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It was really just an experiment
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00:00:56,933 --> 00:01:01,986
which turned this unloved area into a haven.
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They came in from it
inhospitable landscape out there.
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And aims at Knepp.
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It's like a fairy tale.
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The earth comes alive after them.
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Isn't that a great sound?
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We didn't understand it
at least when we farmed.
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We hadn't seen the magic.
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But it happened here.
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It started a long time ago.
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Charlie and I were very young,
in his twenties.
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We drove through this wonderful,
traditional agricultural area.
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It was an English idyll.
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As we now know it is
something completely different.
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A lost landscape.
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We were blissfully unaware of it
stealthy developments that were going on.
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But since we were born in the sixties
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have we lost millions
birds in the sky.
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Our native mammals
heading towards extinction.
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We are one of the most
impoverished countries of the world.
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Then we saw it as normal.
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Knepp Castle was built in 1812
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and is surrounded by
agricultural land of approx
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00:03:46,003 --> 00:03:49,947
eight square kilometers in south-east England.
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Charlie was a trained farmer
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and was ready to take over the family farm.
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He was told already at the age of 14
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that one would skip a generation
and go straight to him.
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What a privilege.
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And yet something bubbled beneath the surface,
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which we have not taken hold of.
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00:04:23,324 --> 00:04:25,642
The area was plowed up.
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00:04:25,807 --> 00:04:30,322
Field after field of crops
drenched in chemicals.
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00:04:30,625 --> 00:04:34,511
Fertilizers,
fungicides and herbicides.
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00:04:35,744 --> 00:04:39,421
And it is well known that the earth here
is difficult to cultivate.
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It is simply not appropriate
for large-scale agriculture.
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Intensive agriculture was practiced
all the way down to the lake and around the house.
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Everything plowed, sprayed and fertilized.
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And all financed
through subsidies.
41
00:05:04,805 --> 00:05:08,058
And that probably applies
everyone around here.
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We farmers were
dependent on subsidies.
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00:05:14,257 --> 00:05:20,029
Which among other things helped to pay for
lots of fertilizer and pesticides.
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00:05:20,078 --> 00:05:23,670
- There you are.
- Yes, in the cornfield.
45
00:05:23,784 --> 00:05:27,138
Jeez, look at the eighties hairstyle.
46
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But it isn't
sustainable in the long term.
47
00:05:31,938 --> 00:05:37,552
And it destroys the earth
we depend on.
48
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We didn't really have a plan
for the future,
49
00:05:42,104 --> 00:05:45,987
but we knew we didn't
could carry on as we did,
50
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it was so depressing.
All those sleepless nights.
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00:05:48,623 --> 00:05:50,591
And no one talked about the earth?
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We didn't go around smelling it and saying:
"What nice organic material."
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Nothing like that.
54
00:05:57,187 --> 00:06:00,732
Maybe it was just me
who gave up, but…
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00:06:06,467 --> 00:06:08,927
Our story is about the earth.
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The layer that covers the planet.
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On which we depend for everything.
And we were about to destroy it.
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Something is not right.
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You feel that something is wrong.
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It was only when we realized how
broken system was,
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it was only then that we could start listening.
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I think the one that made us see
on the fields in a completely new way
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was Ted Green.
Nestorn concerning old oaks.
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He was a bit wild as a child.
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He is almost symbiotic
connected to the trees.
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00:07:16,507 --> 00:07:19,510
He is a wandering mycorrhizal fungus.
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00:07:19,723 --> 00:07:23,644
He doesn't shower. He thinks that
is a terrible thing to do.
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We are walking bacteria and fungal spores.
He thinks completely differently.
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Ted came and gave us advice
around our oak trees at Knepp.
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There was something wrong with them.
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He was horrified by what he discovered.
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Everywhere I looked,
I saw seas of wheat.
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And I thought:
"Oh, they kill them. They will die".
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00:07:53,529 --> 00:07:56,465
He said the roots of the tree extend
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almost fifteen meters out from the crown.
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All the oaks you see in the landscape
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are connected via
microscopic fibers.
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00:08:08,394 --> 00:08:14,317
Mycorrhizal fungi extend through the soil
and collects minerals and nutrients.
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00:08:14,435 --> 00:08:20,418
They are really small threads,
like cotton.
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00:08:20,907 --> 00:08:27,129
He described it as a chemical
circuit boards under our feet.
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00:08:28,870 --> 00:08:34,501
The life-giving system that lasts
almost every plant on the planet alive.
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00:08:43,505 --> 00:08:46,591
Plants and trees can
actually talk to each other.
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00:08:46,776 --> 00:08:52,616
Communicate about illnesses,
about attacks from pests and insects.
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00:08:52,641 --> 00:08:55,627
Or about being grazed by animals.
85
00:08:59,039 --> 00:09:03,126
Some argue that mycorrhiza
fungi can span continents.
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00:09:03,201 --> 00:09:05,369
Over hundreds of kilometers
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00:09:05,402 --> 00:09:08,093
in unaffected systems.
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00:09:16,402 --> 00:09:19,614
And we've been shredding it every year.
89
00:09:21,055 --> 00:09:25,852
And sprayed the soil and
the mycorrhizal fungi with poison.
90
00:09:26,028 --> 00:09:29,365
We were the ones who destroyed it
the vital system,
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00:09:29,527 --> 00:09:31,613
on which the trees depend.
