Around the megacities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, stretching all the way to Argentina, is one of the most species-rich forests on earth: the Atlantic Rainforest. But today only 12 percent of it remains. A wake-up call for environmentalists, farmers and researchers! More than 300 private initiatives want to break the negative trend and are planting trees en masse to restore tropical forests and turn them into species-rich biotopes. With initial success: The return of the imposing tapir and rare monkey species give hope.

Costa Rica is famous for its national parks, tropical forests and rare animals. For centuries, though, the forests had to make way more and more – above all, for agriculture. Since the early 1980s, the land has set a new course. Huge areas have been reforested; plant and animal species are recovering. The film shows how something that was long thought impossible has been brought about: the return of the tropical forests and their inhabitants.

Agriculture, urbanisation and industry have taken a heavy toll on Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes on the northern edge of the US. Today, more and more people are working to bring nature back around the lake. Rivers are recovering, wetlands are being restored, and eradicated animal and plant species are returning. The wounds inflicted on nature by man are beginning to heal.

The end of open-cast lignite mining in the Lausitz region of eastern Germany left behind vast areas of wasteland – in which habitats teeming with rare plant and animal species have come into being. Wolves, cranes and sea eagles, as well as insects, amphibians and birds, have taken over the former pits and spoil heaps. Wetlands, heath and forests have become fascinating objects of study for conservationists and biologists.