>> welcome to "global 3000," your weekly look at how global developments -- affect us all. and here's what we have coming up for you today -- godly garments -- why lotus silk is fast becoming a cash commodity in burma. a very different solar system -- how farmers in nicaragua secure their harvests using the sun. and, plans for a controversial dam project in laos spark fears in countries further downstream. myanmar is opening up. that sounds like very good news for the burmese and the region as a whole. certainly investors have lost no

time and are flocking to burma to turn the country's great natural riches into profits. and even before we really know how far the military rulers will go in following through with the reforms they promised, thousands of tourists have made up their minds that now is the time to come here and experience burmese culture. the lotus flower has a sacred meaning here like in much of asia. and it also provides the raw material for lotus silk. once worn only by royals and monks, it is now finding a growing market among tourists. >> the lotus flower represents purity, fertility, and enlightenment. kyi thin nwe and kyu kyu lin call it buddha's holy plant. they're collecting the plant's stems. deep inside those stems lies a precious material, which some believe to have magical

properties. >> we only take the best plants to work with. it's a tradition you can only find here. >> this is the inle lake, in the heart of myanmar. it's home to the intha people, known as the people of the lake. living on the water, they've developed some special skills. they spend hours standing on one leg, using the other to steer the boat. that way they have both hands free to cast their nets. the intha people live in symbiosis with the water. they grow tomatoes, beans and rice on floating gardens. standing on both legs is not an option here. any pressure makes the ground sink.

the floating gardens are secured to the lake bottom solely with bamboo poles. kyi thin nwe and kyu kyu lin are back from harvesting the lotus. time is of the essence, the plants have to be processed while they are still damp. a swift slice reveals wafer-thin threads, as fine as spider webs. later, they use it to make lotus silk, the most expensive cloth in the world. buddha's thread is delicate. weaving it requires considerable skill, as well as time and patience. these women weave about 20 meters of thread a day, a -- tradition that dates back centuries. and it's a tradition that's been passed down through the

generations. >> we're not allowed to wear lotus silk. only buddha was pure enough to wear this precious cloth. otherwise, it's only monks who are allowed to wear it in myanmar. >> but recently tourists have begun to arrive. and they bring money with them. now lotus silk can be worn by anyone who can afford it. after half a century of military dictatorship, a wind of change is sweeping through myanmar. at inle lake, change sounds like the whirr of motors. the arrival of tourists spells an end to peace and quiet here. the fishermen are now the sought-after subjects of tourists' photographs. kyaw kyaw win goes fishing before dawn. there are only small fish here but it's enough to feed his family.

the wave of change descending on myanmar is having an impact on him as well. >> of course it's good that tourists are coming to our lake. but for us fishermen it's gotten tougher. we have to repair our nets more often now because they get ripped up by the speedboats. >> but it's not just tourists, traders from europe and asia are coming here, too. the women at these looms possess a rare skill. they get paid $1 a day for weaving lotus silk. a small scarf made of the precious fabric sells for a hundred dollars. >> lotus silk is unlike any other material. when you're sick and you put lotus silk on your skin, the pain subsides.

>> lotus silk is in huge demand, both as a souvenir and as an export good. italy imports bales of buddha's thread. a customized lotus silk jacket sells for 7,000 euros. the head of the silk factory says business is booming. >> the reforms are good for myanmar. finally we can show the world who we are. for me it's an opportunity to make the business international. lotus silk has a golden future. >> but change is not affecting everyone at the same pace. apart from the increase in tourism, not much has changed for the intha people. these houses on stilts might look idyllic, but for the people here, it's a life of grinding poverty. electricity, plumbing, and mobile phones are outside of their reach. in the evening when the tourists

have gone, stillness returns. for a few hours, the inle lake belongs to the intha people again. >> translated to english, intha literally means the sons of the lake. but the new developments around them raise the question of how much longer the inle will continue to be their lake. at the other end of the world, nicaragua has seen many conflicts but also some settlements over rights to land. here, large-scale bean and coffee plantations now shape large parts of the landscape. but farmers face a new challenge -- damp stretches during the dry seasons and unpredictable downpours threaten to spoil harvests. a vienna-based ngo is now trying to get this risk factor under control by offering some simple and effective technology.

as the dry season in nicaragua comes to an end, fires are spreading over large areas of land. sofia castillo is furious. she's an agricultural expert and says farmers are starting the fires. they set fire to weeds and brush to prepare the ground for planting seeds. she says it's a disaster for the environment. >> right now, a whole load of co2 is being released into the air. that has a really negative impact on global warming and consequently also on climate change. farmers shoot themselves in the foot by doing this. they destroy the fertility of the soil, pollute the environment, and contribute to climate change.