92
00:09:32,864 --> 00:09:37,035
The earth eventually turns to dirt.
Without organic life.
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00:09:47,811 --> 00:09:53,692
And then you need fertilizer
if something is to grow in it.
94
00:09:56,948 --> 00:10:01,951
A young couple, two children, farmers
and a huge area.
95
00:10:02,046 --> 00:10:05,483
To bring them out here and show them
96
00:10:05,563 --> 00:10:08,171
trees like this,
and observe them.
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00:10:08,316 --> 00:10:10,944
To see the tree in a different way.
98
00:10:11,111 --> 00:10:12,946
And they understood it at once.
99
00:10:12,971 --> 00:10:15,932
When I went home I thought:
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00:10:16,047 --> 00:10:19,335
They will do something.
Something will happen.
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00:10:22,405 --> 00:10:27,118
In a way, we couldn't see
on the ground in the same way longer.
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00:10:28,494 --> 00:10:34,439
People like Ted told us
how connections can start
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00:10:34,464 --> 00:10:39,713
a chain reaction,
which can start a whole cycle.
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00:10:46,283 --> 00:10:51,080
And recreate that landscape
which we have lacked for hundreds of years.
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00:10:56,007 --> 00:11:02,518
Ted told Charlie that if he really
wanted to understand what a landscape should look like,
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then he must visit, and look more closely at,
a radical experiment in the Netherlands.
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It is called Oostvardersplassen.
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00:11:16,215 --> 00:11:21,553
Here, an ecologist, Frans Vera, had
a radical idea,
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00:11:21,723 --> 00:11:27,722
about how animals interacted with the landscape,
long before humans transformed it.
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00:11:27,945 --> 00:11:33,159
Science believes that
all of Europe looked like this.
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00:11:33,288 --> 00:11:37,816
Covered by trees.
I think that is wrong.
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00:11:38,028 --> 00:11:44,284
Few believe my idea of how it
natural landscape looked like.
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00:11:44,328 --> 00:11:47,831
My theory is that the natural landscape
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00:11:47,900 --> 00:11:53,697
powered by vast hordes of large animals.
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00:11:53,810 --> 00:11:57,564
Frans began an astonishing experiment.
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He introduced Konik Ponies,
a herd of ancient horses,
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00:12:02,013 --> 00:12:05,391
and the Heck, a wild breed of cattle.
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00:12:12,357 --> 00:12:18,655
The crews mimicked the ancient ones
the animals that once roamed Europe.
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00:12:18,738 --> 00:12:22,659
The great beasts would hold back the trees,
turn around the earth,
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00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:28,435
and change the landscape and show us how
Europe may have looked like before.
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00:12:28,513 --> 00:12:34,583
A landscape that we no longer have
can imagine.
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00:12:35,564 --> 00:12:41,153
Even scientists thought I was
crazy who believed in such an idea.
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“It is not sensible.
It won't work."
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Only if you see it,
can you believe it
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The trees did not take over the terrain.
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00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:10,618
Instead, a patchwork emerged
of different habitats,
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which nourished one
huge number of animals,
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00:13:14,252 --> 00:13:16,921
where very few had survived before.
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00:13:17,922 --> 00:13:21,301
Charlie came.
I didn't know him.
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He looked at the cattle,
the wild horses and deer.
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I didn't expect that
it would lead to something.
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00:13:30,852 --> 00:13:36,312
Why would a crazy Englishman
embrace such an idea?
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00:13:36,805 --> 00:13:39,600
He liked it,
but I know from experience,
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that you will encounter a lot
resistance if you adopt such an idea.
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00:14:02,266 --> 00:14:05,728
For me it was like that, that instead of that
constantly fighting against nature,
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00:14:05,841 --> 00:14:08,601
why not use the idea at Knepp?
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00:14:09,161 --> 00:14:14,291
If we come home with this idea,
it will lead to big changes.
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00:14:14,476 --> 00:14:18,041
It's never been done before, and it exists
so many laws and regulations
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00:14:18,066 --> 00:14:21,027
which prevents one from
to even think like this.
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00:14:24,035 --> 00:14:27,956
If you are a farmer, especially if
generations have tilled the land,
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00:14:27,981 --> 00:14:30,383
is the moment when you decide
you to stop,
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00:14:30,408 --> 00:14:37,015
burdened with so much
guilt and pride.
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00:14:43,883 --> 00:14:47,428
Sale of agricultural machinery.
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00:14:47,473 --> 00:14:52,186
The Burrell family has farmed
the land here for over 200 years.
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00:14:55,227 --> 00:14:58,105
Good morning and welcome
to Knepp Castle's Farm
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00:14:58,130 --> 00:15:00,695
on this wet September morning.
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00:15:00,754 --> 00:15:04,758
They sell their farm equipment
and cattle equipment.
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00:15:04,846 --> 00:15:07,423
For those who never have
been to an auction before...
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00:15:07,448 --> 00:15:12,953
There are all your efforts,
hopes and dreams.
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00:15:13,187 --> 00:15:19,234
You admit to the outside world
that everything has been in vain.
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00:15:20,588 --> 00:15:23,387
It is extremely painful to watch.
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Sold for £25.
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00:15:26,907 --> 00:15:29,076
Charlie couldn't
bear watching.
