>> hello, and welcome to "global 3000," your weekly take on the global stories that make a difference. here is what we have coming up for you today. >> tradition or tragedy? why japan won't back down over its dolphin quota. remembering nelson mandela, we visit the school where his legacy comes to life. and we look at how mongolia tries to tackle deforestation. dolphins are intelligent

mammals, known to save swimmers or divers in danger. so no surprise then that they have become the poster child for animal protection. generations of children still grow up enjoying the experience of seeing these beautiful creatures in action. but what isn't visible there is that this form of captivity amounts to torture for these sensitive animals. many japanese say such concerns are way too sentimental. for them dolphin steaks are a normal occurrence on a restaurant menu. and the hunt and sale of dolphins is welcome business. so when hunters gather for the annual mass slaughter of thousands in the bay of taiji, that's also when the fishermen face-off with animal rights campaigners. our reporter phillipp abresh spoke to both sides. >> another day dawns over taiji cove, another day of death for dolphins. they've been herded together in their dozens, now

at the mercy of their hunters. up on the cliffs animal rights activists are powerless to prevent the slaughter. among them, veteran campaigner karla sanjur. >> it's a very brutal process. there's nothing humane about it. the fact that they are driven in from the ocean and held for several nights while they have to witness their family members taken from them. and then they are brutally slaughtered while swimming in the blood of their relatives. that blood has turned the sea red. entire families are trapped, including babies. the mammals panic, exhausted by fear. as is natural for dolphins, they try to protect each other from the fishers' spears and knives. the fishers are allowed to catch and kill up to 2,000 dolphins a year in taiji. for the small town, it's big business. >> whales and dolphins have always been part of our culture. i wish people from abroad would finally appreciate that.

>> we eat other animals after all, pigs, chickens, cows. i don't see what the problem is with dolphins. >> hunting might be an old tradition, but there's more to the story than that. while many of the dolphins are killed for meat, some of the strongest young specimens end up in live exhibits, as acrobats of the ocean. the local whaling and maritime museum complex includes a dolphinarium. taiji also exports its prize prey to other marine parks the world over, from china, thailand and vietnam to dubai, turkey, and ukraine. it's a very lucrative business. a single animal can fetch up to $150,000 u.s. >> people shouldn't get so emotional over dolphins. they're only interested in them because they're so cute and

smart. >> earlier this year the dolphinarium made a high-profile but controversial capture, an extremely rare albino. estimated market price, half a million dollars. on the record, the management are primarily concerned with its well-being. >> albinos don't live long. their conspicuous appearance means they tend to be attacked first by predators. so they have a far nicer life here in the dolphinarium than out in the ocean. >> but it's not as simple as that, say critics. we've arranged to meet izumi ishii, himself once a dolphin hunter. he quit after 40 years and has since been a thorn in the side of the powerful pro-fishing lobby. >> we fishers had caught too many dolphins.

i wanted to prevent that in future. but everyone was against me, including the authorities. they called me crazy, a defector and a traitor, and told me to leave my home village. >> his decision to switch sides has made him a hero among dolphin friends across the world. instead of hunting dolphins, now he earns a living monitoring them. tourists are welcome to join him. today that includes us. izumi has become one of the most frequent and fierce critics of the practice in japan. claims defending the practice as an old tradition are a myth, he says. >> yes, people did depend on the dolphins meat in the aftermath of world war ii. but today its purely about economic interests. thats the only reason why the animals are caught and killed or sold for a high price. >> the dolphins have failed to

surface for us today. izumi plunges us into the past, courtesy of photos taken by him as a 10-year-old lad in the 1960s. the practice is just as brutal as it was then, says izumi. he singles out this photo as an illustration of the sheer suffering. he points to a tear in the dolphin's eye. this one had had its throat cut. here, ishi's friends are gathered around a dead baby dolphin. >> the dolphin hunt in taiji has become too lucrative to go away. the fishers used to get a flat daily wage. these days, the fishers get a share of the profits. the more dolphins they catch, the more they earn. the only way of stopping the hunt is for the government to give the fishers compensation. but instead of offering compensation, the government is an arch defender of the

hunt. there are also strategic interests to consider. if tokyo were to ban the practice, it would face similar pressure to end whaling. next up would be the countrys huge tuna industry. >> dolphin fishing is a part of japanese heritage. it is practiced in an appropriate manner and does not contravene any laws, domestic or international. we are therefore free to define how many dolphins we catch. >> the dolphin hunts in taiji cove were the subject of an oscar-winning documentary film in 2009. the fishers have drawn the curtains, but activists fear the bloody slaughter will continue for some time.

