Has been embroiled in war. Many cities lie in ruins. More than 500,000 people have lost their lives. Countless people have been injured, many have lost limbs. Among them many children. What kind of future do they now face . Mohamed can play football again, though hes not quite as deft as he used to be. His prosthetic leg is not a perfect fit, sometimes it hurts. But the tenyearold is adamant he doesnt want sympathy. In february 2016, his life was turned upside down. He was on his way home from school, when syrian fighter jets appeared in the sky. Four bombs hit our district, one after the other. When they exploded, i was completely conscious. I remember being taken to the hospital. My leg was bleeding and i used my hand to support it. In january, mohamed and his family fled sarakib for idlib, in syrias last remaining rebel stronghold. They feel slightly safer here. Theres a ceasefire which means fewer airstrikes. Mohamed copes as best he can. He lives in a small rented apartment with his parentsnd brother. They are among the lucky ones most displaced people here live in tents in denselypopulated camps. Mohamed longs to return to his home town, which was devastated in the war. One day, he says, when peace returns. Want to py with my frieo back to school there, then study. Iant to become a doct and help children o have lost their arms or legs. That they can be happy agn. Mohamed was not the only one to neighbours daughter was killed. Fferand his brother was also injured, though not as badly as mohamed. Mohamed nearly died. My son was five years old. He was in the operating theatre for five hours. It was a dreadful moment when he came out without a lower leg. The doctors told me that they had removed ten pieces of shrapnel from his stomach. The following months were tough for mohamed. Supported by his father, he had to learn to live with his new prosthetic leg. His fate is shared by many in syria. Since the beginning of the countrys civil war, more than 22,000 people have lost a le this Prosthetics Centre is one of the few places they can get help. But funding is tight and the technical possibilities limited. They cant offer more complicated prosthetics. But they do what they can to make life easier for those affected. We care for many patients here. But, unfortunately, we dont have such highquality materials at our disposal. Often our patients cant wear their prostheses for very long. There are simply too many injured people for the funding that we have. Initially, mohamed came here several times a week. He was taught exercises, given massages and, above all, received a lot of psychological support. He quickly grew out of his first two prostheses and is now on his third. Mohammed suffered a great deal. He became introverted and depressed. His injuries really shook him to the core. Hes doing much better now. But life is tough for people here in idlib. First the war and now the coronavirus pandemic. The schools are closed. Prices have shot up and unemployment is widespread. Officially, the city has no cases of covid19, but then theres almost no testing here either. If cases emerge, it could prove devastating many hospitals are in ruins, sanitary conditions are poor. Hardly anyone wears a mask. Mohamed sells silk thread and cloth on a street corner. He uses his earnings around 10 euros a day to support his family. Hed be better off at school but every cent counts right now. Mohameds father, abd, has lost his job and the family is living off their savings. Mohamed doesnt want to be a burden to his parents. He has fought his way back into life and he wants to prove how strong he is. Many people treat mohammed like someone with something missing, with a disability. He wants to prove the opposite, to show that he lacks nothing. He wants to be better than his friends, to win at things. Especially at football. And hes not without role models. In 2017, some footballers who had lost legs in the war formed a team. There are now 15 of them, and they have lots of fans. They play serious football, wearing prostheses. But mohammed has his sights set even higher. 0 i want to play like Christiano Ronaldo moments of happiness. Life might have thrown mohamed a curveball but hes determined to survive and thrive, no matter what. Brazil, asia, africa, north america across the globe, forests are on fire. In 2019 alone, forest la the si of a footll field was destroyed every x seconds. Yetr iour climate and our planets si of a water supply. Was without trees, land becomes drier. Thats apparent in panama its faus canal lking the atlantic and the pacific oceans. Deforestation has led to Climate Change. In recent decades, panama has felled 20thousand square kilometers of woodland. The result heavilyloaded ships are having increasing difficulties travelling the panama canal. The journey through the panama canal is expensive. Large container ships and tankers pay up to one million us dollars. This year, theyve had to carry less cargo in order to reduce their draft because the water level has been so low. The Canal Authority says Climate Change is to blame for high temperatus and a la of raiall. The canal passes through lake gatun and is fed by rivers with sources in the rainforest. We had a very dry 2019. So in february, the freshwater rate was established, thats a fixed 10 percent of the amount of the toll and a variable depending of the elevation of e lake. Every time a ship passes through the canal, 200 million liters of freshwater are poured into the locks. Some of it is recaptured in basins, but most flows into the sea. The freshwater surcharge was introduced to finance the development of new water sources. The rivers and lakes that feeds the canal also provide Drinking Water for millions of people. Securing the supply depends on the conservation of the rainforests. But a lot of trees continue to be felled. Were headed to finca cuango. The land was covered in trees until it was turned into a cattle ranch. A german company, one,two, tree that invests in regenerative agriculture projects has now bought the finca and is busy replanting the forest. The estate will focus on the