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He was in his office.
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00:15:31,962 --> 00:15:34,590
It was still too new.
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00:15:56,044 --> 00:15:59,464
Francis' message was clear:
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We were going to tear down the fence.
Tear everything up.
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And let the animals roam free.
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00:16:25,596 --> 00:16:28,891
It was incredibly exciting when
we released the Exmoor horses.
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00:16:28,916 --> 00:16:32,461
They flew out, kicked and jumped around.
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00:16:32,658 --> 00:16:37,565
They have a robust appearance
which dates back to the Ice Age.
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00:16:37,704 --> 00:16:42,104
It has a wildness to it
which domestic animals do not have.
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00:17:03,259 --> 00:17:06,721
What we were looking for were ancient races.
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00:17:06,812 --> 00:17:14,352
Cattle that are so close to their ancestors,
Aurochs, as possible.
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00:17:15,034 --> 00:17:19,126
Instead of wild boar
we bought Tamworth pigs.
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So, yes.
Away with you.
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00:17:30,049 --> 00:17:34,103
For all the animals it was the beginning of a journey.
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From tame to wild.
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00:17:39,983 --> 00:17:45,213
I remember the pigs best.
They seemed so incredibly docile.
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00:17:53,734 --> 00:17:56,040
Is it possible for these animals,
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00:17:56,065 --> 00:18:00,069
these huge, domesticated animals,
to survive out there?
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The first winter was uncertain.
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Could the animals really survive out there?
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00:18:20,623 --> 00:18:22,898
The whole long winter?
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00:18:22,923 --> 00:18:26,218
Farm animals are usually fed during the winter.
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But ours had to
to take care of themselves.
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After all the doubts and worries
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00:19:02,202 --> 00:19:05,805
it was pure joy
when you met a sow
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00:19:05,830 --> 00:19:11,609
who walked along an old hedge with
a series of cultists behind him.
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00:19:38,796 --> 00:19:42,008
As the day drew to a close
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00:19:42,177 --> 00:19:48,250
she gently led them in
protection during a sale.
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00:19:49,685 --> 00:19:57,414
Among the leaves on the ground
she built a little nest for them.
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00:19:58,679 --> 00:20:02,562
She had reverted to
its natural behavior.
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00:20:15,256 --> 00:20:17,694
They found a small pit
where they could keep warm,
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00:20:17,719 --> 00:20:22,437
because they are quite small
and thin when born.
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00:20:32,085 --> 00:20:34,170
But it didn't stop there.
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She returned with leaves and moss,
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00:20:38,182 --> 00:20:42,728
as if to bury them underneath
a blanket for the night.
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00:21:19,017 --> 00:21:22,382
At this time of year, the pregnant cows migrate
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00:21:22,407 --> 00:21:24,925
around looking for a secluded spot,
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00:21:24,950 --> 00:21:27,540
where they can calve.
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00:21:40,044 --> 00:21:42,504
After generations in captivity are born
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00:21:42,596 --> 00:21:47,142
this calf a step
closer to the wilderness.
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00:22:00,782 --> 00:22:06,493
After giving birth, she needs iron,
so she immediately starts eating nettles.
195
00:22:07,373 --> 00:22:10,626
She doesn't eat them
any other time of the year.
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00:22:15,313 --> 00:22:21,402
And when it's time to introduce
the cow her calf for the rest of the herd.
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00:22:21,572 --> 00:22:27,077
It is a moving experience to see all the cows,
which begins with the matriarch
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00:22:27,193 --> 00:22:30,279
welcomes the calf and it becomes
part of the tribe.
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00:22:30,369 --> 00:22:33,219
Part of their collective consciousness.
200
00:22:41,896 --> 00:22:49,618
One realizes that these instincts are completely
inaccessible in a farm environment.
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00:23:03,220 --> 00:23:06,348
Charlie doesn't like to
talk about the past.
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00:23:06,471 --> 00:23:11,353
He thinks we create
a new landscape for the future.
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00:23:11,562 --> 00:23:15,608
But we definitely try
awaken ancient relationships.
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00:23:17,457 --> 00:23:21,726
Our animals can look like domesticated horses
and shaggy old cows,
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00:23:21,751 --> 00:23:27,348
but from the very beginning the animals began
become something completely different.
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00:23:35,669 --> 00:23:39,525
But there were some challenges
on this trip,
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00:23:39,584 --> 00:23:42,170
from the tame to the wild.
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00:23:42,284 --> 00:23:45,371
Not least with the pretty one
Duncan complicated.
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00:23:46,777 --> 00:23:49,529
Duncan wasn't afraid of humans at all,
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00:23:49,554 --> 00:23:54,411
and he put a pile outside the door
to the property's office.
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00:23:54,634 --> 00:23:57,678
They do this to
mark their territory.
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00:23:57,785 --> 00:24:02,289
One day he broke into the office
and went straight to the reception.
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00:24:02,366 --> 00:24:06,028
He scared the life out of our secretary.
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00:24:07,157 --> 00:24:08,742
Out with you now.
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00:24:08,809 --> 00:24:12,688
He was problematic because he
didn't know if he was wild or tame.
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00:24:12,713 --> 00:24:15,551
He found himself in a strange borderland.
217
00:24:17,406 --> 00:24:20,076
It wasn't just Duncan
which was too tame.
