A looming election join me Steve Clemons in conversation with leading voices on the bottom line your weekly take on u. S. Politics and society on aljazeera. And conflicts one of the silent and forgotten casualties is often the environment. From the chemical contamination of soils and the collapse of cruelty and Food Supplies to the habitat damage caused by displacement. Has devastating consequences. Not seen any manmade infrastructure has but also not to ecosystems are destroyed and im alive a lost as well as human. But even amidst the most vicious struggles through people fighting to protect the world we live on to cover what was lost. Im tanya a sheet and bangladesh in the Worlds Largest refugee camps where people are working to coexist with the elephants for which this region is home and im happy to talk to lebanon were group of scientists is rebuilding a seed bank that was displaced by the war in syria. In august 27000 a Brutal Campaign of ethnic cleansing began in myanmar. The military and buddhist radicals claimed the lives of more than 6000. 00 in a single month. Fearing death thousands more fled the country for the 4th of bangladesh. The scale of the exodus was enormous. Today they are still unable to return home but. There are over 1200000 Rohingya Refugees living inside of the sprawling kept the bunker. This is now the biggest settlement of refugees in the world. Many of them dont have access to clean water sanitation or even electricity. But after they arrived the survivors faced a new threat Wild Elephants rampaging through county. Im meeting on one about them who witnessed the initial episode firsthand it came from there we did. That looked and came to a cost you know from the jungle over that way but directly after all that and started feeding her heart with it but it struck. This was no one on on the construct repeatedly throughout the camp killing 13 people in the space of 5 months. Can you tell me a little bit about what happened. Was it was rather the mothers side of the just sort of the body was difficult on her own to hold on to the little one little bit of a little bit a little bit is out of the way to you what happened after that but i took a little bit of that i will put it to you in wimbledon or the us in the morning a lot of you only knew go done ahead in the u. S. Will fairness they should work but i didnt hear whoa whoa what a mother that they got behind a mother that said the home as if it had told the family did was i love you i got lost in his official mind what okun is all about budget bloom is about i want. To know a lot. More about how to google the girls or whatever you pulled over here boy a little bit moving. The attack sparked an investigation into what was going on. Recchi but i mean from the International Union for conservation of nature believes the rapid expansion of the settlement had a profound impact on the Natural Environment this is the edge of the camp of the cave right here as this is where the forest began yes whats been going on was the cause behind all of these that you see on all camps they used to be forest there the seems to be an elephant have habitat. The cap expanded at an astonishing rate over 1500. 00 hectares of forests were cleared to accommodate the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees. But nobody realised the devastating impact this would have the growing camps severed a vital lifeline for some of bangladeshs last remaining Wild Elephants blocking a herd of 40 from their only path to financial grazing brown. Just over there is there is a species we call the elephant now the since the camp is completely blocking that coded door elephant cannot pass through this is in search of his shelter in such of his food his migration pop elephants was trying to come inside the camp elephant came so many times and 13 you know simple life force and lost. And elephant is not necessarily a violent mammal its very intelligent understands it has these emotions and is show us that its lost his habitat hes desperate to do this animal migration. Its in their d. N. A. Elephant is a genetic memory is it didnt know exactly where they have been growing where they have been roaming generation after generation they take the same path. The elephants of bangladesh are critically endangered there are just 268. 00 left and theyre increasingly under threat. 15000. 00 hectares of land are already deforested in the country every year. And this camp only adds to the problem. To help me understand what the elephants are up against ive hired a local guy. So the man in front of me. His name means golden boy and hes our tracker for of a day i think were going to have. Its not long before we find clues that were on the right path. To had. It out that is if were not there boggling going to say is that the u. F. O. Bungalow going to feel the only color didnt that were part i would have basic i thought i believe bunk living is that. We find evidence of a 100 elephants everywhere were just sitting our system to the skies like the elephant whisperer. Tells me that by the end of the summer much of the elephants food here will be gone. Then they face a nightmare scenario attempt to