It's low tide on Tarawa, the main atoll of the island nation of Kiribas. Tiatata and his three sons have just a few hours before the water returns. There are no stones on the beach anymore, and that's why we have to go far out. We need to get coral because the sea is flooding our house.
The home of Tiatata and his family of twelve is under threat. Ten years ago they started building a wall made of coral. When the water comes all the way up to here and there's a strong wind, that's when it's worst. The water bashes against our wall and sprays over our whole house. We have to build a higher wall so the water doesn't flood our home. In the past our wall kept breaking because it was only this high. Now it's higher and more stable. It protects us from the sea. Many walls collapse at high tide, but we're lucky. Our wall's still standing.
In just thirty years Tiatata's wall could cease to offer any protection from the sea. The island state of Kiribas is one of the lowest lying countries on earth. The narrow unprotected atolls in the south Pacific are on average only two meters above sea level. The nation consists of thirty-three such atolls spread out between Hawaii and Australia. More than half its hundred thousand residents live on the tarawa atoll but for how much longer. Climate change is threatening the people of Kiribas.
Sea levels are rising, storm surges and severe tropical storms are flooding the sparsely populated country with increasing frequency. For the locals it's a question of survival. Climate change has national priority for the government of Kiribas. Choi Yeating has been the official climate commissioner since 2010. He's alarmed by the changes caused by climate change. It is worrying that the community has to live in these conditions. I would imagine there would be a lot of sanitation problems, a lot of contamination of their drinkable water. Right now we don't really have a king tide.
You know, a rising sea level during this period but imagine when it does come and that little sea wall there is fully submerged by water. One day the people of Kiribas will have to leave their country. The government has already purchased land on Fiji to provide them with refuge.
Every day, Tatar and his three brothers have to carry their fishing boat into the sea. It's hard work. As you can see this area is flooded. All this from here to all the way back there used to be beach. Now the beach is gone and the rocks are washed up. That's why we have to move our boat every day, otherwise it would get smashed. The family defies the rising sea levels with a coral wall that resembles a fortress. The water is rising and rising. Eventually the land over there will disappear. It will stay and float like an island in the water.
Tatar and his family have become a symbol of Kiribas' fight for survival. His mother, Muang Taya and her granddaughter Anna often reminisce about the times before they were affected by climate change. 20 years ago the sea was far away. We were safe back then, even at high tide. The water only reached this far. We used to have a lot of trees. Our land was much greener. We had no idea we'd have to live like this one day. The access road has been flooded for years. The family can only leave their property by boat.
When I was little, life here was really good. There were lots of trees under which we played hide and seek. I've heard that other countries are causing climate change, but I don't hate those people. I see it differently. The Western countries are doing many things to cause climate change there to blame. All I can do is ask them to stop. The sea is increasingly devouring unprotected tracks of land in the middle of the South Pacific. This isn't a safe place for the future. When we have a high tide and a big storm, the water smashes into the sea wall and sprays over the top.
During storm surges, which occur once a month these days, the people of Kiribati are completely defenseless against the forces of nature. I'm scared that the water will continue to rise. You will have to leave here one day and live elsewhere if climate change gets worse.
A mangrove forest in the south of Tarawa, their knots of thin, strong roots make these tropical trees the perfect protection against soil erosion. The group of young people, climate activist Vasiti Tebamare, wants to plant mangroves on the beach at Ambo during low tide. We'll plant 15 rows. You have to plant the mangroves a hands width apart. Vasiti has been organising a growing number of such volunteer planting events. These are the seeds from the mangroves and we pick them up and then these are the ones that we use to plant them and then they grow again. We take three in case because when we plant them, the waves will come and maybe two will be flooded away and these ones will stay and will live. So that's why we take three all the time.
The people of Tarawa have already planted more than 50,000 mangroves on the beaches of the atoll. The young people here have grown up with climate change. They're scared. They're very important.
In my village where I live most of the earth are destroyed by the sea level. The future prospects for Kiribas' young people are dire but none of them want to leave their home. I'm so proud to be a Kiribas. Even though what we face with is still proud of our country. This is where we belong. It's our culture, our identities, that's why. I think this is where our hearts belong.