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00:24:20,101 --> 00:24:22,520
At that time we were collecting money
219
00:24:22,545 --> 00:24:26,871
through markets and polo tournaments.
220
00:24:28,391 --> 00:24:34,379
And of course the pigs started
associate the tents with food.
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00:24:35,138 --> 00:24:40,746
They went straight into the tent and started
mingle with the guests.
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00:24:41,848 --> 00:24:44,723
And eat canapés.
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00:24:55,927 --> 00:24:58,208
They broke into a catering tent.
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00:24:58,233 --> 00:25:03,021
And ate boxes of
Mr. Whippy's ice cream powder.
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00:25:08,593 --> 00:25:10,771
And then Duncan appeared.
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00:25:18,100 --> 00:25:23,731
It looks like a runner.
A wild Exmoor horse.
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00:25:23,814 --> 00:25:25,315
Keep calm.
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00:25:25,340 --> 00:25:30,345
Among these incredibly valuable polo horses
Duncan ran in
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00:25:30,370 --> 00:25:32,414
ready to fight.
230
00:25:32,504 --> 00:25:35,615
We have a bit of a problem here,
but the game goes on.
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00:25:35,701 --> 00:25:37,794
Just keep calm.
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00:25:38,708 --> 00:25:41,693
It was always total chaos.
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00:25:42,291 --> 00:25:45,396
Oh, no, he's heading for the tents!
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00:25:45,489 --> 00:25:51,036
He comes out and overturns the table!
The lemon cake is ruined!
235
00:25:51,091 --> 00:25:55,247
He turns back across the field.
He is definitely not a polo horse.
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00:26:00,356 --> 00:26:04,349
He is on his way to the goal.
Polo horses everywhere.
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00:26:04,414 --> 00:26:07,918
It's fun like this afterwards,
but that kind of behavior
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00:26:07,943 --> 00:26:11,155
could easily have turned the public against us.
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00:26:11,371 --> 00:26:15,990
If that happened, we risked it
that the state would withdraw its support.
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00:26:16,695 --> 00:26:18,161
The clock was ticking.
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00:26:18,327 --> 00:26:22,998
Should this motley collection
animals reshape the landscape,
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00:26:23,023 --> 00:26:27,068
in the way that people like Ted
and Frans claimed they would?
243
00:26:31,707 --> 00:26:36,879
The first real signs of how animals would
be able to change this small part of England
244
00:26:36,904 --> 00:26:38,405
came from the pigs.
245
00:26:40,659 --> 00:26:45,914
The first thing they did was bake up
the edges along the driveways,
246
00:26:46,021 --> 00:26:49,090
those strips on both sides of the driveway.
247
00:26:49,115 --> 00:26:53,253
The reason was that these areas
had never been plowed.
248
00:26:53,387 --> 00:26:58,726
It was the only part of the area
which we had never plowed or sprayed.
249
00:26:58,751 --> 00:27:04,703
Which were still full of life, with worms,
insects and roots that they sought.
250
00:27:08,987 --> 00:27:12,365
It was as if they were showing us
what we had done to the earth.
251
00:27:12,471 --> 00:27:17,307
The only places we hadn't farmed
were the ones around which the pigs were herded.
252
00:27:18,759 --> 00:27:22,596
Suddenly Charlie had a clear vision.
253
00:27:22,621 --> 00:27:24,618
That's what happened to the earth,
254
00:27:24,643 --> 00:27:28,355
which would show us about
the project would succeed.
255
00:27:28,380 --> 00:27:31,008
If life actually returned.
256
00:27:33,149 --> 00:27:36,985
There is a circular decoration
in front of the main door.
257
00:27:37,010 --> 00:27:39,658
With a stone statue of a dog in the middle.
258
00:27:39,683 --> 00:27:41,932
Of course we never plowed there.
259
00:27:42,007 --> 00:27:44,926
They went straight for it.
260
00:27:46,605 --> 00:27:50,025
But pigs that dug in
the lawn was a bit too much.
261
00:27:50,050 --> 00:27:54,853
Not even Charlie, no matter how much
though he wanted to let go,
262
00:27:54,878 --> 00:27:57,745
then he couldn't let go
that grass circle.
263
00:28:01,263 --> 00:28:04,808
He has a whip that
hanging from the umbrellas.
264
00:28:05,901 --> 00:28:09,816
It is very difficult to get a giant one
suck to turn
265
00:28:09,841 --> 00:28:13,987
when she is determined to turn
up and down the lawn.
266
00:28:27,531 --> 00:28:31,260
You only need to do it a couple of times
because they are incredibly intelligent.
267
00:28:31,293 --> 00:28:34,504
They remember it and say
told the piglets not to go there.
268
00:28:35,422 --> 00:28:39,487
"You will not be disturbed anywhere,
except for the circle there."
269
00:28:46,700 --> 00:28:49,278
I get pissed off when the pigs
mowing up the lawn.
270
00:28:49,303 --> 00:28:50,574
They are fast.
271
00:28:50,599 --> 00:28:53,320
You have to ride a bike to
catch up with them.
272
00:28:53,345 --> 00:28:56,591
Imagine Indiana Jones on a bicycle.
273
00:28:59,125 --> 00:29:02,169
Okay, another red.
274
00:29:05,261 --> 00:29:07,722
Oops, one flew away.
