>> 2015 is the un's international year of soils designed to raise awareness of the importance of the ground we walk on. and, as if that weren't reason enough to be focusing on all things earthy, then it just so happens to be global soil week as well, with experts of more than 70 countries meeting here in berlin. hello and a very warm welcome to global 3000, where we have the following stories coming up. parched earth -- concern over worldwide threats to soil quality sun, skis and snow -- meet the people skiing for a new

afghanistan and, gentle grazers of the deep -- how new protected habitats could save the sea cow we've all heard of carbon footprints, but what about land footprints? a land footprint is the real amount of land, wherever it is in the world, that is needed to produce a product, or used by an organization or by a nation. like their carbon counterparts, inflated land footprints are often the direct or indirect consequences of globalization, mass-scale production and industrialized agriculture. europe's land footprint is big, and the consequences are being felt both at home, and abroad. after a full work-week in the office, this couple heads out to harvest the fruits of their labors. succulent vegetables they grow themselves on an ecologically pristine plot of land.

but this is the rare exception. the rule is intensive cultivation -- factory farming. in developed countries, crops are grown on an massive scale, using industrial methods. consequences are over-fertilization and soil depletion. another problem is that land used for agriculture is constantly shrinking. germany is no exception. klaus: we're still seeing vast areas getting paved over -- getting used up: around seventy hectares a day. >> seventy hectares lost to road construction and urban development daily, that is equal to some one hundred soccer pitches. land is getting scarce. in 1960 the equivalent to one soccer pitch was available to supply each resident of an industrialized country. by 2008, only two thirds were left due to population growth and more intensive demand. but if available land were to be

divided equally among all humans on earth, less than a third would be left for industrialized nations. at the same time, demand is rising. crops are not only needed for food. sugarbeets and canola are used to make fuel. some crops are also used as feed grain for livestock -- or as raw materials in many other everyday products. europe's land needs can be calculated using the land footprint. it shows the area necessary to maintain the current standard of living. only some forty percent lies inside europe itself. the rest is spread around the world. so europe needs more land per head to satisfy its own consumer demand than any other continent. this leaves the land outside of europe unavailable for use in the countries were it is located. the high living standard in europe causes soil depletion elsewhere. hubert weiger: the basic message here is that we have to preserve

land, not just as a means of subsistence, but also maintain it. we have to put an end to the worldwide destruction of farmland in the interests of our own survival. >> the consequences of that destruction are easy enough to see. dry, cracked and barren soil: when the ground suffers, the plants, people and animals which depend upon it suffer too. soil is one of nature's most complex ecosystems, containing a plethora of different organisms, all interacting together to make life possible. that ecosystem is now under threat the world over. all over the world, farmers with fields on hillsides have to struggle with water erosion. they clear trees to gain space to plant crops and graze livestock. but with the tree roots gone, there's nothing to keep the rain

from washing the topsoil away, the most fertile layer. this process is already far advanced on myanmar's inle lake. the farmers on the hillside above are losing arable land, and the lake is silting up. when the water level's low, many of the famous stilt houses can hardly be reached. and the lake-dwellers are steadily losing their primary food source. the native fish can't live in the muddy waters. several initiatives have been started on site to counter this development. one solution is to plant fast-growing trees among the crops. another is to build terraces and small dams to hold the soil on the hillside fields. erosion can also be a problem on more or less flat ground.

if the fields are wide and there are no hedges or trees, the fertile topsoil will soon be gone with the wind. georgia, like many other eastern-bloc countries, has to contend with the legacy of soviet collective agriculture. cropland stretches away to the horizon, and winds often reach speeds of up to sixty kilometers an hour. the deeper the soil is ploughed, the faster the nutrients in the soil are depleted. new kinds of machines can help. they keep soil disruption to a minimum. trees can be planted along the fields' edges as windbreaks. the world population is growing and with it, the demand for food. more and more forest will be

cleared for farming. this problem is especially acute in tropical latitudes. the rain forest's floor is poor in nutrients but rich in oxygen, making it unsuitable for industrial agriculture. colombia has cleared thousands of square kilometers of rain forest to make way for palm oil plantations. palm oil may be healthy and useful for refining cosmetics or making biofuels. but once the soil is depleted by the palm tree monocultures, the planters move on and clear more land. but there's another way. ecological farmers plant many different crops in the same ground to help balance out soil use. all kinds of plants can grow in between the palm trees. fertilizer can be made from by-products of the plantation's own production. that eliminates the need to clear new land and helps preserve the forest and its bio-diversity.

