>> our nature can't be sacrificed just so every american has a tesla or every european a bmw. this consumption overburdens the planet. there's also not enough lithium. a rethink is needed. our nature mustn't be sacrificed for the global north's energy transition. kharkiv who's paying the price in the global energy transition? lithium mining needs rethinking, say people in argentina. can america's wetlands save the climate? and: hands our trees! a group of women are risking their lives to protect india's

native forests. >> to many in her native village of muturkham, is nothing short of a heroine. she's known as lady tarzan the woman who saves the forest. when the timber mafia began cutting down more and more trees in her home, in jharkand in eastern india, tudu decided she had to do something. that was 20 years ago. together with other women from her village, she founded the tarzan army. they roam local forests, armed with bows and arrows. >> we go into the forest twice a day to check on things.

usually we come once in the morning around 9am and then again in the afternoon around 4pm. it's important we have to protect the trees and hope the timber mafia doesn't come and steal them from us. tudu believes that everyone in the community even its younger members share responsibility for conserving nature. that's why she's happy that her niece rénuka has also recently joined the tarzan army. >> we've been protecting the forest here since we were kids. i have no interest in going out to party. i love the forest. if it didn't exist, how would we survive here?

the campaign to save the forest has left its mark on the tarzan lady. she shows us her scars reminders of brutal attacks at the hands of the timber mafia. once she almost died. >> i have had this scarf for about 10 years. the mafia tried to steal wood and load it at the station. when we intervened, they started beating us and throwing stones at us. my husband and i were bleeding so badly they left us on the track. although the timber mafia can no longer operate as freely as in the past, it's impossible to completely prevent timber theft. jamuna and her army have arrived here too late. these trees have only recently been felled. with temperatures in the 40s, the lack of shade from the missing trees is harshly noticeable:

>> once the trees are cut down, the soil dries up and becomes unusable. here we see that the sunshine has completely dried up the earth. >> movement has grown in recent years. she works closely with the local nature conservation authority. its head, tapash kumar rai, is well aware that, without the efforts of tarzan lady and her team, there would likely be no forests here at all. >> it is thanks to 's efforts that they can see forests again here in the region. you should have seen what it used to look like here. we have not been able to make people aware of conservation, she was the one who made it happen. >> tudu is concerned not only with saving existing trees but

also with reforestation. so far she and her fellow campaigners have planted more than 15,000 new trees! but ever-longer dry seasons make it difficult for the young trees to survive. eastern india is feeling the consequences of climate change on a massive scale. twenty years ago, we still had long periods of rainfall during the monsoon season. but now we're seeing the impact of deforestation in the 80s. it hardly rains during the monsoon season, it is no longer cold in winter. the changes to the climate are very noticeable. >> once a year, they celebrate a very special event in the

forest. at the raki oath ceremony, the women of the surrounding villages meet and tie the so-called raki around the trees. in that way they strengthen the bond between man and nature. it is an ancient tradition, practised here for centuries. hugs and kisses for the trees are, of course, part of the ceremony: >> we tie the raki around the tree because for us it is a kind of brother. with this act, we promise to protect it like a family member. we also promise not to let anyone damage the tree or cut it down. at the conclusion of each raki oath a traditional dance. the women form three rows, symbolizing a protective wall. for years they rarely celebrated the tradition but, since jamuna's commitment to forest preservation, more and more women gather each year. in the future, life in hot

eastern india will be possible only with enough forests. so far, tudu has been able to convince over 500 villages and more than 10,000 people of this. in the small village of sonsunia, villagers founded their own group to protect the forest. much has happened since then. >> we in our village have received very little aid from the government. since we started working with jamuna, things have changed. the water supply is better now and we finally have a proper road thanks to her. lady tarzan a life of protecting nature. where does she find the strength to fight on?

i'm a tribal woman. nature is sacred to us. plants are gods for us. i think god gives me the strength to protect the forest. the trees and the plants give me the strength to go on. lady tarzan wants to get the younger generation excited about her work too. the 43-year-old knows that protecting nature in eastern india is possible only if every generation gets involved. marco and caesar are leading the way into the bush. they're orphaned baby chimps rescued from animal traffickers. now, they live at the chimpanzee conservation center, a sanctuary located in the national park of upper niger, in east-central guinea. the country is home to more than 30,000 wild, western chimpanzees, the largest

population in the region. however, the numbers of these great apes with whom we humans share more than 98% of our genetic blueprint have declined dramatically in the last 20 years. they're now critically endangered. the main causes of chimpanzee extinction are the destruction of their habitat due to human activities, and poaching. people kill them with no regard for the law that protects them. in guinea, chimpanzees are often poached for their meat or sold as pets. chimps, like marco, who've been seized by the authorities are brought to the center: this sanctuary rehabilitates chimps and then releases them into the wild. around 60 great apes are currently living at the center, which is funded by international organizations and private donors.

