Environment

Paraguay’s soy bonanza leaves small farmers in the cold

The tiny landlocked South American country of Paraguay is one of the top soy producers on the planet. Soy is the country’s top export and it accounts for a major chunk of the country’s gross domestic product. But the soy explosion has wreaked havoc on Paraguay’s ecosystem and been a disaster for many small farmers whose farms have been inundated with pesticides from neighboring soy plantations.

Environmental concerns impact beloved Hindu festival in India

Lifestyle & Belief

New book is a catalog of ‘living wonders’

Books

Out of Eden Walk: Among the tea pickers and plantations in Sichuan, China

Out of Eden Walk

Firefighters test out new tool as Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands burn

Wildfires in Brazil’s Pantanal becoming more likely because of climate change 

The Pantanal, Brazil’s wetlands region, covers an area roughly the size of England. Although this region is typically flooded for much of the year, droughts have led to wildfires, destroying large swaths of vegetation and wildlife. 

In rural Japan, a closed school becomes a new kind of community hub

Japan in Focus

Japan’s rural population has been in decline for decades. That’s caused many towns to close schools for lack of students. But residents in the village of Takigahara transformed a former nursery school into a different kind of community gathering place.

Out of Eden Walk: Walking through western China

Out of Eden Walk

In China’s southern province of Yunnan, a community known as the Bai expresses itself mostly by singing. And they have a song for everything: from history lessons to mourning to flirting. Host Marco Werman speaks with National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek, who also discusses the early 20th century Austrian-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock, who traveled through this same region of western China.

The precarious state of green tea in Japan

Japan in Focus

As it gets harder to make a living growing tea, some Japanese farmers are leaving the industry, while others are exploring new options.

‘The Great Elephant Migration’ traveling exhibit imagines a world where humans and wild animals share space

Environment

The 100 elephant sculptures were made by Indigenous artists across southern India. Each figure is an anatomically perfect re-creation of a real, wild elephant.