French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand explores threats to biodiversity around the world. Featured are conservation efforts in Africa for lions, hippopotamuses, and the fish of Lake Victoria. In South America, focus is aimed at the ecosystem of the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland area and home to jaguars, anacondas and giant otters. It occupies parts of Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. Use of napalm to clear forested areas of Tasmania is criticized in Australia. Old growth forest are sacrificed to make way for commercial timber growth. The importance of plants as a source of potential medicines is underscored with China's work on a cure for malaria. Artemisinin is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua, sweet wormwood, a herb employed in Chinese traditional medicine. The effects of global warming are highlighted in their effect on the melting of Mount Kilimanjaro's summit glacier in Africa and on the melting of the icecap and sea ice in Greenland. Finally, the problem of persistent air pollutants and their bio-magnification has put polar bears and native residents at risk.