hostwelcome global 30! albania's korab mountains are absolutely stunning. but for many young people there, that's not enough. planting trees, and not just a few but hundreds of thousands of them. we meet an environmental activist in russia. and increasing numbers of migrants are willing to attempt the illegal and very risky crossing from france to britain. most people who flee their homes do so out of utter desperation. war, violence, human rights

abuses, hunger, and the effects of the climate crisis are often behind displacement. every year, tens of thousands of people try to reach europe. routes often change, and new ones are added. instead of leaving from libya, many now set out from tunisia on a dangerous journey across the mediterranean -- or from lebanon to e.u. member state cyprus. at the end of 2019, there were around 6.6 million refugees in europe, but landing on european soil marks the start of a new odyssey. those who want to reach the united kingdom face an illegal and potentially deadly crossing over the channel. estimates suggest that so far this year, 7,000 people have managed it. reporter: crossing the english channel in

rubber dinghies. it's a journey that mo migrants are making than ever before the british government is getting tough. control of u.k. borders was one of the conservatives' biggest brexit promises. but the crossings continue. so now the royal air force and navy have been called in. nazir from sudan is not deterred. nazir: the government doesn't want new people for the country. but the country is big. it can take anyone. so, we will find a place there. reporter: nazir has come to calais to organize his crossing. the northern french port has been an unofficial transit camp for years. infrastructure is poor. these are some images of what everyday life looks like here. a tent city by the side of the road. little electricity and hardly any access to water or food.

relar policehecks. ere are notate-run facilities for migrants and refugees. in a warehouse in calais, british and french ngo's are working side-by-side to provide bare necessities. many here feel angered by the british government and its interior minister. eddy: i feel really ashamed a lot of the time, like this idea from priti patel that there's no reason for people to come to the u.k. because france is a safe country, that it just shows so much ignorance about what it's like for people here. reporter: antoine nehr has also been working in calais for years. he is concerned because living conditions here are getting worse and worse. antoine: the state is afraid that a second shadow city could arise here like in 2016. it's trying to wear people down, a deliberate policy to stop people wanting to stay here. reporter:

back in 2016, the huge non-official camp here was dubbed "the jungle." some 8,000 people, mainly unregistered migrants and refugees, lived on waste ground close to the ferry port. most were wanting to get to england. some were housed in converted shipping containers provided by the french government. the jungle is now gone, and the police make sure that another doesn't spring up. every 48 hours, they conduct a raidregularly confiscating tents and peonal belonngs. the clear message -- you're not welcome here. every morning, rory biggs o'may comes here to record the evictions, keen to bring attention to human rights violations and the difficulty of the situation. he views the footage in his own makeshift office. rory: so, here we have the gendarmerie company arriving. you can see they are waking people up by shouting at them, pushing their tents. and later, they were kicking

the tents with their boots and telling people that they had to leave. reporter: it's all a strategy ordered from on high by a government that has been unable to come up with a solution to calais's migrant problem. rory: the state seems to not want to have people visible to the rest of calais, so distribution teams have been told, like, you're not allowed to distribute in the center of town, but you can go and distribute in another place where no one else lives. and this is just the general theme of calais, like, just trying to move people away from calais, not providing any kind of solution or any kind of support, but just make them invisible to the rest of the population. reporter: they want to drive away the migrants and refugees, but they can't. portable toilets have been set up on traffic roundabouts. people now congregate in parks and parking lots. the only way to escape from this is by crossing the english channel in small boats. nazir is also determined to try. nazir: this boat like people in europe

use to enjoy themselves as a toy in the sea, but we use to go to the u.k. so, it's like some people use machines to push apart, alright? and some people have motor. so, from here to u.k. soabout 34 kilometer.ople use mit take about three hour, three hour and half. if people use their hand, it take about ten hour to eleven hour. reporter: st boatset off ithe earl mornin keepinthe enti area unr sueillances practilly impossle. >> we have 45 kilometers to oversee. that's a lot when you consider all the spots, and the coastlinitself, wi all its iffs. thatakes it diicult. reporter: this summer, there were search and rescue missions practically every day. the english channel is one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. bernard: the channel is a motorway. and it's really dangerous driving on the motorway with a kick scooter. it's the same thing here.

reporter: nonetheless, hundreds try their luck every day. they have nothing to lose, says nazir. nazir: i will do it. reporter: a migrant route has sprung up in western europe, one that britain and france want to shut down by all means. host: these devastating images have become etched in our minds. wildfires on an almost apocalyptic scale have become near everyday events. australia, california, russia, brazil -- our planet is going up in flames. whatever the climate change deniers say, we have a crisis on our hands. our reporter tatiana kondratenko and her team went to russia where they met a woman who has made it her

life's work to plant for the future. she's replenishing the forests in and near moscow. >> what looks like random bunches of greenery are in fact pine tree saplings. thousands of them, all ready for planting. marianna muntianu explains how it's done. marianna: it's very simple. you place the sapling in the hole, then fill that with earth and check that the sapling's firmly bedded in. check once more that it can't be pulled out. yep, great! >> 8000 saplings are due to be planted today, here on the outskirts of moscow. marianna muntianu asked for help online, and an army of volunteers has responded. she regularly invites members of the public to help her. russia's forests have taken quite a beating in recent years.