>> whether you share this concern for the dolphins or not will largely also depend on the school of thought you were brought up to believe in. nelson mandela saw education as a key for nation building and reconciliation. as a result, south africa is in the upper quarter of international rankings when it comes to proportional investment in education. and yet poverty remains the barrier particularly in higher education. a school named after mandela in his birth town of mväazo is trying to change that. loyiso gana has always been a tidy kind of guy. but recently hes been particularly eager to make a smart impression. >> when i finish school i want to be a scientist because i am interested in social sciences, history. i want to investigate the history of this land. because it gives me identity, i

just want to know myself. >> he has a one-hour journey to school every morning. its the only secondary school for miles around and located in the village of mvezo, the birthplace of the man whose name it proudly bears, nelson mandela. loyiso is a little late today. morning prayers have already commenced. the mandela school of science and technology represents a great opportunity for loyiso and his 420 fellow-pupils: the chance to qualify for college. many of the children have to learn english first, and nearly all are sitting at a computer for the first time. learning key skills for a promising future. >> my dreams in life are i want to be an engineer to build houses for some poor people in

some villages. >> i have a dream to be a doctor because i like to take care with people. >> the school focuses on engineering, technology and agriculture. it has a 24-strong teacher corps. the schools entire budget is covered by german engineering giant siemens to the tune of around half million euros a year. >> when i was little i used to love science so most of the time i used to watch these videos at home about experiments, and i wondered what it was like to do it. in the end i ended up liking it, so i decided to become a teacher so i can teach it to everyone else. >> it is very much better than the schools ive been before, because that school has more equipment, more learning resources. its got the labs, the library

and everything. i have learned so much today, because i learned how to connect the cells in series and parallel and that means so much for me. >> while theres still construction work to be completed, the foundations for the technology leaders of tomorrow have been laid. and south african urgently needs them, especially in rural areas. most people here have no electricity or running water. many cannot read and write, and one in three are out of work. theres a clear deficit of engineers, draftsmen and technicians. glyn ramoo runs an electricians business with a workforce of 35. finding skilled workers is a huge challenge. >> we're just battling to find decent supervisors, supervisors that take the company at heart and interest and monitor and

mentor other people. so these schools like nelson mandela, or any school,, technical school, train the people with the management skills, i am sure they will be beneficial to us in the future. >> he will need people like loyiso, even if loyiso has other ambitions than being an electrician. mandela said, "education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" its a vision that has secured loyiso his chance at school. >> mandela, he has liberated the whole country, he has brought us free education. and i just want to do that in the future, i want to be like him. >> his school is a flagship project, and one the country needs many more of. thats why loyiso is already considering becoming a teacher himself one day.

>> and now we head to thailand to someone who already is a teacher with a passion for business or maybe rather a businessman with a passion for teaching. nick pisalyaput is quite sure about his mission in life. the most important thing for him is to teach his students how to run a business in a sustainable way. >> everything must be in fine balance. thats what i mean by sustainability. to me it is not just the environment. the survival of not just the planet, but also society.

and at the heart of that is the need to do business with responsibility with ethics! my name is nick pisalyaput. first and foremost, of all im an entrepreneur. but my passion really is in education. i teach at sasin graduate institute, one of the top international business schools in bangkok, thailand. i teach in the area of sustainability. >> i love people saying this is

the -- a lot of people say this is the asian century. perhaps with 2015, with the new association of southeast asian nations economic community, asean, southeast asia will become a pact similar to european union but hopefully without all the flaws. that would have a huge impact in our region. >> its a region of lots of resources, lots of culture, lots to offer to the rest of the world.