>> nicaragua's farmers are battling the drought, in some regions it hasn't rained for six months. many wells are empty. juana ramirez is suffering too, her perennial banana plants are drying up and she can't plant corn or beans until it rains again. in the meantime, this rather modest-looking container is helping her to grow other crops. project manager sofia castillo installs solar dryers with financial aid from the eu. this cinnamon, which is drying at the moment, provides additional income for the farmer. thanks to this 1,000-watt solar panel, she no longer has to leave her cocoa beans to dry in the open air. that protects her crops against

changing weather conditions and other harm. >> i just pop the stuff into the dryer, close the door, and that's it. it's much easier than drying it out in the open. otherwise i would always need to watch out for hens going after it or keep it from getting dirty. >> the solar dryer also saves time, a welcome relief for a household with eight children. ramirez often gets up as early as 3:00 in the morning. her time is taken up working in the fields and caring for her family. rice and beans form the basis of most meals here, and solar dryers go a long way towards securing these staple crops. a farming community in a

neighboring area is also using the technique. their solar dryer has a significantly larger capacity. they can dry some 450 kilograms of corn, beans, and rice within just two days. farmers use a hygrometer to determine when their produce is fully dry. that is valuable information. >> i once lost about half my crop when we had two weeks of rain during harvest time. i packed the beans into sacks without noticing that they weren't properly dry. that's why a lot of it went bad. >> the solar dryers are manufactured here, close to the capital, managua.

the austrian firm, cona, supplies the components, and also holds the patent. more than 80 such units are already in use throughout nicaragua, providing farmers with an environmentally-friendly alternative. >> our system allows us to use solar power, rather than log fires to dry cocoa beans. in the julala area for example, the forest is being recklessly cut down to provide wood for the drying process. since no one is thinking about reforestation, the trees will soon be gone. >> one of the most powerful units in the country can be found at the university of leon. the 40-square meters of solar panels produce a great deal of hot air. the university's department of food technology is studying the

solar dryers. students and professors are testing out new farming methods, such as processing dried fruit. dried this way, pineapples and bananas can not only be conserved and further processed, they also fetch a higher price. solar energy helps farmers deal with other challenges, like irrigation. cristina lopez is installing a new solar-powered water pump. up to now, she'd been using a diesel motor to pump water from the well to the fields. that was bad for the environment and came at a significant cost to the small farm.

>> you have to buy a lot of fuel to get the pump to work. and if you work it out, we spend 1,000 cordoba on diesel each week and take in 2,000 cordoba for our products. what's left in the end? not enough. >> thanks to the solar pump, she can now grow her passion fruit, as well as her profit. but the well can only supply water to one part of the 6-hectares of farmland. the rest of the fields can only be farmed during the wet season. preparing the land for sowing is tough physical work. the lopez family knows that slash-and-burn methods harm land. all that's missing now is the rain they've been waiting for in nicaragua. >> and now we'd like to tickle

your taste buds with a regional specialty. falafel is the snack export from the middle east. we've gone back to the chickpea roots in beirut, lebanon, where sohev syon's family has been preparing the dish for some eight decades. >> beirut is changing rapidly. after a bitter civil war that left behind countless scars, locals and tourists alike can once again enjoy the city. customers constantly mill in and out of sohev sayons' snack bar. here falafel is the snack of choice. it's a staple in food joints across the middle east.

>> this place was established maybe in 1933 when my grandfather was the first one who made the falafel business in lebanon. then came my father and now i'm the third generation. >> making falafel requires large amounts of hot oil and chickpeas. >> since the morning we begin preparing, so it might take 3 to 4 hours to prepare everything. >> the chickpeas are crushed and seasoned with parsley, coriander, garlic, spring onions, salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper. then everything is rolled into little balls and deep-fried until it's crispy. with fresh lettuce, herbs,

finely sliced radishes, and tomatoes. and finally, tarator is added. it's a thick sauce made of yogurt, garlic, cucumbers, and nuts. just fold it over, and it's ready to eat. >> all lebanese people love this food. we could eat it from morning to night. most of the customers are manual workers. they're people who do physical labor, like the kind of work you do at construction sites. chickpeas give your body strength and energy. >> so, if you're feeling sluggish, head to beirut.

