it's impossible to contain them, and they're too far away for the firefighters to deal with. controversially, farmers gilvan and manelao have long relied on traditional slash and burn agriculture, even though the technique used to be banned in the protected area. >> if we're not permitted to use our traditional techniques, then we can't maintain the quality of our produce and we also end up producing less. >> now, however, the practice is once again legal. but only so long as the fire brigade is on hand. >> we have been working together since the beginning of the year because we want to reconcile the goals of the protected area with the needs of the local population. we put the fire brigade at their disposal so as to prevent the fire from spreading and at the

same time we guarantee that the local population can continue using their traditional farming methods. we've reached a binding agreement and we want to work together harmoniously. >> the carbon in the ash makes the soil more fertile and burning clears land for new crops. the fire management program in the cerrado is designed to help brazil reach its ambitious climate goals. by 2020, it hopes to have reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 40%. the calm before the storm. there could be an emergency any minute.

sometimes, the firefighters spend days battling flames. their camps are out in the middle of the forest. sometimes, the fire brigade start fires themselves. here in the cerrado, it's better to live with fire than to constantly battle it. lara steil from the brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources says these steps are necessary for the conservation of the cerrado. >> what this is is a controlled blaze. we create a firebreak path that prevents the fire from spreading. that's part of the integrated fire management program. you need to know fire to make it work. managing it entails prevention,

containment, firefighting and using fire, as we see here. it's a program that contributes to the preservation of biodiversity in brazil and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. >> but reducing the entire country's carbon emissions would entail introducing the strategies practiced in the jalapao protected area across the whole of the cerrado. >> and now to a stroke of genius that easily managed to qualify for our global brains series. it recently occurred to a young product developer that there are several sheer endless sources of energy on this planet -- the sun, the wind, and people kicking footballs around. here is his bright idea of how the power of football can help fuel pretty much anything, really.

>> talk about moving the goalposts. as it happens, melissa seligmann and victor angel are also on their way to a soccer pitch. these amateur players meet up for soccer practice in brooklyn every week. the view of manhattan is an added bonus. melissa hopes to interest the players in a somewhat unusual football. >> this is the soccket. it is a soccer ball that stores the kinetic energy from play. so, as the ball plays, it stores the energy in an internal mechanism and then you can use it to power a light. so, like 30 minutes of play with the ball will power the light for 3 hours. >> let's try this out. >> right now, the ball costs that's a little pricey. otherwise, it gets the thumbs up. >> it seems a little light, so maybe it's just like a regular soccer ball that bounces more. >> it's interesting.

it's got a neat texture to it. the balance, you have to adjust to. i wonder what's inside of it. it feels really cool. >> i like juggling it. it was easy to juggle cause it is pretty light. so, i haven't tried kicking it too far jet. in terms of juggling and keeping it close, it is pretty good. >> the soccket was designed by victor, who is a keen soccer player himself. >> it is a lithium-ion battery similar to the one you can find in iphones or other electronical devices. it's rechargeable and it's geared towards children in developing countries that don't have access to power. so, they are able to play for a few minutes every day, go back home, plug an led lamp and be able to do their homework or other tasks around the house. >> so far, development of the soccket has been funded by donations. but victor angel and melissa seligmann hope that at some point it will become financially viable. the 25-year-old technician is planning to keep refining the design. the aim is to introduce it in places where there's no access to electricity.

>> one of the biggest things was making it light enough for children to play. right now it is 50 grams heavier than a traditional soccer ball. it is completely airless so that it doesn't puncture. a lot of times when you donate a ball to the developing world it gets flat in a matter of weeks and ends up in the landfill. this one you can actually play around in the rain or in the mud. >> the main question is obviously does it really work? a football that can power a lamp, a very illuminating idea. >> told you it was clever. the world population has never grown as fast as in these past decades. at the same time, people are living longer thanks to medical progress and improved living conditions. across the richer nations of the northern hemisphere and in japan the average age is around 40 years. in china and parts of asia, it

is in the 30's while most people in africa are still pretty young. almost half the population of the continent's most populous country nigeria are under 14, for instance. but even here and in parts of asia, the proportion of old people is growing. in malaysia, the question of who takes care of grandma and grandpa in old age is becoming a social pressure point. the state has long relied on traditional family structures. but these are beginning to fall apart, leaving many old people confused and sometimes even abandoned by their own children. >> robi lazin is 86. she's not enjoying her twilight years. time goes by too slowly, she says. old age is a curse. even though she raised six children, she spends most of her time alone. but once a week, a smile returns to her face, when aziza and siti drop by.