>> myanmar is so rich in natural resources. there is a danger of the country being pillaged. well, i think the international community does know better. their consumers are demanding more responsible practice, demanding that the welfare of the workers through the whole supply chain, whether its in china, myanmar or in their own country, is of an acceptable standard. that is something that one cannot always be confident in, but that seems to be the trend. a lot of large companies have had to change and improve their practices based on consumers demands.

with free media, when companies cut corners, when companies act irresponsibly they are exposed. so there is hope, there is excitement. there is a sense of wanting to do more, learn more. experience more. and most importantly, contribute toward the betterment of their own country, their own society, their own people. >> to contribute, that also seems to be the goal of trainee rangers in mongolia. pressure is on them to preserve what is left of the taiga forests. it is still the largest single ecosystem on land, but it is shrinking.

that's mainly because of deforestation and the effects of climate change. once the taiga used to stretch far into mongolian territory. now only 10% of the landscape is covered by forests. stemming this tide is no easy task. we meet the rangers willing to take it on. >> the first step is to remove the branches. then enkzaya saws out a notch in the trunk. she has plenty of help from her fellow students. for the past week theyve been learning which trees to fell, and how to build a fire break and other aspects of forest

management. >> i really enjoy the work outdoors. cutting up a tree trunk isnt hard at all. making sure you dont damage other, younger trees is the tough part. most people think its a job for men. but im learning how forestry can also be a nice profession for women too. its not just about cutting down trees. its also about cleaning the forest. were in selenge province in northern mongolia, 200 kilometers north of the capital ulan bator. this forest comprising fir, pine, birch and larch trees is used for training purposes. budding foresters from the town of züunkharaa come here every couple of months for field experience. the mountains of selenge extend to the southern border of the siberian taiga. the famed coniferous forests

are retreating north, however as slowly but surely they shrink. climate change has been a primary factor. as temperatures rise, permafrost thaw increases. excessive moisture causes tree roots to start rotting, and then the trees die. that in turn endangers the natural habitats of deer, bear, wolf and moose populations. >> mongolia has beautiful forests. they're natural, not created by man. they're home to all manner of plants and animal species. i'm happy to be here, and would never move to the city. even if i had the chance to travel, i'd prefer to stay in the forests. i could never be happy living in the city. >> the city is the sprawling

metropolis of ulan bator, home to an estimated half of mongolias 2.8 million human inhabitants. and they need wood and other raw materials for building and heating. the countrys economy has been booming for years. the biggest contributors to that growth are mining, dredging and other extractive industries. goldmining companies, for example, take huge amounts of water from rivers for washing the metal. a large part is blown off as steam and doesn't return to the rivers, so there is a greater likelihood of forest fires. climate change on a global and local scale is increasing tree mortality in the taiga.

out in the countryside, the german development agency g.i.z. is on the ground to combat deforestation in mongolia. among its tasks, helping the government implement a range of environmental projects. the parliament and ministry of the environment have introduced reforms to the law, and set up a nationwide plan for addressing the challenges of climate change. whats still lacking is the qualified staff to put those moves into practice. and thats where the german project comes in. züunkharaa, where the taiga turns into more temperate grassland or steppe, is home to the regions largest vocational college. this is where the next generation of foresters and environmental engineers are produced. the textbooks were written together with german experts.

trainees learn how to nurture young trees, and create and expand nurseries, and how many trees per hectare they can harvest sustainably. that expertise will also be passed on to their successors. the college admits many young people straight from high school, and a number of unemployed people. the college actively recruits women, promoting the job of forester as an attractive profession of the future. >> my parents were very happy when i told them i wanted to become a forester. my father has a patch of land, leased for 60 years from the government. every time i come home from school, my parents give me more

encouragement. it's a hobby for us, they say: but you can make it your profession. the college also has cooperative programs with partner companies such as this sawmill. the idea is to ensure enkzaya and her fellow students employment in the future. in the long-term, the government wants to see only approved firms selling timber. to gain that status, companies will have to prove that the amount of trees they cut down does not endanger the forest. another condition, having environmental engineers on their team. mongolia needs almost 3,000 experts to make the plan a reality.

a third of that quota is set to be met within the next three years. it is their input that could determine whether the taiga survives. >> and now we would like to tempt your tastebuds. muhammad shamim has sent us this global snack from kerala in india, the veggieburger! you can find that online. and if you send us your favourite snack, there's also something in it for you, savoury, sweet or spicy, what kind of no-fuss food do you like most when you're out? send us a photo of your favorite snack and win our global snack apron. send us your photo by email to global3000@dw.de or better yet through facebook . good luck! and that wraps up "global 3000" for this week. thanks for watching and bye bye!

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>> the following program is an original production of link tv. >> coming up, obama's reassurance to soothe worries in japan and south korea. -- people in fukushima do not feel safe to return home. and political turmoil in thailand. the biggest stories in asia and the latest buzz on social media, all here on "linkasia." [captions made possible by kcet television]