>> hello and welcome to "global 3000." we explore how people around the world tackle the challenges of our time. one that will effect us all is how to preserve our planet's biodiversity. here's what we have coming up for you today. measuring up -- how biologists track what need protected most in brazil. we meet female soldiers in syria fighting to defend their homeland. and why reinventing the whole is a good business idea in

tanzania. brazil is the global superpower in terms of biodiversity. almost one in five species live here. but what used to be endless rain forests are now being pushed to their limits. he's more than -- it is an area not say from oil exploration and cultures that keep eating into brazil's rate for us. they've implemented a biomonitoring scheme that if successful could become a blueprint for conservationists across the country. but for that, scientists need to establish how much of the region's national resources aren't in need of protection.

>> the trunk of this tree has a circumference of 86 centimeters. it's the first tree the biologists from brazil's nature conservation authority are measuring, marking the start of biodiversity monitoring. there is scarcely any reliable data on the condition of this area. how is ecosystem developing? what has been the influence of climate change so far? until now, it has all been conjecture. >> some tree species are very sensitive to changes in temperature and weather. it is quite possible that certain trees will show less roads or even disappear, that they will lose their niche in the ecosystem. as a reaction to climate change. >> that is just what our monitoring program is meant to show -- what influences are

already tangible in this forest. we don't know yet. we don't have the data, but we believe there are influences. the climate is tropical and humid. countless species have their habitat here. the nature reserve is 750 square kilometers in area. it is impossible to measure and count everything here, so scientists are using bio indicators -- species that also inform them about other forest inhabitants all stop -- inhabitants. mammals are among them. it is entirely possible that the jaguar might slink by. >> many of my colleagues have seen one. i have only seen tracks, unfortunately. >> the jaguar is a nocturnal animal. not everyone is lucky enough to see such a marvelous site. >> brazil's environment ministry and nature conservation

authority developed the biodiversity monitoring program together with the german international cooperation agency. they have prepared everything at headquarters in brazil two years ago. now, they are finally in the forest them selves with the head of the national park. this river used to be full of fish. then someone nearby started farming fish that were not indigenous to stop somehow or other, they ended up in the river and eight all the other fish. now what there are scarcely any fish and all. that is how quickly biodiversity can be demolished. of course, there is still a lot to see. stick insect, for instance will stop -- for instance.

or a tape your -- or a swimming. >> when an animal dives into the water in the park, you can still see it in the depths because the water is so clear. the beauty of the waterfalls, the fact that you can jump into the water and swim, that's all great. i find it very gratifying. >> so do the employees. >> it has been great fun will stop this is a very special place. it has also been an effort, that's part of the job. >> back to the biologists in the forest. their task for today is to set up a butterfly trap. the instruction manual consists of pictograms. it is hoped that later people will do biodiversity monitoring,

not just scientists. butterflies can reveal a lot about the state of the ecosystem. a mixture of bananas and sugar cane is used as bait. and it works. the two are proud of being pioneers of biodiversity monitoring. >> there is still a lot of untouched nature here. protecting it is a small contribution i can make, not only for the region in brazil, but for the whole world. that is important to me. >> the next morning in the national park. a conference in the office. initial information on the state of the ecosystem won't come in

for a few months will stop in this protected area, there are three clearly defined regions where data will be collected every six months. only comparing that information will deliver results. but now, the butterfly traps have to be evaluated. on the way, and armadillo crosses our path. a rare sight. this giant anteater also has its habitat here. it is considered an endangered species. deep in the forest, the scientists look for the butterfly traps they have set. gps helps him.

they have to hurry. it is starting to rain. their are lots of butterflies in their net. now they have to identify just which kinds and how many. afterwards, they are set free. it's raining harder. the first biodiversity monitoring field trial is over. just in time. now, this could be extended to all of brazil. >> the nature conservation see -- conservation agency has 131 protected areas and this program could be expanded to protect every area and the state would have the opportunity to use the information. this is really a national issue.

