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00:14Species are vanishing faster than ever and extinction is forever, but recovery is entirely
00:20possible and here on the Gulf of Oman coral is being regrown by hand and AI helps protect
00:27turtles. In this episode we explore how nature, given the chance, can heal from these reefs
00:32to conservation in Uzbekistan. This is one of the world's newest marine research centres
00:39and its scientists are watching the crisis unfold. The oceans are incredibly important,
00:44they represent 90% of the habitable space for life on this planet. The oceans are in deep trouble,
00:51they are facing a multitude of threats, be that from climate change, from marine pollution,
00:57but also from human activities which are driving extinctions and reducing biodiversity.
01:03So here they're building tomorrow's ocean in a lab to meet the future before it arrives.
01:08As our oceans warm and their chemistry changes and the amount of oxygen they have reduces,
01:14what we have here is an insight into the future of what many oceans will look like.
01:20Researchers here are working at the frontier of ocean science, protecting our oceans,
01:25while training the scientists of tomorrow. Two of the species they study tell this story most clearly.
01:32Turtles are important, they are a critical part of the marine ecosystem. By exploring their health,
01:37it tells us about the health of the entire community. Corals, they provide the complex habitats
01:43that many other animals need to survive. One has survived since the age of the dinosaurs and still
01:49reads the health of the sea like nothing else. Turtles are not just iconic animals, they've got a
01:55vital role in marine ecosystems and so they keep the marine ecosystems healthy. And lately the numbers
02:03of turtles off this coast have begun to turn. 95% of the turtles that I've personally photographed
02:10during the last six months, they are juveniles. So this is already a very good sign of how population
02:16is doing. The other is the coral reef just offshore and across the world, reefs like this are dying.
02:23The world should really pay attention to this because if we lose the coral reefs, we will lose a tremendous
02:30amount of biodiversity in the ocean. Up to half a billion people today are directly or indirectly
02:37dependent on coral reefs. The corals that cling on here survive heat that would kill reefs anywhere
02:44else. The studies we do on coral reefs here can of course tell us something about future scenarios in
02:51other places of the world where they don't have the same temperatures as we have here. But this is not
02:56just a place that measures loss. Here they're reversing it by hand, one coral at a time. The coral nurseries
03:04that are outside the laboratory here are basically what we use is tables anchored in the seabed and on top
03:12of these tables you basically put small mini corals under optimal conditions it will grow out and produce
03:19a new coral because a coral is an animal. But this fight to bring nature back is not unique to
03:25the ocean.
03:25Thousands of kilometers from here, in Uzbekistan, the same battle is being fought on land, through the
03:31seiga antelope of the desert plateau and the mark are high in the mountains. Behind me stretches the
03:38austere plateau. Somewhere out there a herd of seiga antelopes is moving. Thirty years ago there were a
03:45million of them living across the region. Today less than one percent of that number survive. This
03:51saigash reserve is Uzbekistan's answer to that collapse. Here on the Ooster Plateau, the Uzbek part
03:58of the saigash range has become a test of recovery after collapse. For saigash, survival depends on
04:04movement, water and protection. The saigash sanctuary covers more than 600,000 hectares. Here conservation
04:12means practical work in extreme conditions.
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04:43The same desert is part of a wider
04:46migration route.
04:47As aigoths cross border in search of food and milder weather, keeping this habitat usable
04:52helps keep the species alive.
04:56Further west in Kerkal, Pakistan, Sudhochi shows another side of the same story.
05:01Once connected to the RLC, this bay became an independent lake as the seer treated.
05:06Today it's a critical stopover site for migratory birds.
05:10That stopover now depends on water.
05:12Birds will come here to feed, rest, and gather, but falling lake levels are changing
05:17the habitat.
05:33For flamingos, the stakes are immediate.
05:36In Uzbekistan, they are only here.
05:38If water level keeps falling, Sudhochi may stop being a breeding site and become only a passage
05:44point.
05:47Further south, the pressure sheets from water to protection in the Kukitang Mountains.
05:53Subhan State Nature Reserve protects species that have nearly disappeared from this range,
05:58the Marhor and the Bukhara, or Yel.
06:01The Marhor and the Bukhara are a year.
06:05The Marhor and the Bukhara are a year.
06:18Those counts are hard-won.
06:21Many animals live on steep slopes and are rarely seen.
06:24So the reserve combines field patrols with scientific monitoring.
06:45Technology helps, but protection still depends on rangers in the field.
06:49Their work follows plants, animals, and signs of movement across the reserve.
07:01In Surhan, the latest counts give the story its clearest sign of recovery.
07:06The Marhor population is rising, even as threats around the reserve remain.
07:10The global Marhor population is still listed as endangered.
07:16The threats, poaching, livestock pressure, and fragmented habitat have not gone away.
07:21But the population is growing, and this reserve, located in one of Uzbekistan's most remote
07:26mountain ranges, is a proof that for sustained effort, wildlife recovery is possible.
07:32From the Gulf of Oman to Uzbekistan, this proves that protecting our planet isn't just
07:37possible, it's already happening.
07:39Whenever people choose to act, that's all now for this episode of Earth Now.
07:45Join us next time as we uncover more about the work underway across our planet to safeguard
07:50it.
