>> survival of wildlife pens in the health of the land. our consumption of natural reserves has increased by 50%.

with overuse, mismanagement, and climate change, a third of the land has become degraded trees and for tile soil at least 10,000 species have become extinct. the land has been strained to the breaking point. restorationnd conservation are key. an innovative device and could or is hoping protect expansion and exploitation. >> i am in australia where an ancient culture is leading the way protecting a wilderness. >> located in ecuador, it is one of the last remaining dry forests in the country. threatened by the city, hunting and poaching, the forest is in danger of extinction.

>> ecuadorian dry forests are bio diverse. but due to human actity, they have been reduced to 1% of their original coverage. i am traveling to see how technology can help protect them. the population has increased tenfold. drawn here by employment opportunities, migrants are only able to live in the outskirts. i am heading into the forest to meet the people conserving this area. he is the chief ranger. he has been working to protect the forest for over 20 years. this has become increasingly

difficult. [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> where the rangers have stopped the city moving forward or into the forest -- they have to deal with criminal activity such as illegal logging and hunting. >> [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> the rangers not only protect orest but the wildlife that inhabits it. arranger here for 11 years come up for theast three, he has been fighting to protect one of the most iconic birds. the four station and hunting have left the macaw -- the four

station -- deforestation and hunting have left the macaw in danger. it is thought there are less than than 10 left ear. they need to support from the rangers. >> [speaking spanish] quiet the rangers --? >> the rangers are doing their best to patrol the area, but for nine of them, it is a big job. >> it is difficult to hear when someone is trespassing. there is trespassing. there's a new technology to help that out.

he has developed rain forest connection, a surveillance system consisting of an old mobile phone and recycled solar panels, which listens in on the sounds of the forest. make to meet you. nice to meet you. >> why are these important? it is important for the rangers to patrol the entire place. noises travel pretty well. picking out things like chainsaws or gunshots. >> what are they work -- what do they -- what are they made of? >> they can last for years. we are about to go up and see how it comes together. >> you have got it.

i am ready. take a look at the view. it is stunning. >> we had to build these out of recycled shards. >> how many do you have? >> there are 10. >> in different locations. >> we can pick up a lot that happens within a broad area. aquatics -- >> over the standard of cell phone network. even our conversation right now --

>> a little higher up is the unit containing the phone that these panels charge. >> we are allowing these things to grow. we were hoping -- they are the ones who protect the forest. >> with a storm brewing, it is time to make a quick exit from the treetops. the next day, i found out how this can help people.

>> the type of alert and locations. open it up. you can start seeing all of this on a map. there are only a few. >> for today's illegal log -- we are the illegal logger. we to see if rangers can find us. >> tell us how this works. hodo you know what is a chainsaw? >> we trained this artificial intelligence model. it can pick out what we are looking for. let's let's give it a go.

[speaking spanish] >> going to take inside away. -- his chainsaw away. when people are caught, they could face jill time or be fined up to a quarter of a million dollars. >> [speaking spanish] >> the rain forest connection

devices are relatively new here but they have had great successes in cameroon. the world has lost nearly half its force to human activity. simple and sustaable, these guardians may be able to make a real difference to the forest and wildlife. armando takes me to one of the critical locations for the listening device. one of the few places with macaws. >> this is stunning. >> [speaking spanish]

>> with the global population increasing, the rush to use our resources -- it not just the envinment that is suffering. since 2015, at least 440 seven land and environmental defenders have been kild globally. more than four people each week. in the philippines alone, nearly 100 activists have lost their lives since 2010 while trying to protect their land. meanwhile, many people died in the same time in honduras. campaign against the construction of a dam.

a follow -- fellow activist was with her that day. he was interviewed. >> [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish]

>> up to 65% of the land on the planet is managed by indigenous people. and yet it is estimated less than 20% is owned by them. a fight to protect them has never been morimportant. a straw you is one of the most bio diverse countries on earth. the land has been skillfully managed by fst peoples. traditional small-scale burning was in integral part of maintaining the ecosystem. since colonization, many indigenous people have been forced off their land. in their absence, large wildfires have moved in, aggravated by climate change and rising temperatures. i am in western australia where the owners are returning to their land.

