination the block in. this listening post which used to be sealed off was used by east german and soviet secret services to intercept communications in the west. today it's right next door to the botanists pride and joy a garden with hundreds of plants. this means that at least in part the program has returned to its original state over the past 30 years and that makes us really happy. but he's not done yet going to cost him plans to carry on until one day east and west have fully grown together again for good.

it is a failing board made from 100 percent recycled plastic were 1st reported on eat when it was still under construction kenya now going on in a way to own the watches of korea and were there when they are. from a distance it looks like a typical sailing boat but it's not it's actually made of recycled plastic objects and covered in repurposed flip flops inspired by the traditional dow trading vessels it was built on the kenyan coast and is now plying the waters of lake victoria. what's particularly unique about this one is that it is the world's 1st recycled plastic sailing down our hope over time is to create a sector in this tree where people are able to build small boats traditional boats canoes. except also from recycled waste so it's just showing you that you can push the boundaries of what is possible with waste materials. the idea was

born on the island of lama virtually car free the people here rely on donkeys carts and of course boats to get around for centuries local fishermen have built their own wooden douse a craft handed down from generation to generation. boat builder ali skandha and his team wanted to see if they could construct one of the traditional boats out of plastic. substituting wood with plastic posed a challenge. but it also has benefits. of trees when you use this because every part of one piece of the tree so you're going to have a lot of trees. the islands coastline like coastlines all over the world is increasingly littered with plastic waste only part of which is generated by the islanders even more washes up on the shores. the boat builders and the community regularly collect plastic on the beaches and take it to

a recycling plant on the mainland to be processed. after being shredded the plastic is melted at a high temperature and molded in the shape of the boat frames. it's a great circulate color me to the waist we can here we process that separate the different kinds of plastic the non-usable stuff and ali and his team are doing a fantastic job putting together. the crew have already sailed from kenya designs a bar in their plastic down and are now touring like victoria they hope their project will raise awareness of marine plastic pollution and inspire others to take action. staying with the topic of recycling. tree trunks that are cut down to well.

let's see. what environments. but not others grow fast but each tree only flowers and best fruit once. trees being harvested it's cut down on. it's trunk and leaves are left to decompose . cameroon produces about $4000000.00 tonnes of bananas a year. entrepreneurs are messaging realize that banana trunks don't have to end up as waste but are a valuable raw material every month she buys some $300.00 banana tree trunks from local farmers the startup is based in the capital. she and her team peel fibers off the trunks. and then similar the strands of fiber for several

hours. the brew is then dried in the sun and processed into paper. for the walls i care about environmental work doing something about the nation i say plastic bags littering the streets and blocking drains it's time to look for an alternative to plastic that's what motivates me suddenly more i see clearly unfit. company produces $100.00 eco friendly pieces of packaging per day and sells them to retailers for between $1.00 and $3.00 euros the product is 100 percent handmade and bio degradable. and how about you if you are also doing your bit tell us about it visit our website or send us a tweet. hash tag doing your best. to act your story. for our next report we got

to like many worse off in countries it locks up functioning system and west serious problem is everywhere in rivers on fields and piled up in the streets a women's initiative is helping to reduce the amount of rubbish and also. providing the women with some extra income. oh. a working woman is so enjoyable because to be one is woman when ever they are committed they're committed and in any development into one woman they really from the bottom of the apple in anything and they've never thought about it one way or you know pushed to the limit. is they found out all the n.g.o.s women's initiative the gambia. at

a landfill mia ceases village these remain collecting these kind of plastic glass and left over fabric down to buy local seamstresses if you know what to look for this plenty to be found myra i'm susie was one of his 1st partners she remembers that there was some initial skepticism about the project and the idea of women gaining financial independence. there were the neck of either of you go out of there when you started in 1009 to 7 my family thought i was crazy as a young married woman i was expected to get up in the morning cook food for my husband in the kitchen but my family and my husband had to watch me heading off to the dumping ground they told me i wasn't a good wife they expected me to be home with my husband they had no idea what i was up to over by the better the good. of this time of the there's

not much growing in the center grew very john the days are courts and the rains wouldn't come for a few months but people still need to and i'm leaving one of. the ok i knew. it was a good trip to the members of the community and i made about really i'm done for that because that's the mission and that's the culture that we're living in what i already said culture is. the idea one who. is about. situation that we are living and what feels us men leading is not a problem but women also today they have a right to lead because they are contributing. there is settling center in the village of joe where is are 2 sissy comes from was the 1st in the gambia she employed just 5 women to begin with they'll collect and clean up all plastic bags and then move them into attractive usable wants to date up to 20000 people across the country walk with or for all. they produce briquettes soap