The hope is that these mangroves on Ambo Beach will grow into a forest like the one that helps defy storm surges in the south of Tarawa. Protecting the coastline has become a national priority for the people of Kiribas but there's no coherent plan and the government lacks the funds for long-term infrastructure measures. Those who can afford concrete have built a wall in their own expense.
That's what Itim Wemwe has done, a young entrepreneur from the village of Taboria. I think climate change will only get worse in the future. One day Kiribas will drown. Other people think differently but I'm scared by what's happening. We have to protect ourselves. That's why we're building the sea wall this high. The sea is calm today but it's only a matter of time before the next storm surge arrives.
Tarawa is home to around 60,000 people, more than half the country's entire population. Liverpool land is becoming increasingly sparse, says climate activist Vacity. We had to 10 years ago, it not just like this, people stayed in their home lands but nowadays people migrate from there for a better future. They gave me a for education for work for everything and now it ended up like this and one leave closely to each other.
In addition to climate change, overpopulation is one of the biggest problems on Tarawa. This is easily passed from one person to another and especially with the future of the kids the government has a limit resource. It can't employ each and every one of them. On average a family here has five to six children. Almost every square meter of land on Tarawa has now been built on. The main thing that is strengthening us is the sea level rise. We have land erosion. The sea is taking most of the lands and people here try whatever they have to build sea walls. But it does in hell when the water comes, no one can stop the water. It just comes and then take away all the lands again.
In 2014 the effects of global warming on Kiribas attracted international attention. Ioana Titiota made a bid to become the world's first climate change refugee when he applied for asylum in New Zealand. The government of New Zealand didn't recognize climate change as grounds for asylum. They didn't think that the people of Kiribas were threatened by nature and forced to flee as a result. Ioana and his family were deported from New Zealand a year later even though the situation in their home country has been getting progressively worse, it was a shock for the family.
What scares me is that our land is low lying. This is surrounded by the sea and it's being washed away around us. Ioana and his family have moved in with his sister but they don't see a future for themselves on Kiribas. My biggest worry is my children. I want them to be safe. We don't want to wait until the end. Many people criticize me for trying to be a climate change refugee, saying I'm talking my country down. But I want to leave again. It doesn't matter where we live. Our culture will survive with us.
Kiribas is first inhabitants settled here around 3,000 years ago. The majority came from Southeast Asia and Polynesia. The locals are a proud people who are attached to their traditions. Abayang atoll, around 50 kilometres to the north of Tarawa is a different world. It's only sparsely populated. The village of Tibunganako has become a symbol of the impending dangers of climate change. Over the past 20 years rising sea levels have destroyed Caboad John's home.
Long time ago this is the land before and they used to have Manabaya, a big house for like gathering people, parties, occasions and all the people before they leave here and now they all move to the mainland. Tibunganako is still home to 70 families. It was the second largest village on Abayang. Rising salinity from daily flooding has made the soil in fertile. Before I don't care about climate change, when I hear about climate change, it's nothing. But now I see the difference, the impact and it's like worrying me. And I know I'm thinking maybe I'm going to move migrating to one of Australia or New Zealand another country because the sea rising level is increasing. I have two kids and then when I look for the kid, maybe I should move.
But Caboad wants to stay. It's not a question of courage, he just feels connected to his home. We are from Kideebes. We are proud to be Kideebes. We want to die here. We don't want to go to overseas. We want to stay here. When we move, our culture will be disappeared.
There are lots of people on Abayang who don't have work. Caboad is here on behalf of the government. This job is to show people how to make palm sugar. Caboad is looking for a worker named Takamba. Palm sugar is obtained from the sap, known locally as Tordi, of the palm blossom. Takamba has to climb to the top of a 20 meter coconut palm to collect it. Takamba has three bottles of Tordi so far. That's enough for now.
Caboad learned how to make palm sugar in Thailand, the government of Kireebes financed his training. The Kireebes government also paid for the equipment here. This is the Tordi fresh one. Until now, locals have only used the fresh palm syrup for drinks. No, we're going to pour the fresh water, the fresh study. So we want to evaporate the water in the Dordi so that we can crystallize the Dordi. Become sugar, the salt, buts.