migrate through the cap to me and mars in search of fresh vegetation or risk running out of food. You can ask this is a place where they can i mean yes if they. Were following the actual footsteps of the elephants. Elephants have walked along this path every season for thousands of years im feeling really excited i wonder for actually going to encounter some elephants were being told that just a few steps away that theyre there then i guess the odds a moment i cant believe. A majestic elephant standing proud on the horizon. Its just quite scary ive never seen an elephant like while my 1st time. It looks so peaceful in its natural habitat its just really crazy to think that before the caps were put in place that the sis what it was a large for with animals roaming about and now theres some human made crisis at play with sprawling refugee camps and its just a very sad situation. But a select band of refugees is working to solve the problem with the support of the International Union for conservation of nature there formed a group dedicated to safety shepherding the elephants from the camp. They call themselves the tough course. Central to their strategy are 94. 00 watchtowers which theyve built around the camp perimeter. They are manned by a team of over 500 brave refugees ready to intervene and protect both the people and the elephants. Im heading up for a birds eye view. Of. Ok so whats going on there simulating what actually happens when an elephant comes and you see the yellow shirts yeah so they have the best possible xmen less so they are using the bible so they know. How to respond and they want to. And slowly moves towards that listening to the telephone and understands this danger i have. Down on the ground its clear how committed the tusk wars are. Happening. On the right you know i stand. By the hockey i see me i dont have to go out there so i think. Right loud and scary i think that was certainly she would not let them know. Since the times 1st started there has been no loss of life here despite 45 incursions by oliphants its an effective temporary solution until a longer term plan is made for managing the animals migration. The tusk works has motivated the community with over 500 people signing up to join and has supporters throughout the camp. What are you doing over here what is this. The idea i think its all these different patterns and colors seems like its a lot of work to do why go through all this trouble to do it. By what had to be. Done about what that machine of. My body. I mean. Do you feel that theres more danger living on the edge of the forest versus people who live in the camp. That. I sort of look has not got a lot of them but. Ive been lucky. And. Not only do people feel more secure they are also more sensitive to the elephant situation than saving the animals is now even part of the schools curriculum i believe you know i. Am doing. The objective is not to build on this momentum. Recchi was already taking steps to find a permanent solution to the problem beginning with an indepth Scientific Study of the elephants migratory habit. We are planning to put radio caller on the elephant this will give us valuable data valuable science to have a better management of the whole situation once the exact migration route is no the goal is to clear a path for the elephants so that they can migrate unhindered once again of course we want to open the cordoned off from last possible that are so few issues that we need to consider before doing that it will take about 100000. 00 people going to people to move somewhere else that would be an immense logistical challenge but as human refugees continue to resettle around the world full moves are needed to reduce the impact on local animal populations what ive seen here gives me hope that animals do not always need to be victims of conflict and that a peaceful coexistence is possible. There are over 40 Armed Conflicts happening in the world today. Each of them will leave a dangerous environmental legacy. And we can see that protection the environment is a norm and something which we do there are standards in place yet youre in conflict its almost that anything goes you can cause whatever damage you like and theres no accountability theres no redress. We see very Severe Damage to many countries and many different ways damage to infrastructure such as syria to have so water facilities over extraction of resources. Attacks on industrial sites causing bust massive pollution so you can have these impacts for is going to spiral on and last for decades after the conflict ends. Were in iraq in 20162017 islamic states at 530. 