>> the chimps' day gets to a swinging start, with a breakfast of fruits and ginger tea to combat the cold. a routine health and psychological check-up follows, since they often arrive suffering from health problems and trauma. then, an excursion into the forest helps the young chimpanzees adapt to the wild. the forest is very important for the chimpanzees. we walk with them through the forest so they can get used to it as it is their habitat. here they can find food, and a place to sleep. but for marco and his pals to return to the forest, they need large open spaces to hang out in. yet human activities like agriculture and logging are destroying the national park; the loss of sufficient healthy habitat mean just twenty chimps could be released since 2008.

the chimpanzee conservation centre manager. the chimpanzee conservation center contributes to species protection through rehabilitation and reintroduction, but also by educating the local community. because it's the community that's destroying the environment, so these people need to be educated and sensitized. that's very, very important for a project like this one. the center has launched different projects to raise environmental awareness within the communities living in the park. among them is a weekly radio show. it informs listeners about the park's flora and fauna, its natural resources and how to protect them. an educational program at primary schools inside the park also teaches future generations about the importance of conservation, and the threats chimpanzees face. since its start in 2019, more

than 700 students have taken part in these workshops. we run these programs in schools to teach children while they are young, so they can grow up with the idea and also pass this information on to others: to protect the environment. to safeguard the chimps' habitat, conservation and education are crucial. but so is providing alternative sources of income that promote sustainable development locally. along with villagers and two women's associations, the center has created lasting employment opportunities. and launched a plastic recycling project which supports more than 300 women. it's a win-win solution: these projects provide locals with a steady income, raise

environmental awareness, and ease the pressure on the ecosystem. and could soon give marco, caesar and their fellow-chimps enough space to go ape in the wild! >> human beings have already drained and so destroyed ten percent of the world's marshlands. but when intact, these store five times more co2 than forests. so it's high time to refill the swamps. >> deep in the heart of virginia's marshes with the manager of this nature reserve, chris lowie. he's trying to undo two centuries of destruction. back then, the swamp was supposed to be made usable for logging and farming. cypress and pine trees were valuable building material and were cut down. parts of the wetlands were drained.

the protected area is 500 square kilometers in size and chris lowie's task is to bring back the water. lake drummond is central to this. it must maintain its water level. >> if we were to allow the lake to be drawn down, then that means it's going to bring more water the land into this bowl of the lake. and so, by keeping the lake level up to a level ... it will hopefully keep the groundwater level up around the perimeter of the lake. >> 250 years ago, slaves had to dig a huge network of such canals. water from the surrounding marshy peat soil flowed out of the area into the depressions. the peat dried out. and peat is the planet's best co2 reservoir but only if it's under water.

chris says that the last two major fires here alone released over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide equal to that emitted by more than 1 million cars in a year. and so they are trying to raise the water level again. chris and his team regulate the water flow using simple metal structures and wooden boards. they want as little runfrom the marsh as possible. >> what we're trying to do is restore some of that hydrology, make the wetland a wetland again, increase habitat diversity by bringing back some of those historic forest communities, so that as it goes into the future, in the face of climate change, and if we do continue to have those natural events that occur, this system will be more resilient. >> the great dismal swamp: an impenetrable thicket

inhospitable to humans. that's why it was an important refuge for people who did not want to be discovered people who fled the horrors of slavery. eric sheppard's ancestors were among them. he says that altogether 50,000 escaped slaves hid here, hoping for freedom. he invites visitors to take tours and has worked tenaciously to uncover the history. >> sometimes, i used to walk the grounds of where i knew my ancestors had walked, in this case, where their bones still are, the dismal swamp. and i would have moments when i said, 'tell me where you are. i'm looking for you.' it was using that energy, that space where you felt like you were connected to something that was lost in your soul. >> the lake's waters also saved people's lives back then. the canals were clandestine trade and escape routes. eric sheppard's guests karen

wilson and her daughter are deeply moved. >> the one who created the heavens and the earth always provides a way of escape for his people. and so, when i see the water rise, i think of deliverance. and i just ... it's a message of hope for me. >> the marshland stretches for hundreds of miles along the atlantic coast. it has always been difficult for farmers here to eke out a living from the swampy soil. draining it seemed the only option. the carolina ranch is doing things differently. manager angie tooley wants to combine ecology and economy: rewetting the dried peat and turning it into cash. the more co2 they bind here under water, the more money they get from big co2 producers like airlines, who use it to offset their co2 emissions. and she sees more opportunities

to profit. >> well, these are the healthy microbes. and, basically, this is what you ... put this under a microscope and you'll see things that create cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, things like that. >> east carolina university researchers scientifically monitor their efforts. noting measurements, water levels, soil conditions...and making sure the water is flowing properly. they want to help ensure that private landowners have a financial incentive to restore marshes to fight climate change. >> is full of the mom-and-pops who own a small amount of acreages. they can't afford what this landowner put into the research and development. i'd like to be able to create a pool where we can help incentivize doing the right thing and make it exciting.