275
00:29:09,623 --> 00:29:12,083
The strangest things happen sometimes.
276
00:29:12,143 --> 00:29:17,145
There was a dead owl in the freezer
next to the ice cream for six months.
277
00:29:17,427 --> 00:29:20,583
There is a lot of junk in the fridge.
278
00:29:21,460 --> 00:29:25,155
I have stored many
various things in the freezer.
279
00:29:25,180 --> 00:29:28,100
We tried to create a database.
280
00:29:28,183 --> 00:29:32,646
A beginning of the story
and our starting point.
281
00:29:32,671 --> 00:29:34,380
A basis for the investigation.
282
00:29:34,405 --> 00:29:40,849
In the first stage we saw
no sign of anything.
283
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,157
And it was an eye opener.
284
00:29:44,182 --> 00:29:47,352
What have we done before?
285
00:29:47,377 --> 00:29:50,778
What were we thinking?
286
00:29:50,872 --> 00:29:54,145
A kind of guilt.
287
00:29:55,903 --> 00:29:59,031
We share that mindset now.
288
00:29:59,060 --> 00:30:04,941
We are responsible for a period
of massive destruction.
289
00:30:05,095 --> 00:30:08,223
We need to rethink.
290
00:30:08,283 --> 00:30:12,412
And we do.
We have started to rethink.
291
00:30:14,996 --> 00:30:18,778
The farmer I married
had become an insect collector.
292
00:30:19,388 --> 00:30:24,768
He crawled around and went through every single cow
to see what he could find.
293
00:30:25,130 --> 00:30:31,841
It was important, because before we found nothing
in the fields when we were farmers.
294
00:30:31,953 --> 00:30:38,325
We now began to regard them as
new universe of life.
295
00:30:43,534 --> 00:30:46,954
Even in the early stages
of what happened
296
00:30:47,054 --> 00:30:52,044
we began to see life return to
what had been farmland.
297
00:30:56,072 --> 00:31:00,386
You can feel the relief of the earth
when it starts to bubble up
298
00:31:00,411 --> 00:31:03,519
and it's all these little creatures
who do it.
299
00:31:03,544 --> 00:31:07,157
And the life that returns
to that dead earth
300
00:31:07,182 --> 00:31:11,583
after a hundred years of ploughing
is amazing to observe.
301
00:31:30,923 --> 00:31:34,718
We did something like
was completely without purpose.
302
00:31:34,935 --> 00:31:38,647
We had to trust
us completely on nature
303
00:31:38,672 --> 00:31:41,095
and see what would happen.
304
00:31:43,818 --> 00:31:51,067
It was a challenge after 200 years of
so-called progress in agriculture.
305
00:31:52,290 --> 00:31:58,849
And that required careful communication
with our farming neighbors.
306
00:32:04,005 --> 00:32:04,881
Hello to you.
307
00:32:04,965 --> 00:32:11,012
Charlie stood up and spoke
about free-roaming animals
308
00:32:11,077 --> 00:32:13,997
and the re-creation of the earth.
309
00:32:14,188 --> 00:32:17,441
And he explained that
agricultural support must change.
310
00:32:17,602 --> 00:32:19,563
He showed pictures of Knepp
311
00:32:19,646 --> 00:32:25,360
and pictures of what we expected
out of Knepp will look like in ten years.
312
00:32:25,444 --> 00:32:29,322
We had expected
a great degree of enthusiasm.
313
00:32:29,406 --> 00:32:31,366
Please come and talk to us.
Thank you.
314
00:32:31,391 --> 00:32:33,958
But there was icy silence.
315
00:32:43,054 --> 00:32:45,682
But then some of them began to speak.
316
00:32:45,734 --> 00:32:48,525
- It doesn't put food on the table.
- Therein lies the problem.
317
00:32:48,550 --> 00:32:51,704
They said it was a mole.
318
00:32:51,729 --> 00:32:53,147
It's pure madness.
319
00:32:53,172 --> 00:32:55,216
That we were irresponsible.
320
00:32:55,432 --> 00:32:58,059
Shall we have wild boar as
running around on the main road?
321
00:32:58,143 --> 00:33:02,189
That there would be weeds everywhere,
and worst of all, cruciferous vegetables.
322
00:33:02,303 --> 00:33:06,130
St. John's wort will kill cattle and
horses. There is no doubt about it.
323
00:33:06,278 --> 00:33:09,196
This must be handled by the landowner.
324
00:33:09,279 --> 00:33:15,606
The anger they felt when they
saw our fields covered with them.
325
00:33:16,491 --> 00:33:21,614
This trip would not
be as easy as we thought.
326
00:33:22,469 --> 00:33:26,137
We were trying to raise two small children.
327
00:33:26,162 --> 00:33:28,581
We tried to build our lives.
328
00:33:28,819 --> 00:33:33,637
We felt we were
under great pressure.
329
00:33:34,217 --> 00:33:38,840
I have felt a bit like an outsider
for large parts of my life.
330
00:33:38,865 --> 00:33:43,954
I'm adopted, and then you can
probably experiencing a kind of distance.
331
00:33:44,045 --> 00:33:47,340
And a vague feeling that
do not belong,
332
00:33:47,365 --> 00:33:53,496
or that one is not born
the conventional way.
333
00:33:54,558 --> 00:33:59,411
I think it might be helpful
when you think everything is going wrong.
