UN Environment Europe: Dear Sir David, Perhaps I should start by telling you a little about World Environment Day, which gave us the idea of getting in touch. The Day is celebrated on 5 June each year and is our biggest awareness-raising event of the year. We organise conferences, green actions, film screenings and work with famous people and governments.

Every year we have a set theme for the Day, and this years’ is Connecting people to nature, imploring people to enjoy the outdoors and appreciate its beauty and importance.

Towards the end of the incredible Planet Earth 2 series, you say that many of our environmental problems stem from our relationship with nature breaking down. What happened, do you think, for this relationship to be damaged?

You would need a psychiatrist to answer that fully. I can only tell you why its profound.

I receive letters from many people following the television programmes I make and it’s clear that in times of trouble people find comfort in the natural world – even just by seeing it.

And you don't have to be out in the countryside. Even in towns, I’ve worked with a charity dedicated to persuading schools to swap tarmac for even a simple pond, and children draw enormous fascination from them. There isn’t a child that doesn't get filled with wonder by nature, even from a very early age.

If you lose passion for nature you’ve lost one of more precious things human beings have. It is the source of everything we find beautiful.

How can we connect people back with nature?

You only have to do even slightest thing and once the flame is lit it will keep on burning. Natural history is buried deep in our hearts in Britain for example. Yet it is only thanks to the Industrial Revolution and people losing nature that you begin to realise how precious it is.

So many people worldwide have come to ‘meet’ – if you like – fascinating creatures such as sloths and the snow leopard thanks to you. But to someone who grew up in an urban area, and maybe has only seen a few pigeons, ants and a couple of spiders during their lives and says ‘what has nature got to do with me,’ what would you say to them?

I would say you are a part of it. Every mouthful of food, every breath of air is owed to nature. We depend on it.

In the past, the natural world was seen as enemy. The US for example pushed nature back to found the country. We used to have a relationship of animosity with nature. Now the boot is on the other foot and we realise how much we need it.

You mentioned the US. The environment has barely featured in recent political elections. How can we get the topic higher up the political agenda?

It is not looking at all good in the US. There they have vast amounts of space such as in the Mid-West, whereas it is in Europe where the density of human beings is much higher that we realise how precious the natural world is.

Yet we owe the US the idea of national parks – President Wilson first set them up. Australia also has a very good record of setting up national parks.

How have you seen the world change during your amazing career?

The very simple answer is that since I started natural history programmes the world’s population has more than tripled. People need food, they need to move and all that requires space and natural resources.

Given this population change, are you optimistic about the future of our planet?

It is not surprising that we are having problems – people had never got together to agree on everything in the past.

The first time was with the Whaling Commission. Nations got together and agreed to stop hunting whales – it was never thought that it could be done.

It would be desperately sad if the US withdraws from the Paris Agreement – let’s hope they will stay in. Because the Paris Agreement shows we can get together and agree – if implemented we would stand a chance.

Do you feel that citizens and politicians have learned that we need to protect nature more compared to the past?

Many have, but some very powerful ones haven’t. China was seen to be a huge problem in terms of the environment and has an enormous population. Yet now it has seen the light.

So there are great dangers, but we’ve had successes.

Sir David Attenborough is an English naturalist and broadcaster that has brought flora and fauna to the homes of millions. He has produced and narrated some of the most popular nature documentaries in the world, including the Planet Earth and Blue Planet series. A new edition of Blue Planet will be on screens in 2017.

Marine exploration and environmental awareness-raising run deep in Pierre-Yves Cousteau’s family.

As the youngest son of the legendary marine explorer, author and documentary-maker Jacques-Yves Cousteau, he took to the ocean naturally. He is now leading the fight against marine plastic and other environmental threats to our oceans.   

Pierre-Yves has just become Ambassador for sea turtles as part of UN Environment’s Wild for Life campaign.

For World Sea Turtle Day (16 June), he takes us below the surface and tell us of the threats to this species and what we can do to protect them. “Conservation works – we just need more of it,” Pierre-Yves underlines.

UN Environment Europe: Mr Pierre-Yves Cousteau, I wish to first ask you first your personal connection to oceans and marine environment. Can you please tell us why you are so passionate about it ?

I fell in love with the ocean the first time its surf washed up on my feet. The ocean instantly captivated me by its wilderness, power and softness. The great unifier, the ocean runs from the rivers to the seas, from the clouds to the sources, and through each one of us. Beneath its surface, I found weightless bliss and a vast unknown world full of mysteries and surprising creatures. What is there not to love about the ocean?

Could you tell us more about what is going on for sea turtles worldwide (three of the seven existing species of marine turtle are critically endangered)?

We have severely impacted sea turtle populations worldwide for centuries. Every disposable plastic bag, straw, cup, or cutlery we use goes straight into the sea and is there easily mistaken for food by marine animals such as sea turtles. Global coastal development has pulverised their nesting grounds. Targeted fisheries and accidental by-catch add another layer of threat... while maritime transportation provokes collisions. The diversity of these threats make it very difficult to manage and conserve sea turtles.

And sea turtles play an important role in the ocean. They are ecosystem engineers, meaning that they help shape the environment around them with their feeding behaviour. They keep jellyfish and fish larvae numbers in check and modify the benthic communities by feeding on seagrass and sponges. And then of course they are incredibly beautiful and graceful.

