Meet two great actors who are working for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, not only behind the scenes: Ann-Kathrin Neureuther from UNEP, Communications and Partnership Manager on the UN Decade and James Obata from FAO, Focal Point for communications surrounding the UN Decade.

In this episode, you will find out why we need to restore nature, bring it back into our lives, and protect our remaining ecosystems. You will hear what we can do in our daily life to take action, since we are the last generation that can make peace with nature.

Now is the time to act, with many activities and challenges to be implemented by all of us.

We are running out of time to save our ecosystems and biodiversity, an urgency which defines the 2021-2030 timeframe of the UN Decade.

Let’s all join in the fight for ecosystems and biodiversity!

Links:

• UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

• UNEP

• UNEP Young Champions of the Earth

• FAO

• Ecosystem Restoration Playbook

• IUCN: Community Organizing- Toolkit on Ecosystems Restoration

Hosts: Jennifer Gacich (FAO) and Mateusz Benko (UNEP)

Producers: Cecilia Casalini (FAO), Giorgia Cherubini (UNEP), Katia de Prado (UNEP), Pierre Flecheux (UNEP) and James Obata (FAO).

Music © “Jungle” by DayFox

Today, we meet Lefteris Arapakis from Greece.

He is the founder of Enaleia, a non-profit social enterprise tackling plastic sea pollution by promoting fishing practices that preserve local fish populations and remove the mounds of plastic that pollute the world’s seas, adapting the fishing industry for a greener future.

Enaleia’s mission is to make the marine ecosystem sustainable by tackling both overfishing and plastic pollution.

We discover how a small idea has blossomed into a multi-national effort to find solutions to rid our oceans of plastic debris.

Links:

• Enaleia website

• Enaleia Instagram

• Enaleia Linkedin

• Video: Lefteris Arapakis - UNEP 2020 Young Champion of the Earth for Europe

• Video: Enaleia - The Hellenic Initiative

• Video: Enaleia: A School to Save Greece's Dying Fishing Sector

• UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Hosts: Jennifer Gacich (FAO) and Mateusz Benko (UNEP)

Producers: Cecilia Casalini (FAO), Giorgia Cherubini (UNEP), Katia de Prado (UNEP), Pierre Flecheux (UNEP) and James Obata (FAO).

Music © “Jungle” by DayFox

Remy Zahiga, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a young climate activist and environmental defender who has made it his life mission to save the Congo Basin Rainforest.

To do this, he’s been planting trees in areas that have been damaged by mining activities, while also lobbying authorities to prioritize the saving of the rainforest.

The Congo Rainforest is the second largest tropical rainforest in the world, covering an area of 2 million square kilometres, and is also one of the most biodiverse areas on Earth, supporting hundreds of species of trees and an estimated 10,000 species of animals. In addition, an estimated 75 million people (including approximately 150 ethnic groups) live in this forest and depend on it for their livelihoods.

In this episode, Remy shares why he wants local communities, young people and governments to help him save this vital region.

Links:

• Global Citizen: Why I'm Working to Save the Congo Rainforest and Its Indigenous Communities

• Remy Zahiga Twitter

• Remy Zahiga LinkedIn

• Save Congo Rainforest website

• UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Hosts: Jennifer Gacich (FAO) and Mateusz Benko (UNEP)

Producers: Cecilia Casalini (FAO), Giorgia Cherubini (UNEP), Katia de Prado (UNEP), Pierre Flecheux (UNEP) and James Obata (FAO).

Music © “Jungle” by DayFox