production of cocoa and native hardwoods. Saplings are being planted on the grassland where cattle used to graze. Around 100eople have found work at cuango, in a region where unemployment is high. Because of the pandemic, many people lost their jobs in the city and had to move to the countryside, including me. But now im learning something new. A third of the estate, five hundred hectares, will be dedicated to growing cocoa. The project also wants to promote social progress. In the villages around here a lot of people are unemployed, and that especially affects us women. We have as good as no Job Opportunities because we are women. Theres not much awareness of the issue of equal opportunities. For now, what one sees are lots of banana trees. The cocoa bushes are still young and small. They grow best in the shade of banana palms. Some are already bearing fruit. The banana plants enhance the soil with a large amount of organic matter. And the cocoa bushes are expert at absorbing this organic matter and using it to grow. For shade cultivation we also use pigeon pea bushes and forest trees. Right now,ainly almo trees. We are planting arnd 80 tree per hectare. The banana plants provide shade and for the time being, until more cocoa has grown, are the main source of income for the farm. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the government bought up almost the entire harvest of cooking bananas across the country, in order to ensure the supply. They are a staple food here. A700 hectares of the finca are covered in rainforest set aside for nature conservation. Howler monkeys, insects and amphibians live here undisturbed. Deeper in the fost, there e also pumas, ant eaters and ocelots. This nature reserve covers almost half of the estate and will be left untouched. Cuango is an integrated agroforestry project with three main components the natural rainforest, cr faing, and aree farm tt willrovide timr to carpenters in panama. The trees in the commercial forest are registered and can only be felled with a permit. This is what sustainable ecological investing can look like. All of this had been turned into pasture for cattle. Nothing else was being grown to offset the loss. We are now implementing a system of agroforestry the bottom layer is cocoa then come bananas. Followed by pigeon peas. The fourth and final level is made up of cedar trees and above all almond trees, which still have to reach maturity. The owner of cuango, one. Two. Tree is based in berlin. It only engages in green investment. Its also a cofounder of a latin american climate initiative. Petra kollmannsberger, the project manager for Central America cant go to her office in panama because of the pandemic. They videoconference with Roderick Binns in cuango. He says the banana harvest is goodand as to e coronavis, everyone on the estate is healthy again. And they are busy pressing ahead with the reforestation effort. A few years ago, panama launched the alliance for one million initiative, which aims to create a million new hectares of forest over a period of two decades. The fact that things arent moving so fast is largely due to a lack of capital for investing in new projects like this. At finca cuango, they are working to develop and apply sustainae organic rming methods th can adapt to the changing conditions brought about by Climate Change. It will take not just encouragement but also major investment to also win over smallholder farmers to agroforestry. Changes to the climate are having a huge impact on the canal. It can no longer rely on a supply of water as in previous years, because the rains are starting much later in the season. It is crucial to secure the water supply. And that means more reforestation projects. Panamas economy is dependent on the canal. Restoring forests will enhance the ecosystem and yield more freshwater to the benefit of the people and the canal. In this weeks global ideas, we look bees. Like many other insects, the are under threat. Our reporters headed to the Sharr Mountains Nationalark are woing to protect a unique natural landscape in which the busy pollinators play a key role. Its usually men who wear this kind of outfit in kosovo. There are hardly any female beekeepers in the country. Shqipe shala is one of them. The beekeeping season might be over, but she still checks on her charges regularly. An electric fence protects her hives from the bears that still roam this area near prizren, kosovos secondlargest city. The Sharr Mountains National park just to the south is a refuge for balkan lynx. This species of wild cat is critically endangered. There are only a few dozen of them left. Shqipe shala has 150 beehives. She is the boss and her husband works for her. Thats quite an unusual setup but it works for them. We like to do things systematically. I start from one end. My husband starts from the other. We like to compete. Its a kind of game to see who can check more beehives. Today, it looks like a tie. Once the inspections are done, shala takes care to extinguish the coal in her smoker which is used to calm the bees. A forest fire could have disastrous consequences. Then she reveals a little trade secret. This is our beeswax harvest from this autumn. We use it to create new hives. Its a lot of work, but this is the most natural option for the bees instead of using massproduced industrial wax. Unfortunately, the government doesnt provide any funding for the extra effort involved. But its the only way to treat our bees well. Its worth the effort. She doesnt have any trouble finding buyers for her organic honey. It sells for twice the price of the honey sold at streetside markets. Beekeeping, sheepbreeding and cheesemaking are an important part of the economy in kosovo, the youngest and smallest nation in the balkans. Shala went abroad to study organic farming methods. Nowadays, environmental activists come to see her to learn about how she applies organic methods to beekeeping. The aim is to raise awareness across kosovo of ecofriendly farming practices. I attended a workshop in germany. I learned a lot about Animal Welfare which nobody here