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CARL AZUZ: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz.
Thank you for taking 10 for "CNN 10" this November 10.
Today, we're unraveling a complicated series
of events that are likely behind a migration standoff in Europe.
This is taking place in the Eastern part
of the continent at the border between Belarus and Poland.
Thousands of people have been camping
there in freezing conditions, trying
to get into the European Union.
Belarus is not a member of the EU,
but Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia are.
They all share borders with Belarus,
and they've all seen a surge in the number
of people trying to cross over from Belarus
into their countries.
Lithuania has declared a state of emergency
at its border because of the crisis.
And Poland says, since September, it
stopped more than 32,000 attempts by migrants
to illegally cross into Poland.
These migrants are not from Belarus.
Polish officials say they're mostly from Iraq,
Syria, and Afghanistan.
So why is this happening?
Well, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
blames Western nations for causing the problems
the migrants are fleeing.
But the European Union blames Belarus, saying,
it's trying to get revenge for punishments
the EU gave it in June.
The Belarusian government has been accused
of holding an unfair election last year
and restricting Belarusians rights and freedoms,
so the EU imposed a number of sanctions
on Belarus this summer.
And European officials say Belarus is trying to pressure
the EU by encouraging thousands of migrants
to illegally cross into its countries.
Belarusian officials have repeatedly denied doing that,
and Belarus blames the EU for treating
migrants badly at the borders, where several people have died.
Humanitarian groups have accused Poland of illegally pushing
people back into Belarus instead of accepting their applications
for protection.
Poland says it's been following immigration law,
and it's accused Belarusian authorities of pushing
migrants toward its border.
So a lot of back and forth accusations are going on here,
and thousands of people are caught in the middle.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN: The situation at the border
between Poland and Belarus remains extremely tense.
The Polish authorities are now saying,
they believe that between 3,000 and 4,000 people
are camped out on the Belarusian side and trying to get across.
Now, the Polish authorities are saying
that's not something that they are going to allow to happen.
They say that they've already put in place more than 9,000
soldiers and also thousands of border patrol agents
as well to try and prevent people
from coming across that border and making
it into the European Union.
Poland and the European Union, both accuse
Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko
of what they call state-sponsored
human trafficking.
They say that the regime in Belarus
is luring people, especially from Middle Eastern countries,
first and foremost from Iraq, to Belarus,
and then funneling them to the border
and trying to get them to go across.
Again, the Polish authorities are
saying that is not something that they
are going to allow to happen.
But ultimately, most of those people,
the authorities here in Germany believe,
are trying to make it to this country, to Germany,
and to claim asylum here.
And the German border police, they've also increased
their patrols as well.
They say they're increasingly coming across migrants.
And they say most of the people that they're coming across
have made their way to the European Union via Belarus.
Fred Pleitgen in Germany.
CARL AZUZ: 10-Second Trivia.
What covers 31% of Earth's land area?
Lakes, deserts, ice, or forests?
Though deserts cover about a third of the Earth,
the United Nations says forests cover 31%.
Some forests in South America are only a fraction of the size
they used to be, and the reasons for that
are both legal and illegal.
For one thing, there's the need for wood.
It's used to make everything from homes
to toys, instruments, and sporting goods, to furniture.
Developers clear forests to expand cities or build roads.
Farmers clear them to create agricultural fields,
and some of this is done without government permission.
But all of it can take a toll on the natural canopy
and the wildlife that live under it as deforestation progresses.
In the Atlantic forest, which runs from Northeast Brazil down
to Paraguay and Argentina, there's
a conservationist working to reconnect
some of the fragments of canopy that
remained after deforestation.
Here are the efforts of Rolex Awards Laureate Laury Cullen.
LAURY CULLEN: What I really love about being
in the forest is seeing the size of the change
we can really make.
Is it really possible to bring out that forest back?
- Laury Cullen has dedicated his life
to restoring the Atlantic forest in Brazil
after witnessing the destruction of his birthplace.
LAURY CULLEN: The Western Sao Paolo Atlantic forest
range used to be a very green, continuous beautiful landscape.
What used to be 100% of forest cover now is only 2%.
- Decades of deforestation have led
to a significant reduction of one of the world's
most diverse habitats.
All that remains of the forest are isolated fragments.
This means many species are now under threat as they no longer
have the ability to disperse.
LAURY CULLEN: The wildlife, especially jaguars,
puma, ocelots they are very isolated
in these small forest patches.
They cannot see each other.
That's when we started having problems of inbreeding
depression that can kill the local population
in a very short term.
- Cullen and his team use a targeted approach
to forest restoration, taking what's left of the fragments
and planting in corridors.
These proposed corridors aim to connect the fragments
and act almost like an express highway for local species.
LAURY CULLEN: The Dream Map is putting priorities
where the forests should really be
to make sure we put the right corridors in the right places.
- To date, Cullen and his team have restored 3,000 hectares
of forest and tell us they have already seen at least half
of native species using them, including some animals
at most risk of extinction.
LAURY CULLEN: Today, it's already
possible to see the lion tamarins, the families
of these little monkey, by themselves,
using some of the forest corridors
that we have put back.
If we just keep on going, the survival
of this very endangered species will be OK in the long term.
- Cullen is motivated by both the community and climate
benefits to reforestation, but his accomplishments
represent a transformation that is as much personal
as it is philanthropic.
LAURY CULLEN: I used to be a hunter,
and my father used to take me hunting in the Amazon.
So that's how I got in contact with forests, killing
a lot of endangered species.
But now, I'm doing my part to put all these forests back,
trying to redeem all the bad reputation
that I had in the past.
- Cullen's efforts benefit not only the landscape, but also
the communities living on it.
People are really part of the restoration equation.
Every restoration that we do is done by the local people.
- Cullen and his team have set themselves the ambitious target
of bringing back corridors to cover 60,000 hectares of land,
equating to 20% of the whole region.
LAURY CULLEN: We have a vision.
We have a mission.
We have a map, and that's it.
We're not going to give up.
We have a lot to do.
CARL AZUZ: Today is the first ever Call to Earth Day.
Stories like the one you just saw
show you how people are taking action to help a planet worth
protecting, and that's the focus of a new partnership
between CNN and Rolex.
If you, your class, your school would like to learn more,
please visit cnn.com/calltoearth.
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To borrow a pun from my colleague, Jeremy Roth,
this is surreal estate.
A castle in Connecticut has hit the market.
And when we say castle, this thing
has more than 18,000 square feet of living space, nine bedrooms,
seven full bathrooms, 12 fireplaces--
it's in Connecticut after all.
It's got an apartment nearby, and the 75-acre property
includes its own moat because it was built on a pond.
So if you're seeing this and saying,
this is fit for the king or queen, that is me,
you'll need a king's ransom to buy it at $35 million.
That's a Camelot.
I mean, saving that much money sure would be hard.
It could take middle ages.
You'd have to be royally flush with cash.
You might have to barter with your Shakespeare's.
For most people, it would be a futile effort.
Hear ye, hear ye.
For today's shoutout, we are going to Owensboro, Kentucky
to recognize the students of Owensboro High School.
I'm your town crier, Carl Azuz, and we
hope to see you again tomorrow.
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