Turkey

Nature-lover and conservationist Michaela Strachan travels to Turkey to explore its vast pine forests and to meet the people helping to preserve Turkey's precious bee and bear populations.

Starting in the west of Turkey, Michaela discovers that many woodlands are facing devastating losses from climate change and from human development. She sees first-hand how fires have destroyed vast areas of pine forest, wiping out the trees, villages and the ecosystem within, including millions of honey bees. Michaela meets bee-loving researcher Yonca Tokbas, who fears that Turkish bees are now being pushed beyond their limit and who is fighting to retain traditional beekeeping practices before it's too late.

Next Michaela journeys to the rugged east of Turkey, where the once-continuous pine forests have become a dwindling patchwork of trees, due to human development. She sees the impact of this change on the wildlife and how the natural behaviours of Turkey's migrating brown bears have been disrupted as their forest homes have contracted and their natural food has become increasingly scarce. After witnessing the challenges forcing bears to scavenge in built-up areas, Michaela goes to meet scientists Emrah Coban and Aysegul Oneren, who have come up with an audacious plan to return these bears to their natural habitat. The team intends to plant 11 million trees to create a new wildlife corridor stretching 160 kilometres to the Georgian border to provide a migratory tree-covered route for wildlife. Michaela visits the start of their route and plants one of the first saplings in this ambitious project, which is being studied by scientists around the world to monitor its success.