only if farmers care for the land they've got will there be a future for both man and beast. >> what do you think? how can we make agriculture more sustainable? you can join the discussion on facebook on www.facebook.com/dw.global3000. in the mountainous province of bamyan in afghanistan, something incredible is happening. whilst other regions grapple with terror attacks and drone strikes, picturesque bamyan is catering to afghanistan's fledgling ski craze. already, bamyan's progeny is developing olympic ambitions. so, bend your knees and shift your weight forward. we're off to the ski slopes of afghanistan! >> at the starting signal, the skiers are off. the object is not so much to be

fastest, but to make it down the mountain, at all -- one way or another. these slopes are in bamyan, afghanistan. alishah grew up here. he's just back from two months in switzerland. he and his friend sajjad have been training for the olympics and making big plans. they envision afghanistan as a nation of skiers. >> i remember when i was in st. moritz, and the people were asking me that: where are you from, and i said, i am from afghanistan, especially in this ski area, and they were like, stop breathing and like 'what? are you from afghanistan? are you sure?" and we were really happy and felt like, presenting afghanistan and another image to the europe, not only war and violence and taliban. >> competitive skiing is new to afghanistan. they still have to worry about reaching the bottom in one piece.

about fifty skiers are taking part, afghan and other athletes from around the world. it may not be the toughest race, but's a very special one. at an altitude of nearly three thousand meters, skiing is really hard work. there's no ski lift here. the climb is part of the race. the afghans' love of sports and have a talent for improvisation. sayed and the other youngsters can't afford professional equipment. so they make their own. sayed mohammad zeya: i cut the wood to size and nail on plastic from old oil bottles. and the skis are done. >> sayed and the other boys hit the slopes as well, but don't take part in the competition. their wooden skis need lots of care. 13-year-old sayed lives right

next to the slope used for the race. he can't understand why everyone seems so exhausted. sayed mohammad zeya: i knew what i had to do to prepare. it's not really hard. >> bamyan has everything it takes to be a skiers' paradise. but the 200 kilometers of country road from kabul are full of perils. and planes rarely land here. the taliban removed bamyan's claim to world fame when they destroyed the colossal ancient buddha statues in 2001. now the taliban have been removed, and the people are more open and tolerant. even women can go skiing here now. among them is zakia. many afghans believe women have no place in sports. she doesn't accept that view. she tried skiing for the first time a year ago. zakia mohammadi: it used to be completely impossible for afghan women to practice sports -- not

to even mention take part in competitions. now we can. and we want to prove that we can do it!" the coach comes here from norway for a few weeks every year. the rookie skiers make use of every day. zakia is just 20. many afghan women are married by that age. she studied to be a teacher but couldn't find a job. for now, she's concentrating on skiing. like almost everyone in bamyan, she lives very modestly. her family support her ambitions. her father says, everyone needs sports, man or woman. dawood mohammadi: unfortunately, we live in a very conservative country. i've had many problems because of that with my family. people say, girls shouldn't practice sports. but i say, no, they're not right. >> today is a big day for the

whole family. zakia is taking part in the race -- one of eight women entries. they all have a struggle reaching the top. getting down again is faster -- but in a way harder. zakia comes in fifth, but she's not the least discouraged. she's already dreaming of going to the olympics. zakia mohammadi: i'll continue my skiing. this is not enough for me, and i'll continue on my way. >> alishah and sajjad, on the other hand, can do more than dream of the olympics. after his training in switzerland, alishah comes in

first place. sajjad comes in third. but winning isn't everything. this is about a new afghanistan. alishah: let's say i win the olympic race. personally for me, it would be good. but not for the country, because there's no peace. maybe they will be proud of the time i have gone, but it doesn't make sense if then i can't do anything here. >> but peace is getting closer. and on this mountainside in afghanistan, it's already a reality. >> and we find more hope in unlikely places now, as we profile nazmar akter, founder of the awaj foundation which fights for the rights of workers in bangladesh's notoriously exploitative textile industry. two years ago, in april 2013, in the wake of the rana plaza disaster when a garment factory collapsed, nazma became one of the country's leading voices for change.

nazma akter: my name is nazma akter, i am 40 years old, i live in dhaka, in bangladesh. i am the executive of the awaj foundation and i am responsible for all the activities and all the things. i was working in a factory when i was eleven years old along with my mother and we were facing lots of difficulties and lots of problems, especially harassment, violence, the workers rights issues in this regard. we need to stand up and raise the voice.

