Spirit Of

Episode 9

The Spirit of … Nature

Mexico is a country overflowing with great natural beauty. It's also a country that's had more than its fair share of natural disasters. From hurricanes to droughts to flooding. Mexico has been afflicted by the extremes that nature can fling at it.

CNN's Becky Anderson begins her search for the spirit of nature in the Sian K'an Biosphere, a government-backed reserve designed to protect Mexico's environmental heritage. Her guide around the reserve is the environmentalist and diver Sam Meacham. Sam will also take Becky cave-diving in a cenote, one of the sinkholes that makes up an underground network once held sacred by the ancient Mayans.

In the second half of the show, we highlight the race to protect Mexico's fragile eco-system. Sam shows Becky the damage done to the region by the uncontrolled growth of tourism. We quiz Mexico's Environment Minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada about the government’s plans to protect the country's natural heritage. Finally, we meet Mario Molina, Nobel prize winner and Mexico's best-know scientist. Molina discovered the hole in the ozone above the Antarctic. Molina and other high-profile environmental campaigners such as Professor Jeffrey Sachs, give us their thoughts on the best way forward to battle climate change.