they visit elderly people who don't have anyone else. >> no one else bothers to talk to me. my children have better things to do. my grandchildren work and my great grandchildren go to school. no one is there for me. >> "your nails need cutting," says aziza. she helps elderly people like robi lazin with personal hygiene. she cleans up her home and accompanies her on visits to the doctor. perhaps most importantly, she's a good listener. >> the younger generation is only interested in material well-being. ey don't realize that one day, they'll be old, too. and who'll look after them then? >> some old people are even worse off than robi and have lost everything, from their homes to their families.

some 40 elderly people live in this home, packed into one small room. they've been cast out by their own families. located on the outskirts of kuala lumpur, the home is full of seniors left almost entirely to their own devices. many of them are sick. but staff are almost impossible to find. ah fong has no idea how long she's been here or why she was moved here in the first place. she has two daughters. but they're busy with work. they travel a lot and have no time for their aging mother. "they're long gone," she says. they want nothing to do with her. all she wants is to die.

ah fong was transferred here from the largest hospital in malaysia. last year, nearly 200 elderly people were left here in the a and e unit. their relatives give false contact details, so it's impossible for staff at the hospital to locate them. >> these patients are traumatized. even though many of them are suffering from dementia, they sense that they're not wanted. they accept their fate. in many cases, it's likely that they were subjected to physical and psychological abuse and neglect. >> their families have rejected them and the hospitals can't look after them either. that's why so many of them end up in desolate, makeshift homes. they can't rely on the state for any kind of care or financial support. they have no choice but to look

after themselves. 66-year-old ngin kai ju is the only resident who's here voluntarily. he makes sure everyone at least gets one hot meal. >> many of them are ashamed. they don't want to talk about what's happened to them or to admit that they were abandoned by their own children. >> the man who gives them a roof over their heads is actually an undertaker. cheong loy's business is housed on the ground floor. he ended up opening an old people's home purely by chance. friends asked him if he could put up their parents. then hospitals started getting in touch with him. >> i started out accommodating two or three old people but then

more and more came along. i couldn't bring myself to turn them away. eventually, we started cooking for them and looking after them. >> cheong loy finances the home with donations. what little care is available is provided by volunteers. if they aren't around, the residents have to take care of themselves. >> we have a man from the church who comes by and an elderly lady who comes in to change diapers. but today she can't come because she has to take her grandchildren to school. >> malaysia is a country of contradictions. the economy is booming, but society has become much tougher. people work until they drop. 72-year-old eun ah kow is a taxi driver. he spends eight hours a day at the wheel of his car. he can't stop working because he

has neither a pension nor savings. >> i have two sons. but they only make enough money for themselves. they can't spare anything for me. i don't want to be a burden. i would rather earn my own living as long as i can. >> all the state can offer is a somewhat pitiful-looking pilot project, a sort of daycare center for the elderly. relatives can drop off their aging family members for a few hours a day. but not all old people take to it. today, azizah and siti are visiting 88-year-old zahara hassan. her children moved away long ago, and she lives on her own.

>> i'm staying here. it's my home. i'm not going anywhere. >> in many developing countries, ensuring the elderly can enjoy their old age in dignity against a backdrop of rapid social change is a new challenge. it's no longer a private duty. it's now a public one. >> now, what to do when a glacier is one your main tourist attractions and you see it melting away before your eyes? the answer is highly dependant on where you live. engelberg in switzerland is a high-tech region that depends on tourists coming to see its famous glacier. and it certainly wasn't going to just sit by and watch it disappear. steps are now being taken to ensure visitors get what they have been promised in the glossy brochures. >> they've travelled halfway around the world to play in the snow. for many asian tourists, a trip

to the swiss alps is as much a part of the european experience as the colosseum or the eiffel tower. but these days, it's looking like those manmade landmarks might be around quite a bit longer. >> do you like the snow? >> very much. >> it's your first time playing in the snow? >> yes. >> down in the valley lies the resort of engelberg. this idyllic village in central switzerland has a population of 4000 and attracts about 3000 tourists a day. from here, they can head to the snowy peaks of mount titlis all year round.