>> and it is a matter of protecting brazil's biodiversity. it is a major project starting here in the middle of forest. >> when i say nashville, tennessee, you will probably already hear country music tunes hearing at the back of your mind. we met up with tom and beth who opened up their truly global living room to plenty of visitors of the years. this time, we got to get a look around. ♪ ♪ >> welcome. come on in. it is cold out there.

i'm beth and this is tom. >> i'm tom. >> we have been married for 30 years and this is our living room. first, i would like to introduce to you all the artwork on the walls. most of it has been done by tom will stop >> the parking lot paintings came around because i walk everywhere and i love the beauty of house lines to grade. so i tried to capture that feeling of age and degradation in the paint. >> this is where we feed everybody breakfast or dinner. we love sitdown dinners.

one of the things i really don't -- i really love doing in my living room is hosting people. we have been hosting since about 1999 and we've posted about 350 people from 20 countries. there is no way i can truly explain how important these words are to me. thanks for coming and visiting us. i would love to have you come back and visit us. we will be happy to show you and you and nashville. >> the door is always open. >> and usually there's some food waiting. so come back and enjoy it. >> three years of civil war in syria. that translates into way more than 100,000 lives lost among

more than 680,000 injured, and millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes. these sober numbers fail to reveal the individual tragedies that lay behind them. like in iraq am a the kurdistan pop -- the kurdish population is trying to stay out of this conflict. but with increasingly blurred front lines, that's a tricky agenda. assad forces are fighting the free syrian army and both are fighting al qaeda-linked groups. kurdish militia are trying to keep all of the above out of distance of their communities. for now, they say they are only defending their homes. we met some kurdish women who have taken up arms in the struggle first ability. >> the combat fighters are on an exercise this morning. but this is the kind of thing they have already experienced for real in the syrian civil war. the young women belong to one of the kurdish people's defense

units. here, they are practicing how to ambush an enemy fighter. the kurds main enemies in this war are islamists linked to al qaeda. they show no mercy to these enemies. >> we take no prisoners. we eliminate them. because they could have a bomb and blow us up along with themselves. >> kitchen duty. she's one of 35 women who live together here as if it were a

military ballot -- military barracks. >> ordinary girls have no value in our society. but as fighters, we are respected. that's the difference between us and the other women. >> choosing to fight and join the kurdish uid party means choosing a life without a husband, children or family. you are either totally and were totally out. they tell us women's lives here consist of cooking, having children and cleaning. any man can tell a woman what to do. these women believe their weapons make the difference. female fighters are free. until the revolution began three years ago, kurds had few rights and serious. the assad regime discriminated systematically against them. but they have since seized their

rights. kurdish lessons were unthinkable in syria before 2011. >> here with my comrades, i am happy. but i'm even happier at the front when i'm fighting. >> when we see our comrades fall embattled next to us, it makes us stronger. we are not afraid. >> they never forget their fallen comrades like roxanne, who gave the core its name will stop she was here until a few weeks ago and a fateful battle. >> roxanne was the only one left holding the post. we had to withdraw. she took a grenade in her hand and pull the pin and blew herself up to cover her comrades retreat. >> they tell us 50,000 syrian kurds are willing to take up arms. admittedly, we cannot verify that. a male soldier told us it doesn't matter if you are a man

or a woman, both fight side-by-side. roxanne sacrificed her life in the ideology of modernism. it is a morally superior deed. almost all the young women carry a lot with them for their final day. being taken prisoner is out of the question. >> they do the most awful things to me if they catch me. torture and worse. that's why i would rather kill myself rather than fallen their hands. -- fall in their hands. >> the armed opposition says the kurds are on assad's side. and the air force has not on the kurdish territories in the north. but he has few friends among the kurds. they say they will fight against anyone who attacks them, including assad. we have arrived at an outpost.

