Meanwhile on ... Réunion Island, there is now a turtle sanctuary

Réunion Island, on a beach where sea turtles were once hunted and then bred commercially, there is now a turtle sanctuary. Kélonia was founded in 1994 to care for and protect the giant creatures (they can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds), which are among the most ancient on earth. Until fairly recently, sea turtles were hunted for their meat and perceived medicinal properties. Today it is illegal in many countries to hunt sea turtles, but they remain at risk because of the rapid shrinking of their native habitats and natural breeding grounds. Réunion Island, a French territory off the eastern coast of Southern Africa, lies in the Mozambique Channel, home to five of the remaining seven species of sea turtles.

Ciudad Arce, El Salvador, employees of League Collegiate Outfitters have to go to school if they want to keep their jobs. The T-shirt-making company, which employs ex-gang members, people with disabilities, and others who have struggled to find jobs, offers mandatory high school courses to any of its 550 employees who haven’t graduated. The company’s factory also houses a two-year college so employees can easily move on to college once they get their high school diploma. General manager Rodrigo Bolaños told PBS, “If you don’t study, this is not the place for you.”

Leiria, Portugal, more than 3,000 volunteers came together one day last month to plant approximately 67,000 trees in central Portugal where last year wildfires destroyed more than 1.2 million acres of forest. Organizers of the planting project say the efforts were just the first step toward planting the 30 million new trees that would be needed to restore the area. “We are from this region,” one of the organizers of the project told Euronews. “We ... all used this forest, we all have good memories of this forest.... [I]t was the forest itself that cried out [to us] for help.”