00 oil wells on these ben for 9 months covering hundreds of square kilometers in fallout and pollution. Dealing with helltown nation caused by these fires its going to take years. So for the last 10 or 15 years weve seen increasing interest from governments around which actually environmental relation to conflicts its got to me fair its got to me fostex know all the conflicts of merriment grandmama spandau mission many ways and that has consequences. So unless we focus on the environment youre in conflict and its storing up a lot of problems in feature. We live in a turbulent world where conflicts and Climate Change are threatening our environments and the scary part is that the crops ruined for food are increasingly finding it hard to survive and in some cases theyre going extinct. Crop diversity is essential for Food Security and has declined by 3 quarters since in 1000 hundreds. But there is an insurance policy a Global Network of seed banks these are backup repositories of seeds which safeguard their biodiversity. And can we turn to in times of crisis. When more broke out in syria in 20111 of these vital stories came under threat. On the outskirts of aleppo the team of scientists charged with maintaining the seed bank were forced to abandon their work and flee the country. But they never gave up hope. When some of them resettled just over the border in Lebanons Bekaa valley they began rebuilding their collection. Im traveling through the i car to seed bank to meet one of these scientists dr ali shahad the ira good to see it to what happened to the seed bank in aleppo syria it became possible to access to the gym by all 3 of the premises and public 2015 because every band accessed through the sent by the armed group on tolling the area. They stole the vehicles they stole the lot of equipments nothing left in the head call to exit the buildings and the duma. The war forced 5000000 refugees out of syria right now its not safe for a doctor so how did to continue his work at home. How hard was it to leave that seed bank behind i spent more than. 27 years of my life for going to the gym bag so its a like you someone who left behind the babies or a long long history we dealt with them day by day we knew everything about the behavior of those plants in the fields in the plastic houses even in the dream bangs time effort made by everybody. Both syria and lebanon lie in the fertile crescent which is where farming began. It makes this part of the world an ideal place to work on safeguarding future Food Supplies this is the center of origins or we can probably the center of the drama see cation because its gone things all the forms of crops like bali we lentil chickpeas all these crops originated from this area. I want to get a closer look at the operation dr mariana yes big leads a team of 20 scientists including 3 who have relocated from syria. Their task is to painstakingly rebuild the syrian seed collection the seed vault here has a capacity to store 130000 seed varieties for over 100 years. The seeds are preserved by freezing them at temperatures of minus 20 degrees. All right. There we go. There was called. Sea can see here south poles of the fresh crops are being conserved were looking here. And you to me this is the heart the hard week that is used for pasta making so we have a big collection of this and so i just decided fair process a fear that youre going to get your thoughts that its all the cups are here you have here barley a very important crops when you talk about dry areas and you talk with the 3 main crops which are we to talk about rice and you talk about corn so these are 3 main staple food that most of the right you are using so important place this is a treasure these are important samples that we have to make sure they are surviving they are monitored they are available to the international community. There are 1750. 00 strategically placed seed banks around the world each gives a backup copy of their collection at the jewel in the crown of seed banks norways fall of our global vault. The doomsday vault it is built into the side of an arctic mountain so that the seeds can be frozen without the need for power. Over 1000000 c varieties are stored here so when the Syrian Seed Bank was abandoned due to the war dr yes because team were able to recall their backups so that this is it was made to reconstruct our connection we did treat it from small bore we brought part of it here to 11 or you could build our collection here we could make it available again for researchers. All the seeds that come here are tested in the lab for viability some are then crossbred to increase their resilience and improve productivity. They have to make sure of 2 things 1st that they are free of diseases 2nd that they can actually germinate they can produce plants theyre alive and working with. Each one of those sounds to have at least 85. 00. Out of 100 that sprout and give have. The brush thats not fresh. The seeds are thriving. But back in syria the war has decimated the countrys ability to grow food one of the goals here in lebanon is to create a healthy seed collection to help ensure the future of agriculture in syria when the conflict ends. Up here from the roof i can see that there are fields there are greenhouses theres even some cattle and its not just about saving the seeds but also testing that trying to find out the best variations that can withstand Climate Change and secure our Food Supplies in the future. This region has been struggling with worsening drought for decades. The dry soil in lebanon a similar to serious by testing seeds in the harsh conditions here doctor see how they and his team can be confident that the crops will be resilient enough to survive the