The U.S. is home to some of the most beautiful, incomparable places on the planet, from the pristine Shi Shi Beach at the Makah Reservation in Washington State to the Couturie Forest in New Orleans. But as climate change and development continue to threaten the country’s natural treasures, we explore the limits of traditional conservation and learn how innovation and Indigenous knowledge could shift how we protect the environment in the 21st century.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more? 

Learn about the Makah’s efforts to resume their practice of hunting gray whales, which was banned in the mid-1900s, in this article by Emma Marris.

See even more of America’s most spectacular locations and diverse species in America the Beautiful. Hosted by Michael B. Jordan, this docuseries is now streaming on Disney+.

As massive wildfires continue to wreak havoc in the American West, Indigenous people are reviving centuries-old cultural burning practices to protect their communities. Learn more about cultural burning in the Overheard episode “This Indigenous Practice Fights Fire With Fire.”

Also explore:

See more of photographer Stephen Wilkes’s Day to Night photos and learn about how he creates them in this article.

Read Emma Marris’s article about the Indigenous people living in Peru’s Manú National Park.

For subscribers:

Check out Emma Marris’s article on conservation in the upcoming issue of National Geographic magazine. Available online here in September. 

How many counties in the contiguous U.S. have water or land worth conserving? Every single one. Explore this map to see what value each has for conservation.

If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices