Original subtitles

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.