All language subtitles for BBC - Europe A Natural History - 4 - A New Millenium

21st century Europe.

730 million people.

A relentless force of change.

Man and nature must find new ways to
coexist.

In Europe's cities, people and animals
crowd together.

The changes that have made Europe what
it is today have been ever

400 generations had to pass to take
Europe from Stone Age farming to

agriculture.

Yet just 100 generations laid the
densest road network in the world.

And it has taken only ten generations to
fell more forest than all their

ancestors combined.

But these are nothing compared to the
changes taking us into the 21st century.

New technology.

New invaders.

New efforts to bring back lost wildlife.

And new wilderness.

Helping native to return.

Since its birth billions of years ago,
Europe has been in a constant state of

change.

Its wildest fringes are timeless
reminders of the fundamental forces

work today, which will ultimately shape
the future of this unique continent.

Rome, where Europe's taste for city life
began.

2 ,000 years ago, this was the sole
metropolis on the continent.

Today, three out of four Europeans are
city dwellers.

Not all of them human.

For every million people in Italy,
there's over half a million cars.

And here in Rome, nearly as many
motorbikes.

Even in the middle of winter, there's
plenty of basking to be done.

But at this time of year, it's not
without risk.

Romans have learned to be very wary of
clouds.

Huge numbers of winter tourists are
flying in from the north.

Rome's ancient soothsayers used to read
the future of the empire from the flight

patterns of these birds.

But today, when forms of starlings
darken the sky, you don't need to be

to divine imminence. disaster

darling

droppings are extremely corrosive eating
fabric paint metal and stone

and they're as slippery as silk

Three million birds come here each
winter, for one reason only.

The city is literally a hotspot,
significantly warmer than the

countryside.

Cities burn lots of fuel, their
buildings absorb sunlight, and smog

retain the warmth.

Each evening, as the starlings descend
on Rome, They rain down tons of foul

-smelling droppings.

But the Empire strikes back.

Volunteers set out to defend the city.

These new legions come armed with
searchlights and loud halos.

Blasting out starling distress calls.

The message is loud and clear.

But will it be heeded?

Starlings are not the only birds.

that have adapted well to the urban
environment.

Vienna, at its heart St. Stephen's, one
of Europe's finest

cathedrals.

Massive yet intricate, it has caught the
attention of many a visitor over the

past 500 years, including Kestrels.

The Gothic architecture mirrors the
limestone crags of the nearby Alps.

Kestrels, like pigeons, are drawn to
cities because they're natural cliff

dwellers, seeking shelter in high and
inaccessible places.

also find sanctuary here.

But a night hunter haunts these
belfries.

The stone martin.

It's not after bats, but pigeon eggs.

From the roof of Vienna's cathedral to
Charles Bridge in old Prague, Hundreds

thousands of stone Martins patrol
Europe's city streets, unseen and

Even people can find themselves victims.

Martins can't resist cars.

Beneath the bonnet there's a cosy den
and plenty to chew on.

In just one night in Munich, West
Germany.

A single stone martin damaged a hundred
cars.

Martins are wily creatures.

But you'll certainly know if one has
paid you a visit.

On the bright side, Stone Martins can
increase personal fitness and even the

of public transport.

But on the downside are the steadily
rising premiums for car insurance.

Daybreak in northern Spain.

The medieval town of Alfaro is anything
but sleepy.

European white storks are natural tree
dwellers.

But with a shortage of big old trees,
they resorted to boulders.

And with the overcrowding of these, they
were forced to think again.

Now, some 140 Skok families reside on Al
Faro's cathedral alone.

But they're not here just for the real
estate.

On their doorstep, there's an endless
supply of food.

Europe produces over 2 billion tonnes of
household waste per year.

Plenty of opportunity for scavengers.

Griffin vultures are only too keen to
join the feed.

Rubbish dumps offer more than just food.

For urban red foxes, they also provide
valuable densite.

Estimates suggest some 10 ,000 red foxes
may live in London alone.

These highly adaptable scavengers are
now establishing themselves in cities

right across the continent.

And they're not the only ones.

Budapest.

Spanning the river Danube, Hungary's
capital is a city flanked by woodland.

Making jogging something of an adventure
sport.

During the rutting season, wild boar can
give you a good run for your money.