it boasts chilly temperatures of 4 celsius even in summer.-- of - 4 celsius even in summer. but is this tourist attraction here to stay? andreas bauder is an expert on glaciers. he has a photograph from the 1970's that was taken here and shows how much the view has changed. >> there was an ice front of 10 to 20 meters above the rock face, where there's no glacier left any more. it's completely disappeared now. up here is an ice break. you can still see a trace of it. and now the ice has become so thin that all that's left is a gap and exposed rock.

i don't think the glacier is going to survive the second half of this century. >> another 30 years or so. locals are at pains to prevent the tourists from noticing that the glacier is receding and to ensure they continue to enjoy their visit, complete with ice and snow. their business is just too important for the region. peter reinle is marketing head of the mountain railway. he's determined to see the titlis glacier remain a tourist draw. with the help of a high-tech cooling system in a side shaft of the glacier cave, the temperature will be kept at a chilly minus seven degrees celsius. >> this will keep the temperature in the cave steady and prevents the glacier from melting or at least slows the process down. >> this reporter wants to know why not let nature simply take its course?

>> the glacier cave is very important in terms of tourism. about one million visitors a year come to mount titlis and many of them come mainly to see the glacier. they want to feel it, enter it, touch it. so, we really need to preserve the glacier cave. >> but that's not the only measure. artificial snow is also on the cards. >> that will be happening at a later stage. if we can produce artificial snow at night so that the glacier is white when the sun comes up, then the sunlight will be reflected and the melting process prevented. >> a cooling system inside the glacier and artificial snow on top of it. and in between, a 1000 square meter synthetic fleece. it's a sort of protective covering, designed to slow down the melting process. >> it's fiberglass, so it's very robust.

it has to be able to withstand a lot of wear and tear. >> patrick jäger works for an environmental conservation organization called mountain wilderness and doesn't think much of such high-tech quick fixes for climate change. >> climate change is a fact. it can be postponed, but it cannot be prevented. the mountains and the glacier are very attractive symbols of the alpine experience, but they are being increasingly exploited to boost tourism and profits. >> with the glacier receding, peter reinle has a plan b. he's shifting his focus to the world's highest suspension bridge, 500 meters above the ground. he hopes it will keep the tourists coming even when the snow has disappeared and in the process, preserve a highly lucrative tourism industry and

thousands of jobs. including his. werner durrer drives a snow plough and is a busy man. falling rocks are an increasing problem and pose a risk to tourists. that's why he has to keep clearing pathways to catch the rocks. >> i see it as a race against time. we'll have to wait and see if the snow disappears. but i fear it's a battle we're going to lose. we might not want to admit it, but it's the truth. >> but in the meantime, the tourist industry is becoming increasingly frenetic. perhaps it's because it's in its dying throes and even the tourists realize that glacier's -- that time is running out for the glaciers. sooner or later, the region will

be seeing significantly fewer visitors. >> well, to tell us what you make of this, find us on facebook or drop us a line by e- mail. that's all we have time for on today's program. until the next time, from me and the team here in our berlin studios, bye-bye. national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

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these mountains, absolutely gorgeous. is in the persian gulf and in that this entity of the united arab emirates, saudi arabia and yemen. believe me, we have been every the warmtharticular and hospitality of the people cannot be denied. it is a peaceful country, very friendly and unique. they believe in talking, not fighting. visitsis america" oman. "this is america"you by -- the national education association, the nation's largest advocate for children the public education.

republic of catholic stand in the heart of eurasia, a rich history of walter, hospitality of culture and future of development and growth. the u.s. china education trust and tehhe fy chang. the league of arab states, representing 300 80 million people in 22 member countries. the rotondaro family trust.the embassy series come a presenting international artists in diplomatic settings. in oman the characteristics of the country and people made themselves known time and time again. the hospitality of the people, the richness of their traditions, the role of islam in daily life, the beauty of the

country, and of course, the oman's on the country and the people. advisor, cultural affairs. what do you think is at the heart of his majesties popularity? >> everyone i talk with treat him with such reverence and respect, such love i would say. he is the father of the nation. omans the fatherly role in . when he came to the throne in 1970, oman was a closed book to the outside world. oman was separated. each region was separated from

the other region. each society was closed within its own self. throne inok to the 1970, he threw the doors wide nies to bema themselves, to love, to interact. he led them to all the walks of life. it is that feeling of love, respect. in 1970 there was no radio, no press. he traveled all oman. he traveled. in the winter, in the