Global Us: What connects us all

Peatlands store twice as much carbon dioxide as all the world's forests put together, but when they're drained they release huge amounts of greenhouse gases and are a great fire hazard. An NGO is trying to rehydrate peatlands.

The spectacled, or Andean, bear is the only bear native to South America. About 25,000 still live in the Andes and the outlying mountain ranges. Conflicts between the bears and humans are especially common in Peru.

The spectacled, or Andean, bear is the only species of bear native to South America. Some 25,000 specimens are believed to still be living in the Andes and its outlying mountain ranges. Conflicts between the bears and humans are especially common in Peru.

The spectacled bear plays a vital role in the Andean ecosystem. It lives mainly on fruit, berries and seeds, so it contributes to the spread of vegetation. As a carnivore it regulates the spread of snails, insects and rodents. The Frankfurt Zoological Society is involved in a project aimed at protecting the bears' habitat and creating inducements to reduce conflicts with humans.

Yegna means "ours" in Amharic, and it's the name of what’s currently Ethiopia’s most popular band. Five young women make music advocating social change and female empowerment.

For years, Central America has been terrorized by the maras, extremely brutal gangs that live off the drug trade, prostitution and the protection racket. Life in Honduras is as dangerous as in a war zone.

The fact that 90 percent of the cocaine for the North American market is smuggled via Honduras has turned the country, with its weak government and lax gun control laws, into one of the world's most dangerous places. Barrio 18 and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13) in particular are becoming transnational criminal organizations and entering into the international drug and human trafficking trades.

In 1994 in Rwanda, violence between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis escalated into genocide. More than a million people lost their lives. Since then, much has changed.

The small African country is now considered relatively stable. Its population is younger than the world average, with more than 50 percent under the age of 25. But many are getting little benefit from Rwanda's economic growth. Jobs and prospects for the future are especially scarce in rural areas. Twenty-seven-year-old Ephraim Rwamwenge wants to use his business to change that. He advises the Rwanda Farmers Coffee Company, a coffee cooperative.

Chanyang Ju grew up in North Korea, in the midst of poverty and oppression. After a harrowing escape, she now lives in South Korea and reports on chat shows and in lectures on the situation in the communist North.

Dakito Atestata is a spiritual leader of the Shekacho, an ancient Ethiopian clan. He loves the so-called didos, sacred groves in Sheka Forest in the southwest of the country. No trees can be felled there, because the forest is sacred to the Shekacho. Some 10,000 people live here, from and with the forest.

Every year 30,000 flamingos spend several months in Thane Creek, the northern part of the Ulhas River estuary, which opens out into Mumbai's harbor. The mangrove forests along it provide them with an ideal habitat. The trees are also a lifeline for the megacity, because they serve as natural carbon sinks and provide Mumbai with oxygen.

But pollution isn't sparing the mangroves. They're cut down to provide room for illegal slums. Part of Thane Creek has now been declared a wildlife sanctuary.

The mangrove forests in Mumbai's Thane Creek are a resting place for thousands of flamingos for several months of the year. But pollution and illegal deforestation are destroying the trees. Environmental initiatives are trying to protect them.