arid syrian farmland. What are these plants right here this is a wind we this is opposed to domesticate and wheat they are very unique and very viable for our. Citizens because they have adopted already to the hotshot environment and has very very useful genes to overcome Climate Change efik diseases out frost he. With climate conditions changing the biodiversity found here is vital not only for local but also global Food Security. Already one of the wheat strains bred here has proven resistant to a disease known as yellow rust and has been sent to the us where crops were failing to fight it. But with Global Warming seed banks themselves can be vulnerable. Whats worrying is that melting permafrost is even threatening this fall bar doomsday vault. Research shows that the arctic town in which its based is warming faster than any other. Which makes the work being done in lebanon even more critical. 25 syrians in the same number of locals attend the farmland here. So it looks like theyre doing some really important work over here can i give them a hand yes of course they are doing the hand weeding. Seems that modern science hasnt quite figured out an alternative to getting down your hands and knees and just getting your hands dirty so were just looking for the weeds we dont want weeds interfere with his experiments we want to make sure that his crops grow right and we have to also be careful not to hurt the crop so the weeds kind of grow in between here so you really got to have a good eye. A so good. But. But then fannie and i had a civil lawsuit on income the issue and stuff in the noble. Dr ali has invited me for lunch meals are of course the final product of the crops grown here its a chance for him to tell me more about the life in syria he was forced to leave behind this is actually the. Nice memory everybody had a role for leading because we had. Failed infested biota wonky unit had decided to go all together the breed the. International the scientists the technicians assistant their labors even the tea lady contributed to that field day happy days it was happy days one of the most beautiful days and youre sure youll go back yes very confident i go back because i should go back. And nothing like home. It wouldve been easy to write off the car to see the bank as just another casualty of the syrian conflict but the hard work and dedication of ali and his team have ensured that their work transcends the conflict and is able to continue to play a vital role in protecting global Food Supplies. Environmental for lots of food. For decades but what is being done to heal the damage. The charity hainault trust have cleared nearly a quarter of a 1000000 mines from cambodia helping to make over 6000 hectares of land safe in farming. In cameroon almost 50000 trees have been replanted on degraded land around mina wow camp which shelters refugees escaping violence in 1000. Until after 50 years of conflict in a. Was able to protect colombias to be cattail rain forest a former guerrilla stronghold. Declaring this rich spider virus area to be a World Heritage site. In the midst of war the consequential damage to the environment can easily be overlooked but if we dont act to protect our natural wont be nothing left to fight for. 150000000. 00 trees disappear every year into the clothing that we all wear from uk cycling to save the forests the famous yellow dress fade from blue jays. To conserving the worlds twinning wetlands 3 of the aids global bird migration of life intersect right where we are the basic discovered a treasure trove it is one of the most special low clouds on the planet i fry ecosystems elaborate on aljazeera we know whats happening in our region we know how to get the plate is that others cannot i was just throwing beer guy by the party on purpose that fires the fellow more normative you. Judge it. By. The way they held the story isnt what can make a difference. They came from the countryside to cairo and became part of a life. This a just as different from being in the former aljazeera world meets the man whos been keeping a close eye on residential life in the big cities for decades but who may now be passing into history. Dont see the movie he wasnt gormans but hes now managed by a Security Company the doormen of egypt on aljazeera. The u. S. Is the richest country in the world yet it still doesnt have a universal Health Care System all the asking why not to influential republican lonnie chen some Top Democrats say it in a special edition of head to head in 68500 miles a year we would save under medicare so on study this doesnt happen in canada or spain or australia people dont die because they confidentially well they die because they cant get access to care head to head on algis iraq. This is al jazeera. Hello im rob matheson and this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes vietnams pandemic Success Story comes to an end as the Prime Minister warns that every province in the city is at risk of corona virus infection. A scathing report uncovered 1000 in the u. K. Reveals how tens of thousands were sent to elderly care homes without being tested. Separatists in southern yemen who are backed by the