What is needed to protect sea turtles ? You may share with us a positive news about some communities who have been engaged in its protection

We need large marine sanctuaries, which protect the various stage of the turtle's life cycle and therefore include nesting beaches. Hatcheries can help increase the survival of juveniles. And of course, we need more science! The better we understand the migrations, the life cycle, physiology and behaviour of these animals, the better we can effectively protect them. Conservation works. We just need more of it.

As Wild for Life Ambassador for sea turtles, what are going to do to protect these marvellous species ?

Through my organisation Cousteau Divers and my personal social media channels, I constantly raise awareness to these magnificent creatures and many more. As a Wild for Life ambassador, I pledge to continue to systematically refuse single-use plastic, and to fight for the creation of marine sanctuaries worldwide.

How can each of us be game changers and help protect them?

Each of us can have a huge impact to help protect sea turtles, mainly by cutting single-use plastic out of our lives. Refuse it, along with all turtle products (shells, eggs, etc.. often made into jewellery).

Tell the barman you don't want two straws in your drink, and tell him why. Each of us can have an impact alone, but in order to maximise this impact we have to be outspoken about why we make our consumption choices.

We have to create a culture that respects the environment and businesses will follow suit, driving innovation and decoupling economic growth from negative environmental externalities.

You have no idea how powerful your voice and actions are, until you try. Now is the time to come together and speak up for these graceful creatures and for the vast ocean that is their home.

In order to end the illegal trade in wildlife, we must change attitudes and motivate people to make informed choices that don’t threaten biodiversity. Wild for Life is UN Environment’s most successful ever digital campaign and aims to inform and inspire people across the globe in this regard.

For more information and for the chance to ask your questions to Mr Cousteau, please write to thierry.lucas@unenvironment.org or mark.grassi@unenvironment.org

Pour lire cet entretien en français, veuillez cliquer ici. Pour plus d’informations et pour l’opportunité de poser vos questions à M.Cousteau, contactez thierry.lucas@unenvironment.org ou mark.grassi@unenvironment.org

"Natural fabrics can help people to change their attitude to health, environment and consumption patterns

Alfia Valieva wears her green heart on her sleeve – literally. She leads a team of designers and textile artists from Samarkand in Uzbekistan that use naturally-produced silk and other fabrics without costing the planet.

The majority of Alfia’s clothes are made from silkworm cocoon, without the need for pesticides.

When fed with mulberry leaves, silk worms produce a cocoon of the material around themselves at a remarkable pace. A 3-4cm cocoon can produce 800-1200 metres of fiber thread which can be wound together to make fabric for clothes without the use of pesticides.

Alfia’s team, known as AYSEL, use the silk to follow well-known as well as almost-forgotten ancient national textile and decorating techniques. In this interview, we discover how the clothes produced hold special cultural and environmental value – and draw inspiration to try and make some ourselves!

UN Environment Europe: What clothes are you wearing right now? Are you able to keep up the New Year's resolution you made with us of wearing natural, sustainable clothes all year round?

Alfia Valieva: As per usual, I am wearing natural clothes. It is easy for me to keep this up, because it is a habit of mine to only wear natural clothes.

When and why did you start working on fashion and clothes and have you always done so in a sustainable manner?

It is difficult to say when exactly - sometime in the mid-1990s. Using sustainable fabrics came naturally to me, because in our region practically all fabrics are natural and sustainable.

Why should people consider wearing natural fabrics? Are they more expensive?

Natural fabrics are good for our health - they allow the body to breathe. Silk is 97% composed of proteins, 3% made up of fat and wax, and contains 18 amino acids which have a positive effect on our metabolism. Silk fiber is very smooth and does not irritate even very sensitive skin; it is hypoallergic.

Of course, natural fabrics - especially silk - are more expensive than artificial fabrics. However, demand for them keeps growing because the number of people who care about their health and the environment is always on the rise.

What environmental problems can natural fabrics help solve?

Using natural fabrics is safe and environmentally friendly. The use of natural fabric colours is also important. Natural fabrics can help people to change their attitude to health, environment and consumption patterns.

Can people also make their own clothes from natural fabrics? How?

Everyone can try and go to a specialised shop and buy a natural fabric of their choice and create clothes of his/her own. It would be best to start with cheaper fabrics or to practice patchwork combining various types.

What can governments do to encourage this?

Governments can facilitate this by supporting folk-crafts, including weaving, silk breeding; by saving, rehabilitation and developing national cultural heritage and environmental education and awareness raising; large-scale activities on reviving national traditions, values, developing respective attitudes to national culture, nature and environment among young people, promoting education in the field of historical traditions of fabric-making.

Each production step followed by AYSEL passes from one professional’s ‘golden’ hands to those of another. The clothes therefore take longer to make but involve greater techniques and culture value while respecting the environment.

Historical background and inspiration to try at home

The techniques used by AYSEL include batik ‘Bandan’ to give fabrics special natural colours, batic ‘Painting’ and hot batic ‘Krakle’.

Embroidery is performed on the natural silk using a traditional technique stemming from gold-sewing practiced in the ancient city of Bukhara, as well as the ‘Popur’ and ‘Iroki’ traditional Uzbek methods.

The team furthermore use floral painting, artistic fabric colouring and other techniques, including using ornamental signs in poetical forms. These are painted onto fabric with the help of a cliche – which puts pressure on it - or done manually by an artist.

The silk is then decorated using hand-made stamps produced from fruit trees and natural coloring derived from local mulberries, pomegranates, nuts, onions and other plants.