I don't the thing with exotic places, daring underwater explorers, spectacular creatures.

It was all I wanted to do with my life.

Sometimes dreams do come true.

Off, off!

Yeah, Now I've traveled the world many times over falling in love with nature over and over again, following in my hero's footsteps.

But a lot has changed since crystals time.

In 2019, I explored near shore waters off Costa Rica Thea unprotected areas where Cousteau might have found a thriving ecosystem.

We're Baron, a few small fish and no sharks.

The top predators that should be hunting here like lions in the way when nature has taken millennia to create way humans have destroyed in on Lee A few generations here I could be anywhere on our planet where life isn't protected or valued these beautiful places an incredibly fragile and without them we will not survive.

Mhm.

I am Dr Andric Saleh, a National Geographic Explorer.

And like many of you around the world, I have been spending my time at home toe help stop the spread off cov 19.

The pandemic has been keeping me from doing what I love.

Exploring the ocean 12 years ago, I started the pristine she's Project and National Geographic, which uses a combination of research in media toe help.

Convince government leaders toe create marine protected areas in their waters.

The need to protect our wild places on land as well as underwater couldn't be more urgent.

Toe Understand why we're suddenly at a cross roads when our grandparent's generation seemed to live in a time of abundance, requires some quick historical perspective way.

We fished farm raised livestock and develop the land waas for centuries and even millennia done at the pace that did not have global consequences.

But everything changed with industrial revolution in just the past couple 100 years.

Way got so good, so fast at extracting the same resources at scales.

Once unimaginable that the consequences are biting back at us.

Those of us who studied disconnections see again and again that we're biodiversity is destroyed ecosystems breakdown with an intended and disastrous consequences in the eastern United States, humans hunting the great wealth to extinction caused a chain reaction that likely led to the epidemic off Lyme disease that persists to this day.

The devastating Indonesian tsunami of 2000 and four was made far more destructive because of the cutting off mangrove forests, which normally act as a shield.

Buffering the impact off storm waves in the line islands in the central Pacific, the waters in overfished areas were filled with pathogens, including bacteria like vibrio, which can cause cholera in humans.

Motome trolling the sea floor clearing forest in the Amazon and melting permafrost in the Arctic are all releasing tons and tons of carbon into our atmosphere.

And in Wuhan, China, virus that would have dispersed itself naturally in a biodiverse environment instead made its way to humans, likely from bats, animals whose habitats have been systematically raided and destroyed for decades.

Thes examples just scratched the surface off how humanity's reckless relationship with nature has had disastrous effects.

My life has been dedicated to figuring out how we can have a thriving natural ecosystems and resilient human populations together.

What I found is nothing short off miraculous.

Remember the desolate waters I explored off Costa Rica.

Well, just 10 miles from the coast is an island called Isla del Cano.

The difference is stuck, and it's no accident here.

The waters are fully protected.

No fishing to stress the ecosystem toward collapse.

Natural checks and balances keep predator and prey in a sustainable balance.

It's a strong Brazilian, constantly regenerating environment.

The abundance of marine life spills over invisible boundaries, creating more catch for local fishermen, food security for communities and increased tourism revenue from world travelers who want to experience these treasures.

First.

Hand thes One truth is at the heart off my life's work, whereby diversity is allowed to flourish, healthy ecosystems thrive and we all benefit.

Protecting intact ecosystems works because it allows nature to do the hard work.

For us.

Our natural world can be a sustainable, resilient engine off regeneration, which is need to give it some space.

Reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the 19 nineties cost a positive cascade throughout the food web.

Living toe a return off plants and animals off all kinds, creating a more diverse and balanced ecosystem.

Yeah, during a cycling in Mozambique in 2019, the gringos.

A national park observed the rainwater equivalent off 800,000 Olympic swimming pools, protecting many populated areas from the worst of the flooding in the pristine Southern Line islands, giant clams are abundant.

Thes incredible animals, which are overfished in much of the Pacific, are like the N 95 masks off the coral reef lagoons.

Like other marine animals, they filter bacteria and pathogens, including vibrio out of the water, and living wild animals in the wild and their habitats intact helps to keep viruses from arriving on our doorstep.

So on top of providing us with oxygen, food, carbon sequestration, recreation and spiritual inspiration, nature is also shielding us from disease and natural disasters.

My team and I have spent over a decade bringing this message toe world leaders and decision makers who have the power to change policy and create protections for nature.

One year after I came to Washington, D.

C.

To a launch presidencies with National Geographic, I found myself sitting in the White House as the president of the United States signed a proclamation creating the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monuments, one of the largest marine reserves in the world.

e couldn't believe that our research, our images are stories about that place helped to inform one of the most important ocean policy decisions in the history of the United States.

But my next thought waas we can do this again 12 years later, we've done this 22 times.

We've helped to protect almost six million square kilometers off ocean and we can do the same on the land.

We must protect the critical wilderness areas we depend on.

Our target is ambitious 30% of the planet protected by 2030.

But Christensen's has proven that thinking big can pay off.

I dream of the day.

We can all be in nature again, perhaps with a deeper understanding off its importance.

It's not too much to say that if we protect nature, she will protect us as well.

That's life in balance.

That's why we need the wild.