334
00:34:00,398 --> 00:34:04,275
My father always said that I
looked for the hole in the fence.
335
00:34:04,356 --> 00:34:08,733
In a way, that's what we do.
We are looking for a way out of a mindset
336
00:34:08,758 --> 00:34:11,678
which we have relied on for so long.
337
00:34:12,271 --> 00:34:17,735
We needed some signs of
that we were not on the wrong path.
338
00:34:17,912 --> 00:34:22,792
We needed to see that something actually
would come out of all this.
339
00:34:46,538 --> 00:34:49,588
It was at that time that
we went out at sunrise
340
00:34:49,671 --> 00:34:55,552
and were suddenly completely overwhelmed
of birdsong.
341
00:35:15,592 --> 00:35:18,490
It brought us back to our childhood.
342
00:35:24,180 --> 00:35:27,350
The nightingale quickly returned
in plural,
343
00:35:27,503 --> 00:35:30,772
they were now more than
ever before.
344
00:35:31,701 --> 00:35:35,803
But then something quite amazing happened.
345
00:35:40,031 --> 00:35:41,991
The wonderful coo-coo.
346
00:35:44,292 --> 00:35:47,295
We had never had turtle doves
here before.
347
00:35:47,378 --> 00:35:52,828
That one of the country's most
endangered bird species found us…
348
00:35:54,228 --> 00:35:58,340
This is Chaucer, Shakespeare.
It is what we sing about at Christmas.
349
00:35:58,365 --> 00:36:01,813
"My true love gave me..."
We are close to losing the species.
350
00:36:01,838 --> 00:36:04,732
They are probably the bird species
which are on the verge of extinction.
351
00:36:06,338 --> 00:36:09,634
Suddenly there is one
location in southern England,
352
00:36:09,659 --> 00:36:13,579
where the number of turtle doves
actually increasing.
353
00:36:13,674 --> 00:36:16,313
It goes completely against the trend.
354
00:36:21,246 --> 00:36:23,832
No one expected it.
355
00:36:24,936 --> 00:36:29,358
Something absolutely extraordinary
happening here.
356
00:36:34,767 --> 00:36:41,148
This ugly, prickly, unloved
land began to become a sanctuary.
357
00:36:46,254 --> 00:36:49,674
And other rare ones
animals found their way to us.
358
00:36:49,757 --> 00:36:53,928
Small animals that many of us have forgotten.
359
00:36:55,371 --> 00:36:59,705
And I just love the dwarf mouse.
360
00:37:00,049 --> 00:37:05,220
We had not observed this
mammals before the start of the project.
361
00:37:05,245 --> 00:37:09,708
They somehow found us.
I like to imagine that they
362
00:37:09,826 --> 00:37:16,596
somehow instinctively seeks us out,
now that we have an area for them.
363
00:37:17,958 --> 00:37:23,296
One can imagine them in
the hostile terrain out there.
364
00:37:23,684 --> 00:37:29,236
Out on an adventure.
Looking for a better place.
365
00:38:06,571 --> 00:38:10,203
They enter through viaducts,
under the roads.
366
00:38:24,250 --> 00:38:29,171
And ends up in places like this,
with perfect opportunities to build nests.
367
00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:32,075
And they build them
most beautiful little nests.
368
00:38:32,100 --> 00:38:33,894
Where they balance everything.
369
00:38:34,003 --> 00:38:39,050
They weave them around long stalks,
370
00:38:39,111 --> 00:38:42,365
and then they feed them
with thistle down.
371
00:38:42,518 --> 00:38:48,315
So they look incredibly cozy,
beautiful and luxurious nests.
372
00:38:54,266 --> 00:38:58,646
Every day we wonder what can find.
373
00:38:58,792 --> 00:39:02,212
What animals are coming to find us?
374
00:39:06,594 --> 00:39:10,281
We never know what a small collaboration
that will make a difference.
375
00:39:10,464 --> 00:39:15,281
A butterfly effect that can
initiate a conversion.
376
00:39:38,759 --> 00:39:44,681
No matter where you look, rediscover
animal and plant connections,
377
00:39:44,804 --> 00:39:48,947
which have long since been lost
in the modern landscape.
378
00:39:52,126 --> 00:39:57,172
Where a cow leaves a footprint,
can that imprint in the soil
379
00:39:57,288 --> 00:40:01,610
become a whole universe
of fantastic creatures.
380
00:40:02,319 --> 00:40:06,417
A place where you can find
water beetles and snails,
381
00:40:06,442 --> 00:40:10,970
and we even found a little fly that
never seen before in the UK.
382
00:40:12,744 --> 00:40:17,540
All these creatures become food for
frogs, bats and birds.
383
00:40:17,565 --> 00:40:23,028
All thanks to the cows that
wandering around the landscape.
384
00:40:46,564 --> 00:40:50,970
Even oaks have complex relationships.
385
00:40:51,264 --> 00:40:55,351
They need open spaces to grow.
386
00:40:55,376 --> 00:41:00,381
And those are the big ruminants
that create these open areas.
387
00:41:00,995 --> 00:41:04,204
With a little help from the nutcrackers.
388
00:41:15,757 --> 00:41:19,340
This is how oaks grow in the wild.
389
00:41:24,602 --> 00:41:27,567
Their life begins under thorny bushes.
