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After being stuck inside for weeks on end, connecting with nature might feel impossible right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So until self-quarantine ends, here are a few new shows, podcasts and more that can help bring nature to life for you, wherever you are.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Although global travel is restricted, you can still spot wild elephants, visit local communities and hear lions roar in the Kenyan savanna (virtually, that is). \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong\u2019o, Conservation International\u2019s virtual reality experience \u201cMy Africa<\/a>\u201d tells the story of Naltwasha Leripe, a young woman and member of the semi-nomadic Samburu pastoralist community.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fully immersed in Leripe\u2019s surroundings, viewers follow along as she goes about her daily life, tending to livestock, retrieving water from the local well \u2014 or protecting the orphaned elephants of the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Viewers of \u201cMy Africa\u201d join the Samburu community on their mission to save a recently orphaned elephant named Dudu, whose mother was killed by ivory poachers. In partnership with Conservation International, the community-owned Reteti sanctuary protects elephants such as Dudu until they are prepared to return to the wild.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Their work is paying off: In 2019, the sanctuary helped to successfully reintroduce several elephants back into a wildlife herd that is protected by the Sera Wildlife Conservancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n From your morning cup of coffee to the car you drive, your decisions help to shape the natural world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the Outside\/In podcast<\/a>, host and journalist Sam Evans-Brown explores the impact of humanity\u2019s interactions with nature throughout history in an effort to make the great outdoors a little less mysterious. His episodes cover topics such as a day in the life of a penguin counter<\/a> and the impact of the movie \u201cJaws\u201d on shark species<\/a> worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a recent episode<\/a>, Evans-Browns discusses an often-overlooked type of spongy soil: peat. Inviting experts to explain the science behind much-maligned \u2014 and mistreated \u2014 peatland ecosystems, he explores why humanity must urgently protect what remains of the world\u2019s peat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c[Peatlands hold] an inverted skyscraper of stored carbon,\u201d Evans-Brown says. \u201cIt has been piling up for millennia, but what happens to it in the next hundred years, may well define our future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n To keep listeners connected with the environment during self-isolation, Evans-Brown created a mini-series called \u201cInside\/In<\/a>,\u201d which provides new ways for listeners to learn more about the nature that is right in our back yards. In one of the first installments<\/a>, Evans-Brown invites bird expert Bridget Butler<\/a> to teach listeners the best techniques for spotting unique birds outside their windows (and offer a much-needed break from computer screens).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n From participating in weekly protests (and arrests)<\/a> in front of the White House to writing songs about \u201cclimate change villains,\u201d women around the world are using their creativity to tackle the climate crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Conservation International and ELLE, the world\u2019s largest fashion magazine, teamed up in April to celebrate some of these innovative environmental champions in the second annual<\/a> \u201cConservation Issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Research shows that the climate crisis affects women<\/a> disproportionately: They\u2019re 14 times more likely to die during a natural disaster and constitute 80 percent of all climate refugees. But women are also at the forefront of the climate movement \u2014 and the issue highlights just a few of these female trailblazers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Actress Jane Fonda<\/a>, singer Grimes<\/a> and other celebrities are featured for using their platforms to tackle environmental issues through national fundraisers, sustainable lifestyle choices<\/a> and documentaries. Also featured: youth activist Greta Thunberg, who calls on the world\u2019s adults to take climate change seriously \u2014 before it is too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou keep saying that the children are our future, and that you would do anything for them,\u201d Thunberg writes<\/a>. \u201cWe don\u2019t want your pep talks. We want you to seriously get involved in the acute sustainability crisis going on all around you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Kiley Price is a staff writer at Conservation International.\u00a0Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for email updates\u00a0here.<\/a>\u00a0Donate to Conservation International\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n Cover image: A Samburu woman at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, Kenya<\/i>\u00a0<\/i>(<\/i>\u00a9 <\/i>Georgina Goodwin<\/i>)<\/i><\/p>\n