The island of Abayang is the perfect place for producing palm sugar. There are thousands of coconut palms across the 37 kilometer island. In Kireebes, we only have the cobra cutting as a source of income. So our government tried to find ways which can help people to earn more money. And this is one of the income for the palm. It takes 7 liters of sap to produce 1 kilogram of palm sugar.
This is how you have to do it. When you've reached this point, the fire mustn't be too hot. You have to stir it the whole time. Watch how I do it. You have to push the Tordi up the side until it becomes hard and powdery. The palm sugar from Abayang is set to be sold for 5 euros per kilo. We'll continue with this work. We can earn money that way and we can use that money to feed our families. This one is really good. The government has plans to export the palm sugar from Abayang around the world.
The cobra secured important contacts at the world's fair in Milan in 2015. This is the sugar from your palm sap. This is what it looks like. Do you want to try it? What do you think of the new sugar? It's not bad, right? Do you like it? It tastes like candy. This sugar is really different, much more delicious.
Traditional kiri-bas recipes are increasingly fading from memory. Women's rights activist and nutritionist Tonga Fiti Kras wants to fight that trend. To teach them how to eat food and how to prepare food, we just never do it before. To use the leaves and the helps that they have their own country and they never use it because they don't know it. You can use these palm leaves in many different ways, not just to swap flies. We'll wrap them around the fish, rip the leaves into two. When you cook these leaves, a liquid comes out that's very good for the stomach. You fold the leaves like this and wrap the fish. Fish has been prepared like this on kiri-bas for generations. They usually eat right food before but they want to import it from food cans and that's where things have gone wrong. Because in the caravan, the hospital has four people, six people. And we try to cut down the people to sick, you know, and receive the right food. So cut down the lack of vitamins in their food and not the economy. They can prevent any disease.
You can eat every part of the squash, the flour, the stem, the skin, the seeds. When you cut the squash, make sure you don't cut the slices too thickly. Why do we want a lot of herbs in our soup? All these herbs have medicinal properties. Your body's taken these herbs and you get healthier. You're not just making a meal. You're also making medicine.
Two-thirds of kiri-bas' population consumes a staple diet of fish and imported rice, a diet increasingly supplemented with high sugar foods, leading to rising rates of obesity and diabetes. I thank Tonga Fiti for this cooking class. I know more about cooking now. I have a young daughter at home. I'll cook with a lot of herbs and vegetables now so that she grows up healthy. Up until now, we've only used these herbs for our customs. We didn't know you could cook them. You can find everything she's showing us in the jungle. Nutritionist Tonga Fiti Cross' mission is far from over. She wants to share her knowledge in every village on Abayang.
Traditional community centres on kiri-bas are called Manyeba. The structures provide shade and protection against strong winds and rain. Bayaang is home to one of the largest manyebas in the region.
The Environmental Protection Organization, Kiri Can, has invited representatives from several villages. Together, they're seeking ways to ensure potable water supplies. So it is so important that we know that water is fresh, water is clean, and water is good for everyone so that we can only live long as happy, care-based people. Climate activist Vasiti is also working to combat the salinisation of drinking water. Sometimes sea water flows into my well and floods it. All the dirt gets in and we have no water to drink. Our ground water used to be fresh and clean. We could drink it.
Today it's salty and unpalatable. The wells near the sea are flooded quite regularly and become spoiled by the salt. If we were to wash with that water, it'd feel like washing and seawater. The salinity of water supplies isn't the only problem. Supplying clean drinking water is another challenge. Village representatives present their solutions. We opted for this solar pump. To make it work, we need equipment such as pipes to pump the well water to the houses. We thought about what would be the best solution for everyone. That's why we chose a desalination plant. We need a hand pump to supply ourselves with water.
You've suggested a number of ideas. It's important that the solution is cheap and will work for a long time. We're going to lay out all of your criteria on the floor here. Which solution will win? The village delegates are asked to vote. That's an important part of the process says Kirikans Australian Development Aid worker, Robert Kay. This process isn't going to lead us to a project. It's really just getting people to think about the kinds of things. The questions they should be asking when confronted with a new project or don't bring aid to the community.
There's not much export that comes out of Kiribas, so there's no foreign income coming in. Which is difficult because often you need the materials and the money, but I think you. Someone needs to break a dependency cycle. Peliniza Al-Aufa founded the Environmental Protection Organisation Kirikan. Her goal is to support the people in Kiribas in their battle against climate change.