>> asia's mekong river provides for some 60 million people as it tibet to a broad river traversing six countries. it holds large stocks of fish and is flanked by fertile farmland. much of this natural abundance no longer has a place in the new plans several countries have for their stretch of the river. laos wants to harness the mekong to produce hydro-electricity and secure steady water supplies. the world wide fund for nature has recently described plans for the xayaburi dam as one of the most devastating dam projects in the world. our reporter traveled downstream and looked for the signs of progress that are sure to come at a price for nature. >> the mekong river in its natural glory. but for how long? the first signs of change -- downriver from luang prabang in laos, a bridge is being built

for one of asia's most controversial dam construction projects. we're traveling on a motorboat towards the xayaburi dam, the source of the controversy. we don't know how close we'll get to the construction site, since we're not licensed to film there. but what do the people here know? they say construction has been underway for two years, mostly of roads leading to the site. sure, says this man, the landscape here has changed significantly. 1400 kilometers downstream, the river branches out in several directions and takes a 20-meter plunge. measured by the volume of water, it's the world's largest waterfall. we continue our journey to another dam construction project.

laos is hoping to export hydroelectric power. it wants to become the battery of asia. the country plans to dam up this branch of the river to make way for a hydropower plant. for now, the fishermen's wooden traps are still set up. many fish swim thousands of kilometers from the estuary to the headwaters. fisherman phet manivan knows how important it is for fish to move unimpeded. once the dam is built, he says, he knows for certain that his traps will be flooded. when the dam gets built here, it'll be the end of fishing. the mekong is home to the largest variety of fish species in the world. for now, at least. 50 kilometers further south, the mekong flows through cambodia. during the rainy season, the

river stretches several kilometers wide. the water flows over the treetops, pulling them to one side. we're traveling with a local cambodian conservationist. he's most worried about the large dam project in laos. >> the xayaburi dam will change the entire ecosystem. less water means fewer fish. >> the countries downstream from laos, especially cambodia and vietnam, are fighting tooth and nail to prevent the dam project from going ahead. here, tourists are on the lookout for dolphins. but sightings on the mekong river are increasingly rare. we're in kratie in cambodia. we catch sight of leaping fish. shortly afterwards, a dolphin appears. after years of being hunted, the dolphin stock was largely depleted. the dams now being planned present an additional threat to

these mammals. gerard ryan is a dolphin researcher. he uses special camera equipment to track the dolphin population in the area. he fears that if the dam in laos is built, more will follow. there are currently plans for ten more dams along the river in cambodia. >> there are two dams planned within dolphin habitat , one at sanbur and one at stuntrek, and another one just upstream at dontahongins in southern laos. and i think any of those dams could have a very significant impact on this population and potentially wipe it out even. >> river traffic is heavy close to cambodia's capital city, phnom penh. the mekong is the lifeblood of the country. people here get 80% of their protein from fish. that's why cambodians are so concerned about the effect the dam will have on the mekong ecosystem.

chum hang tong is the head of a state-owned fishing operation in phnom penh. he's been campaigning for construction to be pushed back by ten years to monitor the effects on fish. but that appeal was rejected. the fish will no longer be able to migrate as needed. then we won't have enough fish. >> my tho is located in the mekong delta region in vietnam, 2,000 kilometers downstream from the dam planned in laos. but people here are worried, too. le than bac is a scientist studying fish stocks. he complains that laos isn't co-operating with the countries further downstream. >> we have a need for study but

so far, i do not think they have considered the effect the dam will have on neighboring countries. >> laos is following in the footsteps of china, which over the years has built several dams on the mekong river. >> they don't go in detail or specifics with us. about construction. >> they don't tell you the details? >> from my point of view, i don't think they tell us in detail. >> it's a politically sensitive topic. the mekong river flows through six countries. tension between countries closer to the mouth of the river and those closer to the source are already brewing. back in laos, we return to xayaburi dam. for years laos has maintained that the dam is not yet under construction. but we're not allowed on land. one news agency however did

manage to take pictures. they show that large-scale construction has been underway for some time. and meanwhile, construction has officially started. studies have reportedly confirmed the safety of the project, a claim disputed by conservationists. we head back down the river, fearing that within a few years we may no longer be able to behold its natural beauty. >> if you'd like to tell us your views on this project, you can find us on facebook. so, go ahead and join our global debate. and that's all we have time for on this edition of "global 3000." thanks for watching and don't forget to tune in again, same time, same place in one week from now. bye-bye.x0

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