Living Planet

It's a special focus on climate change in the developing world as we report on the European Development Days. We meet the musicians bringing people together through music for sustainable use of the world's longest river. Conference-goers tell us what climate change really means for them. And we interview the president of Mauritius on how climate change is affecting this island nation.

On this week's Living Planet, we'll meet some of the world's rarest and exotic creatures, which are under threat of extinction - from the New Zealand kakapo bird to the lemur leaf frog. We'll find out why so many of our species are under threat - and what can be done to save them.

On this week's Living Planet, we'll meet some of the world's rarest and exotic creatures, which are under threat of extinction - from the New Zealand kakapo bird to the lemur leaf frog. We'll find out why so many of our species are under threat - and what can be done to save them.

Migratory birds fly millions of miles on a regular basis between their breeding grounds and their winter quarters. BirdLife International estimates that at least 25 million of them, including endangered species like waterfowl, songbirds and raptors, are killed illegally every year around the Mediterranean Sea. Now a brand-new intergovernmental task force has been established to stop this practice.

Around 200 different frog species have disappeared in recent decades, and many more are critically endangered. Conservationists are fighting hard to save more of the amphibians from extinction. One of them is a 10-year-old girl from England, who is trying to protect the lemur leaf frog.

At the southern-most tip of New Zealand, conservationists have spent the last few months working day and night to save the world's heaviest – and strangest – parrot, the kakapo. There are only 123 birds left in the world. The "parrot of the night" is nocturnal and breeds only every few years. This year's chicks are having their genome sequenced to save the birds from extinction.

Illegal wildlife trade is currently one of the world's most lucrative criminal activities. Elephants are amongst the best-known victims, slaughtered for their ivory tusks. But customs officials in the African country of Kenya have brought in their own four-legged task force to sniff out ivory being smuggled out in luggage at Nairobi international airport.

With Australia and Britain preparing to head to the polls, we find out if the future of the Great Barrier Reef is a concern for voters down under, and ask whether Britain's natural habitat would be safer in or out of the EU. Plus, why Poland is moving backward on wind energy.

With Australia and Britain preparing to head to the polls, we find out if the future of the Great Barrier Reef is a concern for voters down under, and ask whether Britain's natural habitat would be safer in or out of the EU. Plus, why Poland is moving backward on wind energy.

Australia's east coast was recently devastated by storms and flooding, and the iconic Great Barrier Reef is under a major threat from coral bleaching. But as the country gears up for a national election on July 2, do these environmental issues feature in Australia's election campaigns? We talk to Sydney-based journalist Esther Blank.