>> sometimes i spend my time in sleep - that is my leisure time. >> serious? >> yes, i don't have time for my leisure, i work more than 12-14 hours in a day. >> i like all kinds of food, fish is my favorite food, i love the fish. >> the globalization means discrimination and abusing, especially the multi national companies and different trade bodies. because this is not a fair and transparent world, the globalization system. >> i expect in my future that there 'll be more and more nazma, who will raise the voice

for the workers especially female workers and their child. >> dugongs, or sea cows, are gentle aquatic grazers thought to have evolved from four-legged land mammals some 60 million years ago. these extraordinary animals are endangered the world over. our reporter kerstin schweizer went in search of the last dugongs in the philippines. >> we set out from the island of busuanga in the philippines just after sunset. i knew very little about dugongs, but my guides reynante ramilo and archie espinosa had

promised i would get to see some. i wanted to see how they live, but they're known to be very shy -- and rare. soon, the boat drew up near a small island. reynante ramilo:the dugong breathe every 5 to 6 minutes. you can see them surfacing in the water. so we are just hoping that we can see some sign that the dugong are here. this is known to be one of their feeding grounds. down below is a large seagrass meadow. we wait but nothing happens. archie espinosa decided to head down. he and reynante work for the non-governmental organization c-3. the seagrass the dugong feeds on is tiny, barely even visible. the dugongs have to root through the seabed for it.

they need some 25 kilos of it per day. unfortunately, i never got this close. these images were taken by a local diving school. they're the last surviving dugongs along this coast -- there are no more than about six or eight of them left. a protected area for them is long overdue. archie and reynante regularly log the condition of the meadows. reynante ramilo: we record the seagrass species. the segment is one meter by one meter. we record the percentage of cover, the depth, the substrate -- if it is sandy or muddy. >> seagrass is very sensitive to pollutants. and more and more seagrass meadows are being cleared for commercial seaweed farming. reynante and his team are trying to convince local villagers to help set up protected areas. fishermen report where and when

they've sighted dugongs. the team uses the data to create maps of the best spots to place under protection. one team member explains that dugongs are mammals. the calf nurses for more than a year. but the cows only give birth once every seven years. so each and every animal is precious. the reality is not quite as harmonious. they easily get injured by both propellers are by getting tangled up in fishing nets. this fisherman says one was recently caught in his net. it was scared of the noise the boats engines made an tour an enormous hole in the net.

reynante ramilo: the community should decide on a certain zoning. like this zone is for fishing. this is for protection. this is for the boats, highway for the boats. they need to agree to certain zones in this area, which is accetable for everybody. >> apparently, the neighboring island of palawan has already set up a protected zone. i went there to hear about how it's working out. on the main square of the provincial town of roxas, high school students rehearse a dance for their graduation ceremony. the backdrop is a collage of ecological motifs, among them a dugong. just a few meters away is the council for sustainable development. christina dalusung is in charge of the protected area for dugongs. it's already setting an example

for the region. christina dalusung-rodriguez: the reason for the sucess for the project is the cooperation between the founding agencies, the implementing agencies and the local government units to work hand in hand. especially in communication to the people the behaviour we want them to have. >> i'm interested to learn just how they're getting people here involved in environmental protection. christina takes me to a little monitoring station on a sandbank. it's brand new. reynaldo cosenas is expecting us. he used to be only a fisherman. now he's also the manager of the maritime protected area for caramay municipality. reynaldo cosenas: this is the area. this area -- this whole area is the buffer zone.

>> one area, he explains, is for mangroves, one for coral reefs and one for seagrass. in these areas, fishing is prohibited. the station is manned round the clock. that in itself is a deterrent. destructive fishing methods using dynamite and poison have virtually disappeared. not even the big trawlers venture into the protected areas. this pilot project was financed with the help of international donations. it's amazing to see how dedicated the local people are -- even with almost no pay. christina dalusung-rodriguez: the members of the marine protected area are working as volunteers. because we believe the communtiy should have the ownership of the marine parotected area. so at first they need to be inspired to work for the benefit of their own sources of livelihood and their community. >> protecting sections of mangroves, coral reefs and

seagrass preserves breeding grounds for fish. the meshes of the fishing nets have to be big enough to let small fish slip out so that they can mature to breeding age and replenish the fish stocks. this explains the motivation among the fishermen. but what does it have to do with the dugongs? the protected areas often happen to be their feeding grounds. leaving palawan my impression was that this is how collaboration between authorities, ngos and the local population should work. maybe on my next visit, i will have a chance to see sights like this with my own eyes. >> before we end this edition of global 3000, we would like to draw your attention to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the mediterranean. in their desperation to reach europe, more and more people are relying on traffickers to get

them across the sea. these images, which we broadcast last autumn, show one of the last rescue missions under the umbrella of italy's mare nostrum operation. the initiative came to an end last december, and since then, more people have drowned trying to cross the mediterranean than ever before. although the reaction is one of widespread dismay, politicians have yet to come up with a concept to prevent more loss of life. we'll bring you more on this next week on global 3000. thanks for watching this time, and goodbye. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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