In Kiribas, most of the time the priority need for our people is water. And that's why we got water into these communities. The water is the priority. We brought water tanks to collect or to harvest the rain. Over the next few months, every extended family will be supplied with their own water tank and solar panels to generate electricity, part of a program funded by international aid.
People will be forced to leave if we do not step in right now, today to help them to adapt to stay. That's what adaptation is all about, for people to remain in their own homes, in their own. continue with their life and their culture. I wouldn't imagine my people living to another country that is not theirs because we have a very deep connection with our land. But moving away to somewhere where you do not belong to you, you will always become my second-class person. In your heart, you know that you don't belong there.
We're back on the main atoll of Tarawa. The Marine Training Centre is a window of opportunity to a better life for many young Kiribas. Up to 150 students train here every year to become seafarers, ship mechanics and cooks. Morning, great. Morning, sir! Ferdinand, this is right. The drill at the training centre's strict, as is the morning roll call. 96-11 and 97-24. Not again during the breakfast master. So that's what now I each.
45-f-39 long fingernails for now. Long live the seven!
现在留着长长的指甲。七之王万岁!
The punishment here in the NPC is the scale. So if the train is found, ten fingers, long fingernails, not wearing the young achieve, torn uniform, etc. in proper shape, that's to be punished. The train has to be punished for now. The train is after a rehearsal docking maneuver on the deck of a training ship today. Among them is 25-year-old Tamawera. Seven people at the stern and the wrist at the spring, right? So let's start two plus one. Let's go, spring first.
Sea fairers from Kiribati are in demand, particularly on German vessels. Six shipping companies from Hamburg have offices on Tarawa, supervised by Andrew Heinsen. He holds the locals in higher steam and finds jobs for them on ships from all around the world.
I'm all at my first kerstet. Firstly, the people who grow up on these islands have a strong connection to water. They've been fishing and spending time on the water since childhood. They're strong. In my experience, it takes just one Kiribati to do a job that needs two Filipinos. These 15 months are a process. They have to be on time be clean and well dressed, because they'll be confronted with a completely different world. The trainees have to work hard for their dream all week long. The demands are great. Tamuera only sees his wife and one-year-old daughter at the weekends. He currently shares a dorm room with 19 other sailors. This is my bed, and that's my mattress, made of palm leaves. I roll out the mattress every night. This is what it looks like. This is how I sleep. Like this. That's it, eh?
I chose to train as a merchant marine, because it gives me the chance to provide for my family. It's my dream to continue my training. I'm going to be able to do it. After I finish this program, the training center has a good reputation on Kiribati, but even this modern complex faces increasing bouts of flooding. As you can see, the entrance to the basin has become blocked by sand. It's built up here overnight, because a small section of the sea wall has broken. The water was a bit higher than usual, and lacking or insufficient maintenance caused it to break. The current deposited the sand here. People mess about with everything, just like they do in Europe.
Along this causeway, you can see that the water exchange is restricted to just a small aperture. All the water from the lagoon has to squeeze through it. Human interference with nature, with disastrous consequences, not least because it's changed ocean currents. The causeway is a costly, never-ending construction site.
The primary school in Bonricchi, every morning begins with a prayer, more than 90% of Kiribati's population is Christian. In the water, the village is covered with water. The village is covered with water, the village is covered with water. In the water, the village is covered with water. The village is covered with water, the village is covered with water. School is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14. Good morning, boys and girls. Good morning, teacher. The Hava Tobi today is very soon. Fine, let's change. Okay, let's hear from the wisdom. What is the meaning of this word? Climate change. The change in meta-batants over long period of time. How is climate okay? How is this urban? How is this okay? It's a very difficult question. Climate change from global. Is this right? Yes, this is right. Now, these are the three causes, or spite global warming. Civil rights, trials, heavyweight.
So, what does the future hold for Kiribati's children? It's a subject addressed in primary schools. We want to alert the children to what's going on here and how they can deal with the problem. The children are scared of climate change. The children's fears differ from those of their teacher, but they're all very concrete. She's scared of the future too. We can emigrate to another country or confront the problem and live with it. I always tell my students that we have to find ways to prevent soil erosion. We have to build sea walls and plant mangroves. We mustn't cut down our trees anymore.