huge areas have been devastated by wildfires. pests like bark beetles pose a further challenge. russia has more forest than any other country. trees cover nearly half of this vast land. marianna: i've been doing this since 2010. there were terble wildfires back then, throughout the whole of russia. i saw a picture of huge well-established trees being blown across the fields by the wind. they were breaking off like matchsticks. tatiana: marianna muntianu studied economics and initially worked in finance. but she quit her job to devote all her attention to reforestation. >> you can change the world, one small step at a time. and people will pull together for a good cause. >> everybody here wants to help people become more aware of nature again. and to encourage them to do

their bit to protect their environment. >> i want our planet to be as intact as possible, so that we have healthy air to breathe, and leave our children and grandchildren an environment in which they can live well. >> our environment is sick. i don't want to inflict further injuries on the natural world. >> seven years ago, marianna muntianu moved to moscow to build up her own environmental organization. but she's still not a lover of the city. her childhood in the countryside very much shaped who she is. marianna: i love nature. i love the forest. as a child, i always spent the summers with my grandmother in the village. that's her house, right next to the forest. we would go out several times a week, picking berries or mushrooms. >> back in her moscow apartment, she's able to relax after all the hard work.

but she never loses sight of her goal. marianna: this is my mission in life. i want to achieve great things for the benefit of society, of the planet and nature. good afternoon. my name's marianna muntianu and i'm president of the russian climate fund. >> her work has long since expanded beyond planting trees. together with other environmental activists, she puts out her own podcast in a bid to get the message out to more people. she's also developed a mobile game app called "plant the forest." the aim is to promote interest in the wellbeing of trees. income from the app goes to plant new saplings. marianna: the gamer has to collect points, which then allow him to plant trees. the idea is to inspire users so that they stop being indifferent towards our trees, and so that they want to help

with reforestation. >> back to the forest on the outskirts of moscow. it's time for lunch. in the past 10 years, marianna muntianu and her helpers have planted more than a million trees. that's the equivalent of around 1300 soccer fields. a large number of volunteers of all ages have helped to make that possible. last year, she was selected by the united nations for the young champion of the earth award. right nearby, she shows us some other young trees from her project that have had a chance to get established. marianna: this tree was planted just seven years ago, and as you can see, it's already bigger than me! >> soon, this area should once again be a strong, healthy

forest. hopefully strong enough to withstand all the challenges of the future. host: many people who live here are also deeply connected to nature. these are the korab mountains in eastern albania. life here is calm, quiet, traditional. but many young people crave more. they're leaving in droves, heading to cities and even abroad. but is there a way to make them want to stay? reporter: olsion lama takes lots of photos. the mountains of northeastern albania are so beautiful. he works for ppnea, albania's largest environmentalist ngo. heromotes suainable faing practicefor the sa both of nature and local people, so they can make a decent living and chse not to ave. is is the koritnik massif. at its foot, zija keshi has a market garden. he grows fruit.

his operation could inspire others to follow suit, especially young people. he cultivates berries. traditionally, people gathered wild ones in the mountains. olsion lama says such market gardens could be a fruitful source of income for more families here. zija keshi worked for several years in italy. he saved up some money, came home, and began farming. he started with aronia berries five years ago, before branching out. his venture is proving to be a success. in july, his products were certified as organic by an agency in germany, and that's something he's very proud of. zija: i don't use fertilizer. everything is just the same as

up in the mountains, the bacteria in the soil and the humus. they make the plants strong. reporter: keshi doesn't need to do any marketing. customers come to him to buy his produce. he has been experimenting with a number of crops. redlove apples for example. they are a recent cultivar, with red flesh, resistant to disease. and goji berries from china. they thrive here too. keshi also sells cuttings, to those who want to emulate him. olsion lama would love to see others do precisely that. he collaborates with local foresters, veterinarians, and agronomists. they advise smallhold farmers in the mountains, for example, on how to get a bank loan, purchase livestock, or set up a market garden.

the korab-koritnik nature park is a lovely place to hike. but visitors are few and far between because of the pandemic, lockdowns, and travel restrictions. the people and flocks who live here are pretty much alone. amri fida is a shepherd. he has a hard time making a living. but unlike many of his contemporaries who go abroad, he wants to stay. olsion lama often comes up here to the mountain pastures to talk to the locals, find out what problems they face, and help work on solutions. they say it is getting harder and harder to find places for their flocks to graze. olsion: the number of the sheep is decreasing every year, and the

shrubs have taken over the pastures. the pasture lands, the pasture area. that is a difficult problem. they are losing a significant part of the pastures. reporter: it's a vicious circle. amri's family spends the summer months up in the mountains. they spend the winter down in the village. amri's mother doesn't need to rry about her son. he learned everything he knows from her. he knows he doesn't lead a comfortable life, like people in the city. but he also knows that he has a lot more than his family did a hundred years ago. amri: of course i would like to have a big car, but you have to make a choice. if you love this kind of life up here, as i , then you can't go and live in a big city. still, it's tough tending sheep or growing crops here. olsion: our aim for the next year is

that we need to support these activities. and these families, in order that that they benefit from staying here. that is the main thing. reporter: amri fida's family seem to be content with their lives. they recently built a new house next to their old one. thin have been improving from one generation to the next. olsion lama heads off to visit another family. he receives a warm welcome. the eldest son works in sweden, but he's stuck at home because of the pandemic. he's the one wearing a baseball cap. his mother is sad because he is keen to leave again. she can't understand why. what's more, her younger son wants to go to sweden too. olsion lama says the government has to realize that more and more people will leave unless things improve.