bags gennari entities some of the best selling items are passes made from reclaimed plastic. village banks a look after the money and buy the women groups around the country so it doesn't all go towards the household spending. we want to empower them and want to train them on economy how you can economy little that they have so when they receive them one is from the sales of the process if it is $100.00 you have to sit back and tell us how much you want to do want to tick or whatever happens you have to put someone into here because we are planning for it more. when i was growing up this area was covered with mahogany and occasion trees the 1st ration and climate change have to spawn the landscape into an arid step. funded by donations the women's initiative also started a project called the forest the future what from

a well irrigates the newly planted seedlings. along with indigenous trees like mahogany the women a growing mongol and coconut trees this up a still in a tree nursery but will eventually be distributed across the country. you want to make a change. be 100 percent sure that it will never be overnight and then you have to have an expectation that if it is 100 people living within your area 75 percent will see it nor at the beginning but let that be a motivation for you let everybody tried to make sure that whatever you are establishing let it be a reality and it is helping decide. 2 years ago we visited a farm in gunnoe whose livelihood was under threat due to increasing poor harvests

recently we were a time to see how things develop that's right sandra will make off with our cocoa farmer again i have found that but there is no watch while where this in this village a balding for thousands of protecting the environment and the forest. saplings in full bloom. some of the pods are already nearly right. orlando's mondo is expecting a rich cocoa harvest this year. we're. very fast it's not like what we used to plant. it would take the old cocoa seeds for years to bear fruit. but with these it's only 2 years that's really fast for us. it means we can all enjoy it and make money earlier.

it wasn't always like this 2 years ago the trees were hit by a disease called swollen shoot virus which left harvests ruined. but 6 trees were inches only problem he also had to look on while part of his land was cleared to make way for a path. and all this is part of the farm i planted cocoa planting and everything here just like in the other parts but the timber contractors cleared it and didn't give me anything white farmers in the be a district know how important their trees are for the climate and keep the soil healthy felling trees leads to drier conditions that in turn leaves the trees more vulnerable to past like these ants. or. is dealing with infestation but he has

a trick. from libya they block it in this way no air gets to the end and they die inside. simple and effective. but just as things were starting to look up for him and his family the coronavirus struck reason fears about how the disease will impact his business . it's become a problem covert has really worried us if i say it hasn't be lying. before you could rely on selling small amounts at least. but if buyers don't come you have no choice but to live with that worry. we're really suffering here. you know what it's not. farmers like orlando often have trouble accessing loans because their holdings are too small jesus' collateral now local savings initiative

has been established to help out and just farmers in weathering the pandemic. orlando was among those who attended a training session on financial management no doubt after this they knew when to get their funds pics i walked 3 years before the farm start 14. but it was. fun i sensed to see how. before the food starts. putting. orlando's hoping to use the loan to expand and develop his plantation he wants to be ready for what happens after the pandemic. be improved prospects said even prompted his son dom of husseini to consider quitting his job as a teacher to give farming a go himself. a lot i assume

a lot of improvement i think mark was he wouldn't go through with the family going so all those who don't you certainly wouldn't get money from vary from one income source want to harm you in the running of the other. even after i think you're going to plan a new generation and a good harvest in sight for. things are looking up. we have reached the end of this edition of equal africa as you've seen so many ideas that can help us protect the environment and also in our lives but for now the time we need to say goodbye i am so honored we know we'll welcome paula here in uganda. bye sun dried look forward to seeing you again next day and good bye to all of you have you also all this well but do be sure it's only the next week on till then good bye from me chris lamb's in lagos nigeria.

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dot com african megacities for the meeting gets a clue can't enter. i'm secure that by a war that's hard and in the end it's a me you're not allowed to stay here anymore we will send you back. are you familiar with this. with the smugglers what alliances. what's your story. 'd and what numbers and women especially in victims of violence. take part and send us your story we are trying in all with to understand this new culture. for you are not a visitor not a guests you want to become a citizen. in for migrants your platform for a while information. do

all. of the moral. but i cannot sleep because your war isn't love the. ngos war smaller. movies of the earth rules. there's no news no law giver for the wicked. doesn't understand your work gets remembered the. 00 chance new. earth currents. are killers.

this is a huge lie from. vaccinate facts that flexibility to traditional. german. scientists who coached the world by developing the 1st 19 vaccine. introduced. in the u.s. and china. the president.