Show Notes
The loss of forests across earth has increased at alarming levels. Five hundred years ago, the Atlantic Forest in Brazil spanned 330 million acres - more than three times the size of California- and by the 1970s, 80 percent of the woodland had been lost. Environment Editor for The Times, Adam Vaughan is joined by entrepreneur and Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Laury Cullen Jr to hear how he is building corridors of trees to help revive the Atlantic Forests unique biosphere.
This is Planet Hope, a new podcast from The Times in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative.
Clips: Al Jazeera, CGTN America, Carbon Brief
Series producer: Anya Pearce
This podcast is advertiser funded. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Planet Hope
Bertie Gregory has spent much of his life bringing people closer to the natural world. From a childhood passion for photographing animals to filming some of the planet’s most extraordinary creatures, he has built a career telling stories from nature’s frontline. In this special episode, recorded to mark World Environment Day, the BAFTA and Emmy-winning filmmaker joins Tom Whipple to talk about his life behind the camera and what it has taught him about our changing planet – and why the stories we tell about it matter more than ever.
Andreia Pawel is co-founder of the Orange River-Karoo Conservation Area, one of the world’s most ambitious rewilding projects. Spanning more than a million hectares in Namibia, and with the support of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, it aims to restore lost ecosystems, reintroduce species and work with local Nama communities to build a new model for conservation. She tells Adam Vaughan how, with bold ambitions, we can breathe new life into the natural world.
Explorer and Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative partner Steve Boyes has spent decades navigating Africa’s wild rivers. He tells Adam Vaughan how illness and resilience has reshaped his outlook and why protecting rivers, landscapes and communities has become his life’s mission.
In Lausanne, Switzerland, neuroscientist and Rolex Awards Laureate Grégoire Courtine and neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch have pioneered a “digital bridge” that translates brain signals into spinal stimulation, giving people with paralysis new ways to regain movement. They tell Tom Whipple about the science behind the technology, the patients leading the way and their hopes for the future of movement recovery after paralysis.
Over a billion people live with preventable vision loss. Eye surgeon and Rolex Awards Laureate Andrew Bastawrous has created a smartphone app that is transforming eyecare, facilitating sight restoration for millions and changing lives. He tells Tom Whipple, how glasses – a 700-year-old invention – have transformed his own life, and why he’s determined no one should lose their sight for lack of access.