>> back in the great dismal swamp, where things are moving in the right direction at their own pace, chris lowie has to turn back time to move forward. >> in the face of climate change, it's going to be a healthier system if it's a weather system, and that it can serve as a wetland, it can serve as a buffer between all the one-and-a-half million people that live around us. climate change is happening faster than ecosystems can evolve. so, we're trying to adapt now for what the conditions are predicted to be in the future. >> so that, even under extreme conditions, millions of tons of co2 are safely sequestered here in the marshy soil. >> top speeds, considerable horsepower and a smoking

exhaust. not for much longer! e-mobility is taking over. this year, every fifth car sold worldwide will run on electricity and the trend is up. great! but there's a catch: lithium. evs can't run without it. which means we need a lot of the stuff. within a few years, demand will hit 240,000 tons per year plus billions of liters of water! >> clemente flores is normally very friendly and laidback. but mention lithium and he grows serious, almost irate: >> they're using freshwater and especially salt water, because there's lithium in it. if they keep doing that we can all pack up and leave, because everything here would die. >> clemente is on his way to a protest. he wants to show that

people here, in the north of argentina, are against mining lithium for industrialized countries. this region is home to many saltwater lakes which contain lithium. but extracting this metal, known as white gold, consumes millions of liters of freshwater and salt water. and that's raising fears that groundwater levels could sink. the mine has been a source of conflict for years. clemente's destination is the village of alfarcito . people here live from what nature provides, so they never take more than they need. for generations, ernestina has made items from the wool of her llamas. she's passed on her knowledge to her daughter maria. they sell their handicrafts to tourists, though few visit this area. but they're fine with that. what worries them is that water is growing scarce.

>> we have no water in the mountains. i must walk really high up to find some. >> a stream once ran right by her door. now there's barely a trickle. rain is rare in this region, so if the groundwater table were to sink any more, the whole ecosystem would be at risk. locals believe that the drought caused by climate change and lithium mining are only making things worse: >> we are destroying the region's ecosystem, with all its life, so people elsewhere think this is green energy. but it's not. they're destroying something to get something else. green energy is also a business. >> people have come from all over to learn about their rights from environmental activists and lawyers. they say that no one else will tell them, never mind ask their

approval. they fear losing their livelihoods, while international companies and the government rake in profits. tons of lithium is exported. if the income were to go to our community or argentina, that'd be fair. but where are the proceeds? they all go abroad. german government subsidies have boosted the sale of electric cars. 1 million evs have been registered in germany to date and that number is supposed to rise to 15 million by 2030. carmaker bmw already sources lithium from argentina. but all industrialized nations covet the metal. >> our nature can't be sacrificed just so every american has a tesla or every european a bmw. this consumption overburdens the planet. there's also not enough lithium. a rethink is needed. our nature mustn't be sacrificed for the global north's energy transition.

>> to tackle the climate and energy crisis, germany is looking for partners. and german investment would help argentina combat its economic crisis. >> >> sure, if argentina throws open its door to the mining industry, major players will come. but there's no strategic plan, no awareness. that's really worrying. >> so together they're setting an example. they plan to launch a balloon to get their message across. it says: we're protecting the water. everyone is pitching in. it doesn't matter whether they live in the village like maria or come from far away, like clemente. >> the whole world will see there are lots of us, all working together.

>> the balloon will be powered by the wind and sun alone. for clemente flores, this is about more than environmental protection. it's about social justice and co-determination. but there's a strong headwind and the delicate balloon can barely get the ground. maybe it's symbolic, clemente says. but he's not giving up. >> it's a small step towards raising our visibility and showing everyone there's life here. people here want to fight climate change but not by exploiting nature. as long as the risks remain unknown, they're not prepared to hand over control of their land and its resources.

anchor: this is dw news. vladimir putin with a threat to poland, he warns any aggression toward belarus will be considered an attack on russia. this follows poland's deployment of more troops along its eastern border in response to russian mercenaries a gathering in belarus. also coming up, emergency crews battle wildfires in greece as a new heatwave adds to the misery.