the people's defense units are guarding the borders of the kurdish area. when she joined the female defense corps, she was still a minor. at first, she was not allowed to bear arms or even train with them. the kurds do not want any child soldiers. she has only lately been allowed to stand guard. until recently, there were still titles here and deaths or martyrs. over there, with the free syrian army and al qaeda -- since the two groups have become enemies, the islamists have disappeared and things are quieter, but no one knows if it will stay that way. >> i am not afraid of death. whatever our enemies want, let them come. they want to frighten us, but i'm not scared. why should i be? >> when a fighter is buried, the fighters call the martyr lives on. the tribute was paid to her brother.

they are willing to sacrifice themselves completely. for them, it's about something they think is worth losing your life for -- their homeland. for the women, it is also about self-determination. >> when i joined the party, i learned the real meaning of equality. women can defend themselves in this war. that is real liberty for a woman. she can do anything she wants. >> syria is engulfed in war. islamists, al qaeda, the army, the kurds and assad's drugs are all fighting, sometimes with and sometimes against each other. with every death, the hatred grows. the commander believes serious. the future. >> syrian to have to be able to forgive each other, otherwise how can we live together. but to do that, we need very big hearts. we don't want any more bloodshed.

>> young women who dance, laugh, and talked a lot about liberty and death. they say they are not afraid of losing their lives. one of them says her story is not over and that she is destined to live. let's hope she is right. >> even without armed conflict, if you live in tanzania, you are unlikely to make it much past the age of 60. that is about the average age of the spect and see there, putting it far down the age of national rankings. for many people, their life is very tough indeed. much of the population are subsistence farmers that use basic tools to eke out a living on the land. one farmer had enough of the flimsy imported tools he was using two wholly hard, dry ground and now is a toolmaker himself.

>> at some point, the sound hurts his ears. it's a small area behind his house where he works with the simplest of tools and plenty of muscle power. the charcoal fire burns all day. the metal has to be heated to a thousand degrees before work on it can continue. >> we moistened with water so we can cut it more easily. when it is finished, it will have this shape. that will make it easier to plow the land. when you look at this, you see the ones we make our eight millimeters thick. imported parts are two millimeters thick at the most and that is too thin for this hard ground.

now, in october, after months without rain, you cannot work with them. they bend and break too easily. >> almost every morning, he goes out into the field not far from his village. right now, he has to plow to prepare his field for selling. it is not an easy task for him or the other farmers in this area. not even if they work with tractors instead of oxen. the soil as hard as rock, desiccated after months of drought. he made his plow themselves. nowadays, the other farmers by their equipment by a -- from him. they are impressed by his quality. the dry season is expected to end soon. it's not just the other farmers benefiting from his workshop. so are some of the young men who earn a bit of extra money here.

he hopes that one day his sons will carry on what he built up, just as he learned everything from his grandfather. about twice a month, the villagers receive a visitor. he's been a regional agricultural commissioner for about her years. he gives the villagers tips on crop cultivation and new harvesting information. he's very familiar with the needs of the farmers in the village, so the initiative impresses them. >> he has hardly any money of his own available. he collects raw material himself and often that is just scrap

metal. that is what he uses to make his tools. but only in very exceptional cases does he use the little money does have to buy new material. >> the district capital -- 1 hours drive. he sells the products he makes here as well, via middlemen. and he is successful. his plow blades are not only more robust than industrially made ones, but they are cheaper. but he plans to go one step further. he says his dream is to make his own tractor one day, the first 10 then he and tractor. at this point, he has an engine lined up in the gearbox. he knows that's not all he

needs, but says it would be feasible. the engine is a reddish model both -- is a british model. whatever it is, has to be powerful because that is what the farmers in this region need to plow the hard soil. one man here is said to know whether the rain will arrive -- the village later. he has come to him to find out more. the leader has good news. >> there will be rain this year, lots of it, but only in certain areas, but here and there, it will certainly rain. >> in tanzania, the rainy season

is just around the corner. the young man in the village welcome him, young and old alike. without abundant rainfall, the situation would be desperate for stop -- will be desperate. so he hopes it will be a good year for the harvest and whole community. >> and they didn't even do that just for us. if you would like to see those scenes again or watch any of our other reports, you can find us online. but for now i'm over me and all global team, thank you. ÷wc