It might be only 40 minutes by ferry from Brisbane, but when North Stradbroke Island, or Minjerribah, comes into focus - a soft line of bush, dunes and open water - and you roll off the barge, the city skyline feels like a sci-fi memory. It's no wonder that the locals and in-the-know Brisbanites guard this island with a conspiratorial hush.
It was off-limits to the public for a century until recently, when a nonprofit land trust called the Wildlands Conservancy liberated the coastline following 10 years of planning. Accessing the preserve is allowed after reaching the farthest end of Bodega Harbour, a scenic coastal community of 700 homes linked within an 18-hole golf course. But once word about the hike began to spread last month, locals began saying their neighborhood was upended overnight by hundreds of cars.
Carla leads a fight in flood-damaged Valencia where climate change and tourism threaten turtles along Spain's coastline. Carla grew up witnessing her father's fight to protect Valencia's fragile beach ecosystems. Now, as climate change warms the Mediterranean, sea turtles driven by rising sea temperatures have begun arriving to lay their eggs on her city's shoreline. But the beaches they rely on are under threat.