A new series of TV programmes, aimed at inspiring audiences with positive stories about protecting our planet from biodiversity loss and climate change, is available to view on the PBS YouTube channel.
The series was inspired by the work of Professor Andrew Balmford and his book Wild Hope.
Each half-hour episode looks at bold interventions, unexpected alliances, and nature’s resilience revealing how local action can spark powerful change and provide a refreshing dose of hope in an increasingly cynical world.
The series was made by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvxs_j5q540bTyeVSj6pC7PKIQxpRfN6M
Episode guide:
1. The Big Oyster - Through community efforts, the Billion Oysters Project is using oysters to clean the water in New York Harbor.
2. Beaver Fever - Beavers were hunted to extinction 400 years ago in Britain, but today, they’re making a comeback. Discover the chaos, controversy, and unique benefits to Britain’s countryside.
3. Woodpecker Wars - An improbable alliance between scientists and soldiers is giving a special bird—the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker—a new lease on life.
4. Does Nature Have Rights? - In Ecuador, conservationists invoke the constitutional rights of nature to save areas of immense biodiversity.
5. The Beautiful Undammed - (Streaming on YouTube starting Monday, August 28) - Ten years after a massive dam removal, salmon are returning to the Elwha river, helping to revive a lost ecosystem, and providing a new model for undamming rivers across the American West.
6. Coffee for Water - (Streaming on YouTube starting Monday, September 4) - A national park grows coffee to save a rainforest—and safeguard a critical water source for the communities and wildlife that depend on it.
7. Salamander of the Gods (Streaming on YouTube starting Monday, September 11) - Scientists partner with farmers, fishers, and nuns to save two remarkable species of aquatic salamanders in Mexico.
8. Canine Conservationists (Streaming on YouTube starting Monday, September 18) - To save Australia’s iconic indigenous animals from invasive species, habitat loss and fire, scientists have enlisted unusual partners with a surprising nose for conservation: Dogs.