390
00:41:27,652 --> 00:41:32,407
In this way the young tree is
protected from gnawing mouths.
391
00:41:33,332 --> 00:41:37,160
Until it is strong enough
to take care of himself.
392
00:41:47,135 --> 00:41:51,222
Just like in Oostvaardersplassen,
came the changes in the landscape
393
00:41:51,259 --> 00:41:53,595
through the influence of animals.
394
00:41:55,858 --> 00:42:00,158
In the Netherlands, the project eventually became
regulated due to public concern.
395
00:42:00,241 --> 00:42:04,392
People thought that natural
deaths caused unnecessary suffering.
396
00:42:05,734 --> 00:42:08,571
Here at Knepp, we take care of the animals.
397
00:42:10,916 --> 00:42:13,955
But we have our own problems
with public opinion.
398
00:42:17,831 --> 00:42:22,753
In a letter to Charlie it was said that his
grandparents would turn in their graves,
399
00:42:22,778 --> 00:42:25,244
they would be horrified
about what he had done.
400
00:42:25,626 --> 00:42:27,712
That we were unpatriotic.
401
00:42:29,180 --> 00:42:34,603
One woman simply said that
we did hurt her sanity.
402
00:42:36,155 --> 00:42:40,619
It was perceived as an insult
of those who saw the British countryside
403
00:42:40,644 --> 00:42:47,651
as something controlled, managed and
as something with its own ideal of beauty.
404
00:42:47,752 --> 00:42:51,423
And that we transformed something
beautiful to something very ugly.
405
00:42:56,439 --> 00:43:00,298
That got us close to breaking point
from time to time.
406
00:43:00,745 --> 00:43:03,039
It became personal and painful.
407
00:43:03,064 --> 00:43:06,401
And that caused the feeling of
that you are no longer welcome.
408
00:43:06,462 --> 00:43:10,884
You stand outside society.
You feel ostracized.
409
00:43:15,491 --> 00:43:19,439
We were under siege
and criticism grew.
410
00:43:19,597 --> 00:43:22,306
Large areas of land
has been returned to nature.
411
00:43:22,408 --> 00:43:25,228
But one can question
how wild it is.
412
00:43:25,269 --> 00:43:26,345
TV broadcasts.
413
00:43:26,370 --> 00:43:31,337
Last summer it was reported on
fields invaded by cruciferous grass.
414
00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:32,944
Angry letters to ministers.
415
00:43:33,027 --> 00:43:35,404
This horrible weed.
It makes me sick.
416
00:43:35,488 --> 00:43:36,656
Radio features.
417
00:43:36,739 --> 00:43:40,118
They can do this because
they are so incredibly privileged.
418
00:43:42,965 --> 00:43:48,167
We could have thrown in the towel
at any time and given up.
419
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:51,096
But no, we stood firm.
420
00:43:52,014 --> 00:43:57,337
For during the whole time
we saw how life returned.
421
00:44:01,717 --> 00:44:05,391
I have spent my whole life
by looking at insects,
422
00:44:05,416 --> 00:44:08,044
so I could see something was happening.
423
00:44:18,533 --> 00:44:22,096
The worms that migrated
hither and moved in the earth,
424
00:44:22,324 --> 00:44:25,869
something researchers believed
would take a hundred years,
425
00:44:25,992 --> 00:44:27,994
happened in ten years.
426
00:44:30,070 --> 00:44:33,869
Now we have 19 different ones
species of earthworms.
427
00:44:39,963 --> 00:44:44,173
All material that is drawn down below the surface,
down into the little holes,
428
00:44:44,198 --> 00:44:48,448
creates soil.
They are the building blocks of life.
429
00:45:01,407 --> 00:45:06,120
All the millions of worms that bring back life
and organic matter
430
00:45:06,145 --> 00:45:08,539
and provides nourishment to all small insects.
431
00:45:08,564 --> 00:45:12,305
And gives Ted's network off
Mycorrhizal fungus its nutrition.
432
00:45:12,422 --> 00:45:14,508
It is astonishing.
433
00:45:19,084 --> 00:45:21,461
The renewal of the earth.
434
00:45:21,497 --> 00:45:24,696
That is what the transformation
by Knepp is about.
435
00:45:41,989 --> 00:45:44,659
Encouraged by the changes
in the soil
436
00:45:44,684 --> 00:45:50,328
Charlie took his obsession off
landscape change to a new level.
437
00:45:57,755 --> 00:46:00,925
He would now wild the river Adur,
438
00:46:00,950 --> 00:46:06,405
which flows over our lands and which
had been forced into a straight channel.
439
00:46:06,430 --> 00:46:11,185
He wanted to restore the beautiful curves,
440
00:46:11,210 --> 00:46:16,805
which could still be seen as shadows
of the past across the plain.
441
00:46:17,898 --> 00:46:22,152
But of course it required a huge
amount of equipment and investments.
442
00:46:22,227 --> 00:46:24,897
Ten years of studies about
environmental impact in collaboration
443
00:46:24,922 --> 00:46:29,219
with the environmental authorities.
It was a huge project.
444
00:46:31,527 --> 00:46:33,946
Then Derek Gow appeared.
445
00:46:34,870 --> 00:46:39,416
We showed Derek around,
and he rolled his eyes and said:
446
00:46:39,660 --> 00:46:43,122
A couple of beavers would have done the trick
it's free for six months.