protecting one of the most protect ecosystems in the world. a vast area of the western desert was home to -- some of them contacted by europeans as late as the 1960's when they were cleared off their land. norma's wildfires -- large wildfires have devastated the while -- landscape. i am stopping off to meet an expert in calfire has affected this country. have there been particularly bad fires here? >> somewhere in the order of 2.5 million hectors. this is an image taken over 10 nights. it shows some of the fire in the western desert.

these are mega fires. these are extreme events. we are seeing these too eventually -- huge events. ignite with the first strikes that occur. these kind of things will get worse. >> how important is it? with the interaction of people with the desert, -- >> the solution to these fires is, surprisingly, fire. traditional burning, practiced for millennia, is being brought back. they won native title over their land. they have since started a ranger program. a key part of which is continuing this practice.

the dry season has just begun. i am joining one group as they go deep to start their program before wildfires can take hold. i am indigenous, too. i spent part of my childhood in a remote community northeast of here. i am looking forward to getting back out to the desert. carol williams has been a ranger for five years. >> what made you want to be a ranger? >> is not a contest. >> i learned some things. >> he is one of the relatively few elders left who are using fire to hunt during his bushmen days. his knowledge of the landscape

means he can show the younger rangers how and when to burned the land healthy. >> sorry. sorry. this traditional method forms thousands of small, clear patches that can prevent large wildfires from taking hold. >> how does lighting fire stop fire? >> you are making a fire break.

>> so the fire stops and doesn't read so far. there is no fire breaks. >> as the vegetation is still green from the rain, the small fire will soon go out. >> their eyes are so in tune with what to look for.

>> areas have been burned, they provide a diverse mix of habitat. this provides perfect foraging grounds. australia has the worst rates of extinction and the world. like other animals, a small marsupial has been in decline since they left the land. the range map and monitor numbers. >> see the tracks there last time?

>> over here? >> we have a bit of butch tucr -- bush tucker. it is time to set up camp for the night. we are going to cook up some kangaroo tales. i used to sit back and watch my auntie do it. there are so many of them all over the country.

tomorrow, we are going to head out and monitor another of these endangered species. a wallaby. the rangers don't always work alone in their conservation of the wildlife. one of their partners is from parks and wildlife, working with the rangers for the past five years. >> nice to meet you. >> we will be tracking something. >> wallabies have been found in several new locations. who told you there were rock wallabies here? >> we work with people who know

the country so well. >> the traps will enable them to enable the diversity of this population. >> good find. >> rockwool obese. >> a really good fire program is really important. >> he manages to recover a camera trap which could show whether a healthy population is subsisting here, in part to the continuation of traditional burning in the area. >> that is incredible. look at that one. >> they have returned to the desert in areas where they are burning.

the wildfires have redud dramatically. there are over 100ndigens ranger groupacross australia, hoping to restore 67 million hectors of land. when you are out here and you see people lighting fires, you see the rangers carrying for the endangered species, you understand without them, this country is not going to survive. it has made me think about my own country. that connection, aboriginal people have to their home country. >> the serious consequences of

destroying the land are prompting new methods of conservation. >> this aims to reduce deforestation by sowing seeds faster. they are planting roads of -- rows of trees. this allows crops to be cultivated in the alleyway. in trinidad and to boggle, dashed -- tobago, they can be ov seven mets long. more important is we limit our consumption of natural resources. the future of our planet depends ongñcñcñcñcqú/ú/ú/ú/ú/ú/

>> welcome to "global 3000." fighting corruption. why climate funds are going astray in nepal. ♪ goalkeeper for hire. how wealthy brazilians find their eleventh man. and, money to spare, just how much tax should the ultrawealthy be paying? ♪ global heating, the pandemic, conflicts and crises.