Plants fighting pollution ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil...

and I'm Beth.

Now, imagine a field polluted by spilled oil.

Toxic waste has mixed into the water and chemical fumes

have overtaken the air, leaving animals dead and the land unsafe for humans.

Unfortunately, situations like this are common all over the world.

Cleaning up chemical pollution is dangerous and expensive

and mostly involves highly technological equipment.

But what if there was a more natural solution?

Recently, scientists have been developing a new technique

for cleaning pollution, letting plants do the work instead.

Yes, plants like water hyacinths

have been used to clean rivers by sucking up oil spilled into the water.

And researchers have successfully used fungi

to break down plastic waste. In this programme,

we'll be hearing about plants that fight pollution and of course,

we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But first, I have a question for you, Neil.

One word we'll be hearing a lot in this programme is ‘phytoremediation’ -

the technique that certain plants use to remove harmful chemicals

from polluted environments.

But how do they do this? Is it by using a) their leaves, b) their roots,

or c) their seeds?

I think some plants clean up pollution using their roots.

OK, Neil. We'll find out the correct answer later.

Phytoremediating plants are certainly needed

in one of the most oil-polluted places on Earth.

The delta of the River Niger in Nigeria.

Ever since oil, known by the nickname

'black gold' was discovered there in the 1950s,

it's become central to Nigeria's economy.

But oil spills have devastated the region's landscape

and there is mistrust between local communities

and the multinational oil companies working there.

Now, one woman and her plants are trying to fix the problem. Eucharia Nwaichi

is a biochemist from the University of Port Harcourt

in Nigeria, She uses phytoremediation to clean

and protect the region's land and rivers. Discussing Eucharia’s work,

are Georgina Rannard

from the BBC Climate

news team and Myra Anubi, presenter of BBC

World Service Programme, People Fixing the World.

Eucharia is a specialist in phytoremediation…

... that word again.

It basically means plants being used to clean up contaminated environment, right?

Right.

When I met her recently in London,

she had just won the Maddox prize.

This is a prestigious award for scientists showing courage

in the face of hostility.

Now, the Niger Delta is a really dangerous and challenging place to work in and

despite personal risk to her safety,

Eucharia has spent 20 years teaching communities there,

how these plants can suck up toxic oil from the ground

and bring their land back to life.

Eucharia's work won a prestigious scientific award. 'Prestigious' means

admired and well respected. The award recognised the personal risks

Kari or takes in her efforts to bring the land back to life.

If you bring something back to life.

You make it come alive again

or re animate it after it has died a big problem for climate scientists

is being accepted and trusted by the people living in polluted places,

but Eucharia has found a way to work with local communities.

Listen to Georgina Rannard of BBC

World Service's People Fixing the World,

who was followed by Eucharia Nwaichi herself...

Her success, often comes

from getting communities who have deep mistrust of outsiders

after broken promises from companies to clean up the oil spills.

She gets them to trust her

and then they take ownership for the restoration of their land.

And I think Eucharia's magic formula really relies on diplomacy,

trust and actually charisma, which is a very important quality.

We have a leadership structure,

so you have the chief, like traditional ruler.

You have the women leader.

You have the youth leader.

So, you find out who does and inform them of

what you want to do.

Local people's mistrust of big oil companies comes from their broken promises.

when they said they would definitely do something.

but then failed to. Eucharia, on the other hand,

is trusted because she consults the community by speaking with local chiefs -

the rulers or highest ranking leaders of the tribe.

What's more, Eucharia has lots of 'charisma'.

This personal characteristic is the natural ability to attract, influence

and inspire people. Taken together,

these make Eucharia's approach a magic formula -

a combination of actions

that is likely to result in success.

It's good to hear a positive environmental news story for once, isn't it, Neil?

But what's the science behind what Eucharia is doing?

How do plants clean up polluted environments? To find that out

I need to reveal the answer to my question.

Right, you asked me how plants clean up pollution through phytoremediation.

I said it was using their roots. And that was the correct answer.

OK, it's time to recap vocabulary

we've learnt from the programme,

starting with the adjective 'prestigious' meaning admired and well respected.

If you 'bring something back to life'.

you make it come alive again after being dead.

A 'broken promise' is when you promise

definitely to do something

but then fail to do

what you said you would. A 'chief' is the ruler of a tribe

or the most important highest ranking leader of an organisation.

'Charisma' is a special natural ability to attract, influence and inspire people.

And finally, the phrase 'a magic formula' describes a combination of actions

that is likely to result in success.

Once again, our six minutes are up.

Bye for now. Goodbye.