Sacred Planet with Gulnaz Khan
PBS WESTERN RESERVE (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):
Wednesdays Sept. 10-Oct. 1, at 10 PM
Thursdays Sept. 11-Oct. 2, at 3 AM
This new four-part documentary series explores Earth’s most hallowed places in search of hope and resilience on a changing planet. Part cinematic odyssey, part spiritual meditation, environmental journalist Gulnaz Khan travels to natural and cultural sanctuaries in Japan, Colombia, Peru and the African Sahel. Each episode offers more than a portrait of threatened ecological beauty; it unfolds a deeply human story of reverence and renewal. In these sacred sites rarely accessed by outsiders, Khan meets with Indigenous elders, spiritual leaders and community stewards confronting the climate crisis with centuries-old ecological wisdom.
“The Heart of the World” – Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 10 PM
In Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta — the world’s highest coastal mountain range — the Indigenous Arhuaco people have maintained an unbroken connection to their ancestral lands for over a millennium. Gulnaz receives a rare invitation to enter their sacred territory, home to one of the few Indigenous communities in the Americas to preserve their cultural traditions through centuries of colonization. The Arhuaco consider themselves the spiritual “elder brothers of humanity,” tasked with keeping the world in balance. Now, as climate change threatens the delicate ecosystems they’ve long protected, they believe their “younger brothers” must learn what they know before it’s too late.
“Stopping the Desert” – Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 10 PM
The Sahara is advancing southward at an unprecedented pace, swallowing cities across Africa’s Sahel region along with centuries of culture and tradition. But amid this ecological upheaval, Gulnaz meets priests, imams, and scientists turning ancestral knowledge into tools of resistance. In Chinguetti, Mauritania, she meets scholars racing to preserve some of the world’s oldest Islamic manuscripts as sand dunes threaten libraries that have stood for eight centuries. In Senegal, Muslim and Christian communities have joined forces, reviving ancestral agricultural techniques that are not only restoring degraded land, but revitalizing the regional economy. Finally, at the Sahel’s eastern reaches of Ethiopia, Gulnaz encounters a remarkable phenomenon: church forests that serve as living seed banks, preserving the biodiversity needed to reforest entire landscapes.
“Saving the World’s Forests” – Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 10 PM
Gulnaz travels to Japan’s Lake Suwa, where Shinto priests have maintained meticulous climate records for over 600 years. Most notably, they chronicle the omiwatari — striking ice formations believed to trace the path of the gods across the winter lake. But as global temperatures rise, the lake rarely freezes, and the divine crossing has become a memory. Its disappearance reflects a broader reality: Japan's natural disasters are intensifying. As the nation deploys massive engineering projects like Tokyo’s underground flood-control systems, Gulnaz discovers a different kind of climate solution rooted in spiritual stewardship. In the 1970s, botanist Akira Miyawaki studied the vegetation surrounding Shinto shrines, where centuries of protection preserved Japan’s last native forests. From these sacred spaces, he developed the “Miyawaki method” — a technique for creating rapidly growing, biodiverse forests that could shield the island nation from future disasters.
“Reclaiming Peru’s Glaciers” – Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 10 PM
Gulnaz travels to Paucartambo, Peru, to witness one of the Andes’ most sacred and enduring traditions: the annual Qoyllur Rit’i pilgrimage — a vibrant fusion of Catholic and Andean beliefs. She meets Catholic priest Padre Mijail and José Luis Mamani, leader of the Quechua brotherhood known as the Pablitos to learn how rising temperatures are changing age-old customs. For generations, pilgrims climbed to the glaciers to retrieve blocks of sacred ice. But as the glaciers retreat, these rituals are disappearing — and with them, a way of life. Across the Andes, entire communities face worsening drought and flooding. Yet, Gulnaz discovers resilience in unexpected forms: from a farmer and mountain guide pursuing a landmark climate case in court, to remote villages reviving ancestral water knowledge and combining it with modern engineering to secure their water supply.