The woodlands around Budapest, Berlin
and Vienna are full of them.

The increased protection of wild boar in
Central, Eastern and Southern Europe

has allowed numbers to soar.

Many of these normally secretive forest
dwellers have now lost their fear of

man, their overrunning villages, city
suburbs and farmland.

Farmers often find there's been an early
harvest, and that their fields have

even been ploughed.

Over millennia of agricultural growth,
some wild animals have found ways to

exploit the intensively groomed
landscape.

All of this was once impenetrable
forest.

Europe's moderate climate and rich
geological past make it the most fertile

continent on Earth.

Six million square kilometres of prime
fields and pastures.

From the rice fields of Italy to the
tulip fields of Holland, Europe's

agriculture is big business.

Each year, three billion tulips are
harvested in Holland and sent all around

world.

The continent produces around 250
billion euros worth of crops.

Where does all this leave wild nature?

In the days of traditional farming,
hares were a frequent sight. But heavy

of chemicals and radical landscaping
drove them from the fields.

Now there's a greater awareness of the
needs of wildlife.

Here, they're making a healthy comeback
across much of Europe's farmland.

They've still got to watch their back.

For roe deer, some fields make important
fawning grounds.

But thousands fall victim to
agricultural machinery during the summer

Pink -footed geese use the farms of
Western Europe as valuable stopovers.

Here, they refuel during their long
journey to Europe's remotest corners.

The untamed north.

An arctic wilderness.

Stretching from Scandinavia, to the
Pole.

It's one of the world's most
inhospitable climates.

Only the hardiest can live here all year
round.

But come summer, under the midnight sun,
the skies are alive with visitors.

Europe's remote northwest fringes are
peppered with islands and bays by the

Stream.

These ice -free waters are among the
most productive in the world.

But it's not just Europe's highest
latitudes that have remained beyond our

reach.

The out.

A wilderness towering over the very
heart of the continent.

Europe's tallest and most extensive
mountain range.

The Alps are flanked by sprawling
forest.

But Europe's most prolific woodlands are
found further east.

among the Carpathians and Balkans.

Traditional farming more in harmony with
nature.

For centuries, little has changed.

In Europe's wild east, farmers and
herdsmen have always lived peacefully

alongside big predators.

In the west, these same animals were
feared and persecuted.

These forests are now crucial reservoirs
for animals that have vanished from

much of the rest of Europe.

Slovakia and Romania are home to the
greatest numbers of bears, wolves and

on the continent.

For half a century, this thriving
eastern forest was largely cut off from

remaining pockets of woodland in Western
Europe.

From the Baltic to the Black Sea, Europe
was split in two.

The dividing line, 3 ,000 kilometers
long.

The Iron Curtain was a border of death.

Inhumane and unnatural.

Secured with mines, booby traps,
electric fences, watchtowers,

attack dogs and thousands of military
troops and border police with the order

kill.

Day and night, guards watched for any
movement along the border.

Inside the fence was a five -kilometre
-wide strip of land.

For decades, a no -go zone.

When the iron curtain eventually came
down, the fence was demolished,

were cleared, and watchtowers levelled.

Today, only a few traces of the curtain
still linger, like the odd patrol track.

But what does remain is a green corridor
across the continent.

And here, wild nature is quick to
reclaim abandoned buildings.

and derelict military bases, creating a
new kind of wilderness.

For the first time in a century, wolves
are back in Germany.

They've made their own way here from the
east.

A former Soviet military base not far
from Berlin is now a refuge for

wildlife.

The old border of death has become a new
corridor of life.

Along its length, countries have united
to help create a string of new national

parks.

There are few places on the continent
where nature now has such free reign,

already, wildlife is on the move.

Lynx thrive in the vast woodlands of
Poland and Slovakia.

But for the past century, they've been
on the brink of extinction in Western

Europe.

Now, Europe's big cats are slowly making
a comeback.

The wild backcountry of former
Yugoslavia has always boasted a healthy

population of brown bears.

Some have already made their way back to
the west, reaching as far as the Alps.

But even with the help of new green
corridors, they, and many others, face

serious obstacles.

Road accidents account for about half of
all the animal fatalities in the

continent, most of them on the smaller
country lanes.