The children have drawn pictures to illustrate what they think will happen as a result of global warming. Our beaches will be washed away this boy says we're using too much fuel. In this girl's picture, the land is submerged. Everyone she says is swimming in the water because the ocean is washed away the land. If sea levels continue to rise, she says, we'll all die. These children are growing up with a palpable fear of the future. This girl tells us her home was flooded just last week. It happened while she was sleeping. Her mother woke her up and carried her out of the house. This girl says she's very scared about climate change. She believes many people are responsible for it, but as a child, there's nothing she can do about it.
The village of Bonricchi has become increasingly susceptible to flooding after heavy rainfall, often the high water lasts for days. Trainii seafarer, tamoeira and his wife Beto-Awa have bought a small house here. We're going to live here in the future. I'm currently living with my wife and my daughter with my parents, but we'll move in soon. Once I've completed my training at the Marine Center and I'm earning money by working on a ship, I want to start raising my children here.
I want to have a garden here, but I have to plow the soil first. I want to build a fence and plant sweet potatoes and tapioca. Maybe let us too. As a crew member on a large container ship, tamoeira will be able to earn up to $700 a month. That will place him in Kiribati's middle class. I'm very excited to be moving here. I'm so proud of him. When he gets a job and starts earning money, we'll be able to build something and have a bigger family. If he didn't have a job, we'd have a lot of problems. We wouldn't be able to lead this life. I'm very happy.
When night falls on taroah, the fishermen sometimes recall a centuries old fishing method. Teoraita and Matayo, lighter 3-meter torch made of palm leaves on the beach at Tomaikou. The warm light of the fire lures small, tasty refish into the shallow water. It's not like it used to be when there were fewer people here. Population growth has fueled an increase in fishing because of rising demand. Many fishermen now use neon lights to attract fish. It's rare that Teoraita and Matayo catch any fish with their traditional fishing method these days. I've only caught a Tuwaro.
It's hard to catch fish these days. I feel the current has changed. The fishermen wonder whether climate change is to blame for that too. The fisheries ministry of Kiribats, marine biologists Arantai Tekeao, has been investigating the health of the coral reef around taroah and the surrounding atolls for more than 10 years. Using measuring tapes, he and his team regularly monitor coral growth and health. What we are seeing is the more important thing is that the fishermen are able to get rid of the fish. The water growth and health.
What we are seeing is the more popular corals now are the ones that are adapting and are more resilient to change, to increase in temperature. They're surviving more in the hot temperatures. They're spreading over, which is okay in a sense that the corals are dying. They're spreading. There are lots of them. But it's only, it's like survival of the fittest. The fishermen are able to cut the stony corals among the winners of climate change. They seem to be particularly happy in the waters around Kiribats. Because they're so resilient to the change, that's why they're really improving their coral harvest massive. Even they could have been survived storms and stuff like that. A hope for Kiribats, but only healthy coral reefs can grow with the rising sea levels. The coral break waters and provide important protection for the islands during major storm surges.
Here in South Dakota, where there's an open area, there's a lot of factors affecting coral reefs, construction and infrastructure. The main thing is it is rubbish. Since there's a very high population here in South Dakota, which causes rubbish and waste. And to the coral reefs, that's putting heavy pressure on it. As a result, there are signs of degradation among weaker coral species in many reefs around taroah.
The population is set to double on taroah over the next 20 years. Climate coordinator Choi Yeating and the government of Kiribats face a huge challenge. Unless we find a solution now to address this problem, if we were to top up the land here, sand and reclaim it, that may be an option. The government has even considered moving its people onto artificial floating islands, futuristic visions and exorbitantly expensive designs by international architects. It requires a period of constant development and it's very hard to do with the lack of resources that we have.
Science tells us we have a time line. It's something that we're very hard to accept right now. It may be that in just 50 years, Kiribats will no longer exist. It could be the first country to be wiped off the map by climate change. There's still hope, very small window of hope, I guess, yeah. The priorities is something that'll keep you going. Maybe the end not yet for Kiribats, yeah, we still have. But I still will be a Kiribats.