To celebrate the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020, an environmentalist and a photojournalist visited 10 countries in 300 days in order to discover the most innovative solutions implemented by the peoples of the world to preserve the biodiversity of our planet. A fabulous educational journey through the Amazon, the Arabian desert, the Andes, the Pacific Ocean and more!

A few shots taken during filming in Lokichoggio, Turkana in Kenya. Gives a glimpse at life amongst the Turkana nomads.

A local Jewish mother is teaching her young daughter how to enter a bomb shelter in their garden in case of an artillery strike.

Mariupol’s Jewish community is spread out, and some members, like Natalia Lavushko and her husband, Grigory, live on the city’s outskirts—areas that would be early targets in the event of a new offensive. The Lavushkos have stopped renovating their modest house because Ukraine’s currency devaluation has eaten into their meager income.

A young Jewish girl from the Mariupol community is writing on a board during classes inside the Chabad center.

Text by Jenny Gustafsson and Photos by Karim Mostafa
At first glance, South Rupshi looks like any other village in the Bangladeshi countryside. Tea stalls line the roads, kids play in the mid-day heat. Rickshaw-drivers pedal their decorated bikes. But something sets it out from other villages. Everywhere, bundles of yarn are left to dry in the sun. People on their porches spin threads onto spindles, scarves flow in the wind. South Rupshi is the ancestral home of a proud tradition in Bangladesh: the age-old jamdani weaving.

These days the village weavers are busy. The demand for saris is growing, the handmade fabrics are sold to customers all over Bangladesh and India, and exported abroad. Last year, UNESCO declared jamdani an intangible cultural heritage, stating its importance in Bangladesh as “a symbol of identity, dignity and self-recognition”. But things used to be different. Only a few decades ago, traditional weaving was a forgotten heritage.

Until sari entrepreneur Monira Emdad came and brought it back to memory. “In the early 80’s when traveling in rural Bangladesh, I came across hand-woven saris, more beautiful than I had seen anywhere else. I started bringing them to Dhaka, selling them from a small tin shed,” she says. Her efforts started a jamdani revival, which has meant the craft is now passed down to the next generation – providing an alternative to a rural workforce which otherwise is pushed into low-paying jobs with unsafe conditions. “This is much better for us. We can stay in the village and work nearby our families. And it’s not dangerous, we only use our brains here,” says weaver Mohammad Azim.
FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Nepali soldiers and civilians try to pull down a dangerous section of severely damaged wall that is in danger of collapsing in Bhaktapur, Nepal on April 30, 2015. On April 25, 2015, Nepal suffered a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killing over 5,000 people and injuring thousands more.

A few remaining Jewish families still present in the port city of Mariupol allow their children to be taught at the only Chabad center left in the town.

Young members of the Jewish community are learning how to use a computer in a basement inside the Chabad center of Mariupol.

Teachers from the Chabad center of Mariupol are teaching young ones how to use a computer.

A group of Jewish teenagers have gathered, as they do each day, in the Chabad center to play piano, and interact.

A group of teenagers are taking some time off by inspecting the near by destroyed original Synagogue of Mariupol.

A pair of Jewish girls are having fun inside the remains of the destroyed Synagogue of Mariupol.

Rabbi Cohen is reflecting on the idea to one day rebuilt the once proud and only Synagogue of Mariupol.

Rabbi Cohen is playing with a tree branch inside the remains of the only Synagogue in Mariupol.

Rabbi Cohen and two teenagers of the community are walking back to the Chabad center.

Only a few thousand Jews have remained in the port city of Mariupol. A mere 12 kilometers east of the city, fighting rages between pro-Russian separatists and volunteer battalions struggling to keep the town of Shirokino. The Chabad Lubavitch organization tries to keep track of its members still within the city while providing aim to the numerous Jewish families in need. Volunteers gather each day at the local Chabad center in central Mariupol helping to pack foodstuffs in plastic bags for local Jewish families who have decided to remain in the port city.

Natasha Ralko's windows were blown out while she was sitting in the living room of her apartment with her daughter and 8-month-old infant. Her kitchen is now heavily damaged. Ralko believes the death toll in eastern Ukraine is much higher than reported. Mariupol’s Jewish community is spread out, and some members, like Natalia Lavushko and her husband, Grigory, live on the city’s outskirts—areas that would be early targets in the event of a new offensive. The Lavushkos have stopped renovating their modest house because Ukraine’s currency devaluation has eaten into their meager income.

FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Members of the Chabad community are taking a break from packing food produce.

A view of a Jewish calendar which shows old photos of the thriving Jewish community before WWI.

Members of the Jewish community are taking a rest inside the Chabad center of Mariupol.

A member of the Chabad community reads from the Tora inside the only Jewish center left in the port city.

A local member is writing a note inside the Chabad center of Mariupol.

The Rabbi Cohen, and his wife are helping all Jews still living in Mariupol seeking help and council. Though many thousands have fled to safer areas, a mere three thousand are said to have remained within the city.

Rabbi Cohen describes the day massive artillery strikes hit the Northern parts of Mariupol, killing dozens in the process.

Mariupol Jewish community member Natasha Ralko, whose windows were blown out while she was sitting in the living room of her apartment with her daughter and 8-month-old infant, and whose kitchen is now heavily damaged, believes the death toll in eastern Ukraine is much higher than reported.

Mariupol Jewish community member Natasha Ralko, whose windows were blown out while she was sitting in the living room of her apartment with her daughter and 8-month-old infant, and whose kitchen is now heavily damaged, believes the death toll in eastern Ukraine is much higher than reported

Mariupol Jewish community member Natasha Ralko, whose windows were blown out while she was sitting in the living room of her apartment with her daughter and 8-month-old infant, and whose kitchen is now heavily damaged, believes the death toll in eastern Ukraine is much higher than reported.

Mariupol Jewish community member Natasha Ralko, whose windows were blown out while she was sitting in the living room of her apartment with her daughter and 8-month-old infant, and whose kitchen is now heavily damaged, believes the death toll in eastern Ukraine is much higher than reported.

Mariupol’s Jewish community is spread out, and some members, like Natalia Lavushko and her husband, Grigory, live on the city’s outskirts—areas that would be early targets in the event of a new offensive. The Lavushkos have stopped renovating their modest house because Ukraine’s currency devaluation has eaten into their meager income.

Mariupol’s Jewish community is spread out, and some members, like Natalia Lavushko and her husband, Grigory, live on the city’s outskirts—areas that would be early targets in the event of a new offensive. The Lavushkos have stopped renovating their modest house because Ukraine’s currency devaluation has eaten into their meager income. Their young daughter is playing in her room which was partly destroyed during an artillery strike.

Local Jewish volunteers are preparing food packages for other members of their community still in Mariupol. These packages are filled with various foods necessary for the survival of these families who have decided to remain in the war zone.

Volunteers gather each day at the local Chabad center in central Mariupol helping to pack foods in plastic bags for local Jewish families who have decided to remain in the port city, though the fighting is a mere 10 miles away.

A young member of the Jewish community is checking his cell phone from inside the only Jewish center left in the city of Mariupol.

A local Jewish woman is inspecting the progress made by her peers inside the only Jewish center left, which are provided food packages to families who have remained in the port city.

Local members of the Jewish community of Mariupol are gathering food packages from inside the only Jewish center left within the port city.

The Chabad center of Mariupol is the only one left of its kind within the port city. Jewish members can go there at anytime to get help, or seek advise.

Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.

Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.

Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.

Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.