knows anything about. Im now giving courses to pass on this knowledge. I hope people will come to realise we have to protect nature, and that includes bees. They are so important for the environment. Nature conservation can be an uphill battle the director of the Sharr Mountains National park has been sounding the alarm. He says there are just eight rangers patrolling the parks 500 square kilometers. He also says that they need at least three times as many rangers. Environmentalists could help us by bringing our staff shortage to the attention of the government. But ere are al other problems taddress, sucas illegal logging and garbage. Also the construction of hydroelectric power plants. In kosovo and neighboring albania, hydropower plants are still widely considered an ecofriendly way to generate electricity. But building more of them, alongside illegal timber felling, would further shrink the habitats of endangered species such as bears, lynx, and wolves. Shqipe shala says most people dont realise what is going on, theyre just not are of the issues. But she wants to change that. We have to pay more attention to our natural environment, especially in the national park. This also affects my business. If forest clearance and everything that goes along with it is allowed to go on, i will eventually lose my bees. Kosovo gained independence in 2008. Its only natural, she says, that it will take a while for such a Young Country to sort things out. Shqipe shala, for one, remains optimistic. According tohe un, b2050 almo 70 percent of the worlds population will live in urban areas. And theyll all need to eat. Because spreading cities leave less space for farmland, urban farming is on the rise. Estimates suggest that worldwide there are already around 67 million heares of land being cultivated within cities. And thats just the start empty plots, roofs, walls, balconies theyre all great for urban gardeners. Disused buildis could al become greenhouses like in singapore. Up here on the 31st floor, you can glimpse singapores future. Maya hari is potting melon and uliflower seedling she alsorows chili aubergines and bananas on her roof terrace. E technolo executives a stephead of ma of her compatriots. If singapores government has its way, the highte cityste will so become a nationf allotmt gardens. Compatriots. If singapores government has youont have e seasons buts and give tt a shot. Whats notbvious is that its hard to do that in flats, which is really e predominant way we live iningapore and thats the harder part. Growing vegetables at home. The government isnt just stopng at thisromotion vide currently being sent to people withlike maya. Ds are citizens are to become part of an ambitious plan. Whether purple peppers or culinary herbs, up to now, singapore has only produced 10 percent of its food. But by 2030 the government aim. Maya hari says the pandemic has singapore has only produced 10 shown that greaterood. Selfsufficicy is the ght stragy. It helps that singaporeans are becoming increasingly interest in locally own prode. Embracing a lot of technology and modern growing whole country and all of the adcitizens together to try and growore. Ju growing obalconies one is not going to get there, but its a start. Singapore as an agricultural nation. That still seems hard to imagine. For decades, the country stood out as a financial and economic hub, packed with more and more glittering skyscrapers. Despite the lush greenery, agriculture seemed like something from yesteryear. But now signapore wants to reduce its dependence on foreign countries. Space is in short supply. So roofs will be turned into vegetable patches and market gardens the new strategy is already bearing fruit. Give this is the roof of a popular shopping mall. When bjorn low gave up his career in advertising and started growing papaya rosemarynd psion fru here in 2015, people laughed at him. Nohe is a soht afterxpert. E entrepreneuras now eated 200 rdens likehis acro the cy. And hes experimenting with new technologies, installed in shipping containers. Kale wont grow in tropical climates. But here in nutrient solution and wi led light, which replaces the suns rays. Vertical cultivation carried t on several floors is seen as a promising trend that can mpete agait countrielike ighboring maysia thagrow food much more cheaply. Low says thats because his vetables are enriched with more nrients. So that theres also then ditional health care or Health Benefits to the consumers to justify the price of an additional 20 or 20 cents more 20 or 30 cents more we are chargi for our vegetables as well so this is how we will potentially get a competive advantage. Only 1 percent of singapores land area can even be considered for traditional farming in the soil. Thats why multistorey farms are springing up everywhe baed by the government. Fish will soon be farmed in this ehtstorey ilding the companapollo marine developed the concept. So so far, they have been producing 300 tons of sh a year in their farm across the street. But now the state has stepped in as an investor. In t future, aost ten tis as my tropic trout will grow in the companys pools. Apollo says it will all be ecologically sustainable. Ninety percent of the water can be reused. And during the lockdown, when fresh fi from abro was not always avaable, apol was able to win many singaporeans as new customers. Basically when you breed them, the usual oreline breeding is actually very exposed to pollution, rain, microplastics from oilpills and other pollution and contamination. When you breed them inside a system like ou you get away from all this contamination and pollion. Up on maya haris balcony, she has now started growing rawberrieseven though eyre not ally a trocal plant. Few fruits and vegetables seem to be offlimits for singapores gardening enusiasts. The hitecs discovering just how green its fingers really are. Thats all froms at global 3000 this week we hope you enjoyed the program. Drop us a line to global3000 dw. Com or check out our facebook pages dw global ideas and dw women. Bye for now
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