With 5 million kilometres of tarmac,
Europe's roads could wrap around the

equator a hundred times.

There are 110 million cars in Europe.

On some carriageways, tens of thousands
streak by every day.

Roads like these are totally impassable.

With more and more roads under
construction, what chance do animals

What's happening here and elsewhere
across the continent is actually a

of hope.

A green bridge, 200 metres wide and
spanning the motorway.

It's carefully planted with shrubs and
trees.

and positioned to reopen an old
migration route.

And there's another means of access
across the continent, from east to west.

Waterways.

They've always been important corridors
for wildlife.

Thousands of trees are being felled
along these backwaters of the Danube.

Beaver.

After endless persecution, they'd all
but disappeared from Central and Western

Europe by the end of the 19th century.

But since their reintroduction near
Vienna just a decade ago, they're busily

reclaiming their old territory.

These sheltered wetlands along the
former Iron Curtain are ideal.

And beaver numbers are rising fast.

It's one of Europe's most successful
homecomings.

Thanks to reintroduction programs in
several countries, the population across

the continent has recovered to over 250
,000.

So few Western Europeans have ever seen
a truly pristine riverscape.

Only 2 % of all the waterways on the
continent are still natural.

And this is a river delta in its natural
state, the Danube, meandering its way

through Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania, a
vast expanse of wetland.

The lower Danube is now the only place
on the continent where, far from being a

disaster, annual flooding is welcome.

The floodplains sustain a wealth of
aquatic life.

Some 80 kinds of fish and as many
mollusks.

They, in turn, support one of the
congregations of bird life on the

Nearly 300 different species.

For Dalmatian and white pelicans, the
world's largest reed beds are crucial

breeding grounds.

But wildlife does not have this special
river all to itself.

This is the same river in the west, cut
off from its natural floodplains.

Both the Danube and the Rhine rivers
have been radically straightened,

and narrowed, diked and dammed.

As road networks are overloaded, traffic
turns to these rivers as alternative

highways.

200 ,000 vessels a year cross the Dutch
-German border, making the Rhine the

world's busiest waterway.

By the mid -20th century, Industrial
waste and domestic sewage polluted

Germany's biggest river.

A chemical disaster in the 60s was the
coup de grace.

It killed off the last fish.

Until the 1920s, the Rhine supported
commercial fishing all the way from the

North Sea.

to the Alps.

Most prized of all was salmon, but today
the old tales of monster catches sound

like fisherman's yarns.

In recent years, the tide has turned.

Rather than forcing the river to
accommodate big ships, They're being

by smaller vessels.

Strict anti -pollution laws now in
force.

Rivers and lakes right across Western
Europe are significantly cleaner than

were 50 years ago.

While some wildlife is returning to the
Rhine by its own accord, the Atlantic

salmon hasn't found it easy.

It needs a helping hand.

Each summer, for almost 20 years,
Millions of specially bred youngsters

been released into the tributaries of
the river.

If just one in 10 ,000 of these little
fish survives, it's counted a success.

Young salmon face all sorts of hazards
along the way, both natural and man

-made.

Just a handful of adults make it back to
Germany each year from their feeding

grounds far out in the North Atlantic.

They're given an official welcome by the
press and politicians.

Some of these reintroduced salmon are
now spawning, raising the hope that this

busy river will one day return to its
former glory.

Each year, more and more visitors come
to Cologne to attend the River Rhine

Festival.

They now have good reason to celebrate.

Like the Rhine, only a decade ago, the
river Elba was poisoned and dead.

Here, too, a clean -up is underway and
wildlife is returning.

But with the return of life have come
surprises.

The fishermen are netting more than just
fish.

It's eels they're after, and it's a good
haul.

But their catch is being plundered by a
stranger to Europe's waterways.

Mitten crabs.

These voracious invaders pose a serious
threat to resident wildlife.

Mitten crabs are not native to Europe.

So how did they get here?

Europe's big coastal ports, Dover,
Hamburg, Rotterdam, Bilbao, Folkestone,

are all gateways for intercontinental
shipping and trade.

A single port like this, might deal with
3 million containers a year.

That's over 300 every single hour, day
and night, arriving from every part of

the globe.

Although measures are taken to keep out
pests, the overwhelming volume of goods

makes it nigh on impossible.