one issue is the infrastructure. the roads in the mountains are poor. olsion: government, he sais, -- says, should give help. xhemil: tradition is all well and good, but what should we do if we can't sell what we make? the nearest dairy is 50 kilometres away! and there are no government guarantees, we get no government support. so it's hard to maintain tradition. reporter: it's often easier to make money abroad than to continue farming here. the old farm buildings are still standing. but the noka family have now built a modern house, mainly financed with money xhemil earns in sweden. the area might be beautiful, but without jobs or prospects, young people will continue to go away -- far away. host:

there's a similar trend in japan. here too, it's hard to get young people excited about a life in rural areas. most want to live in cities where all the "life" -- earng money, studying, partying. it's partly down to demographics. japan has one of the oldest populations worldwide, and a long life-expectancy. japanese men live an average of 81.4 years, women more than 87 years. entire areas of the country are ageing rapidly. and young people are desperate to get away. or are they? two years ago, sato went to admiral valley. he was fed up with tokyo.

in gun, he has hls and vaeys insteaof bright lights andustling crds. thprefectures dubbed theyo. japanese dolomites. sato's aid mission is to help develop nanmoku. demographically speaking, it's the oldest village in the country. two-thirds of people here are over 65. that's a record. to woo younger people to the village, the state has agreed to pay newcomers' wages and living expenses for three years. for that, sato has to be prepared to help everyone out -- for example, making shisomaki in the service station on the main thoroughfare. there's plenty of opportunity to chat while busy with miso, mochi rolls, and potato salad. tsuyako: we were very open to him and quickly became friends, didn't we? and the best thing of all is that he married his girlfriend and had a baby with her here. and sato says he will continue . --reporter: and sato says he

will continue to do his best. he helps wherever he can -- in the kitchen, on the till, and in the fields. the mayor has come to visit. he's sato's point of contact with the state-sponsored program. for saijo hasegawa, it's quite a balancing act, recruiting young people while not ignoring the older generation. saijo: at the moment, there are six or seven people in the village who are over 100 years old. people here live for a really long time. we regularly examine people, test their physical and mental health. we give them cognitive training to help keep them mentally agile. that's what i'm busy with at the moment . reporter: sato says the old people here are hale and hearty thanks to clean air, lots of exercise and healthy food. the only thing that he doesn't like here is the amount of driving, but he realizes there's no way around it. at first, sato used to travel around the village with his wife, but she's currently living with her parents for a few months. that's customary for new mothers in japan. meanwhile, he is having to get used to coping alone, and being

a long-distance father to his daughter. children are desperately needed here. 10,000 people used to live in nanmoku. that's shrunk to 1,800. people here used to earn money from the land, but those days are over. the young people left and the elderly stayed. it can get pretty lonely in nanmoku. the ste-fundedevelopment cooperative has provided sato with a workspace in the village hall. he has a desk with a stable internet connection. his friend and colleague takafumi ohno was born here. he's one of the few who returned, and is also fighting for the village's survival. takafumi: you have to respect the people who have always lived here. that's important.

but the views of newcomers bring a fresh breath of air. they have got other connections and networks. that can be useful and we are grateful for every single idea. reporter: the first idea was to build a home for retirees, creating jobs and a place where people can be sure that their grandparents are well looked after. the second idea, a program to enable city kids to get to know the area and get them interested in village life. sato and ohno have got plenty to discuss out on the veranda. ohno has built himself a new home here, something that hasn't happened for years. and he too has a baby, the symbol of a good future. saori: when we lived in yamagata, we never felt that we were working for something, for the good of a village or anything like that. here, it's as if everything we do benefits the village. how should i put it? we feel closer to things here.

reporter: things are looking up for yuta sato. he has one year of taxpayers' money left. after that, he has to be able to stand on his own two feet. a prize-winning flower breeder wants to help him. shinicho ito is sato's mentor. sato is going to take over his business. shinicho: i think he has promise. yuta: it was a good idea to come here. i get up in the morning and say, it's going to be sunny today, or, it's going to rain. just looking at the weather and working, that makes me happy. reporter: the plan to rejuvenate the village is a race against time. but yuta sato is the embodiment of hope in nanmoku, the jewel in the japanese dolomites. host: that's all from us at global 3000 this week! thanks for joining us. and don't forget to drop us a line with your feedback --

global3000@dw.com and visit us on facebook too -- dw global ideas and dw women. bye for now. take care! [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]