Every year, 150 new alien species make
it ashore.

Most will not survive.

Others find a small niche.

But some become massive invaders.

Mitten crabs first arrived from Asia
decades ago.

Ironically, it was the cleaning up of
Europe's rivers that allowed them to

advance inland and wreak havoc.

But as invaders go, the mitten crab is
not the most destructive.

The killer that could cut a sway through
Europe does not arrive in spectacular

swarms.

Finding one is like looking for a needle
in a haystack.

It may be hidden in any wood product
from East Asia.

It's a deadly monster.

The Asian longhorn beetle.

Most wood parasites specialize in
certain trees.

Their populations only explode under
rare conditions.

But the larvae of the Asian longhorn
beetle can feed on any wood.

If they escape into the wild and
reproduce freely, Europe's forests might

like this.

A graveyard in Swansea, Wales.

British cemeteries often look wild.

But this one is different.

For years, the local authority has
battled against an overwhelming

It's a struggle against a seven -headed
hydra.

Japanese knotweed.

Imported from Asia long ago to grace
Europe's gardens, it's jumped the fence.

Its poisonous roots can reach three
meters down, and its powerful shoots

outgrow any native competitor.

Even if all the trees are killed off by
alien beetles, at least the countryside

will still be green, thanks to alien
plants.

If ever there is a lack of greenery in
Europe, it's probably man -made.

Just consider this landscape.

It looks like some future fantasy.

But this is Europe today.

The Mar de Plástico. The Sea of Plastic.

In Almería, Southeastern Spain.

It's visible from the moon.

Below the surface...

Optimum growing conditions.

Computers regulate the water and
nutrients, the temperature, humidity and

carbon dioxide.

400 truckloads of peppers, cucumbers and
tomatoes are packed every day of the

year.

Climate control has turned Spain's
poorest region into Europe's richest.

But all this depends on one thing.

The sun.

Life on our planet is driven by energy
sent in from space, from 155 million

kilometres away.

The amount of energy the Earth receives
from the Sun is unimaginable.

But you can get a glimpse of it here in
Spain, at Europe's first solar power

station.

In a ballet of perfect synchrony, 200
mirrors concentrate their reflections on

single receiver.

The operating temperature here reaches
1000 degrees Celsius.

Even a slight variation in solar power
reaching the Earth can radically change

our living conditions.

Across the continent, we can already see
this happening.

Europe is heating up with dramatic
consequences.

In recent years, alpine resorts have had
to take matters into their own hands.

Tens of thousands of snow cannons
bombard the slopes.

Without them, the huge tourist industry
would already be in meltdown.

Chillingly, from now on, the most
dramatic transformations on this

will be driven by climate change.

When glaciers melt, sea levels rise.

And as oceans warm up, they expand,
drowning coastlines.

The Thames Barrier was built to save
London from exceptional tides.

Already, The barrier is proving too low.

It's not certain how much longer the sea
can be kept at bay.

A rise of a metre per century is
entirely possible.

At the next millennium, London might
still look like this.

But not when the tide comes in.

If global warming persist, England's
capital would be completely swamped.

But then the pattern of the last two
million years has been a seesaw of cold

warm periods, with the Gulf Stream
changing its course.

And that could put an entirely different
spin on things.

London and Berlin.

Both stand where the last ice sheets
ended.

During the next ice age, life might only
be possible under glass.

At the peak of the last glacial period,
everything north of Berlin was a white,

windy waste.

This would be nothing new.

It's happened countless times before.

Equally possible, Paris might become a
tropical forest again.

Or be swallowed by desert sands.

There's no reason to think that climate
change will ever end.

Nor will any of the more fundamental
forces that have shaped the continent

to rest.

250 million years from now, Europe is
destined to merge with Africa, forming

a new supercontinent.

But for now, this is a continent of
living treasures.

Abundant, but not infinite.

To be shared by humans and wild nature.

Europe's treasures.

Its teeming cities.

Its pleasant farmland.

And its raw wilderness.

They're all worth keeping.

They're all worth sharing.

They all combine to make this continent
unique.

Journey into Space with BBC Two next,
and tomorrow on BBC Radio 4, the

continuing history of the British Empire
from the 12th to the 20th century.

This Septidile Empire continues Monday
afternoon at 3 .45.