447
00:46:43,147 --> 00:46:44,940
And they would have done a better job.
448
00:46:46,337 --> 00:46:49,406
I distinctly remember saying to Charlie,
449
00:46:49,431 --> 00:46:53,703
that beavers have done this in
hundreds of thousands or millions of years.
450
00:46:53,728 --> 00:46:59,086
They are much better at restoring
wetlands than we will ever be.
451
00:46:59,885 --> 00:47:05,724
Derek has created a haven for
European beaver on his farm in Devon.
452
00:47:05,969 --> 00:47:09,514
He is Britain's
leading beaver specialist.
453
00:47:10,548 --> 00:47:13,885
He invited us so that
we could meet the beavers
454
00:47:13,910 --> 00:47:17,592
as he hoped to be able to
set free one day.
455
00:47:17,617 --> 00:47:22,423
You can see where the water runs out,
but not many visible branches.
456
00:47:22,448 --> 00:47:29,532
When they build the foundation you can clearly see
that they are made of branches, trees and stones.
457
00:47:29,733 --> 00:47:33,610
This creature is coming
to change the landscape.
458
00:47:33,768 --> 00:47:37,521
You can see that the water
as the beaver dams up,
459
00:47:37,546 --> 00:47:41,367
cut the forest,
which opens up as a response.
460
00:47:45,688 --> 00:47:51,986
And everything turns into one big,
wet, hanging garden.
461
00:47:52,124 --> 00:47:53,834
Full of life.
462
00:47:54,773 --> 00:47:58,797
A landscape that is sick,
they make it feel better.
463
00:47:59,377 --> 00:48:02,046
In these disastrous relationships,
464
00:48:02,071 --> 00:48:04,789
the water flows
straight from the fields,
465
00:48:04,865 --> 00:48:07,651
down the main channel,
down to the city and "dumpf!".
466
00:48:07,676 --> 00:48:12,723
Flooding schools and family homes
467
00:48:12,748 --> 00:48:17,085
cars overturn and people
standing and crying in the drain.
468
00:48:17,158 --> 00:48:19,714
It will soon be over.
469
00:48:22,470 --> 00:48:27,641
When Charlie met Derek
did we know that one of the most important
470
00:48:27,666 --> 00:48:30,300
the things that we had to
to bring back here every beaver.
471
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:33,019
They have been missing here for over 400 years.
472
00:48:35,125 --> 00:48:37,920
If we were to release beavers,
473
00:48:38,152 --> 00:48:40,792
we had to get an approval
from the authorities.
474
00:48:40,949 --> 00:48:43,769
It's a completely ridiculous situation.
475
00:48:44,054 --> 00:48:47,870
One permit to hold two
beavers in an enclosure.
476
00:48:48,228 --> 00:48:52,019
An animal that can prevent
floods, clean the water,
477
00:48:52,073 --> 00:48:54,765
restore biodiversity.
What is the problem?
478
00:48:54,790 --> 00:48:59,127
They are not radioactive.
It's not an allosaurus
479
00:48:59,152 --> 00:49:01,914
which we release to nature.
480
00:49:01,939 --> 00:49:05,318
Overturning buses in central London.
481
00:49:05,343 --> 00:49:08,805
It's just an animal that
does considerably good things.
482
00:49:14,130 --> 00:49:18,038
There were already a number of beavers
in England,
483
00:49:18,063 --> 00:49:20,749
but they had been released illegally
484
00:49:20,774 --> 00:49:24,695
of "The Guerrilla for the Restoration of Nature".
485
00:49:27,255 --> 00:49:33,172
No matter how much we liked
their approach
486
00:49:33,196 --> 00:49:35,899
Wasn't there anything we could do.
487
00:49:36,432 --> 00:49:40,811
I'm not going to talk about guerrillas
operations. It doesn't work.
488
00:49:40,895 --> 00:49:43,772
- What is it about?
- My mouth is closed.
489
00:49:44,074 --> 00:49:48,036
There are many ways to
bring beaver into the landscape.
490
00:49:48,667 --> 00:49:51,670
We do it with a license.
491
00:49:54,306 --> 00:49:58,688
We had to wait
eight years on that permit.
492
00:50:00,868 --> 00:50:04,663
We may not have beavers
at Hammer Pond yet,
493
00:50:04,793 --> 00:50:08,129
but the pigs showed us something completely new.
494
00:50:10,633 --> 00:50:13,386
A behavior that we never expected.
495
00:50:17,399 --> 00:50:20,383
They swim or rather dive.
496
00:50:23,495 --> 00:50:26,581
They can hold their breath.
It is quite unique.
497
00:50:26,626 --> 00:50:31,484
I don't think cows can, though
pigs can hold their breath underwater.
498
00:50:34,852 --> 00:50:38,228
And they come up with huge ones
cockles in the mouth.
499
00:51:05,360 --> 00:51:12,044
With each passing year we saw how a species
could set off a chain reaction,
500
00:51:12,069 --> 00:51:15,447
like we could never have imagined.
501
00:51:24,015 --> 00:51:28,645
Like the seeds from the willow trees
which flies in the air in May.
502
00:51:28,705 --> 00:51:34,421
The seeds must find moist, naked
soil. Otherwise they will die.
503
00:51:34,768 --> 00:51:40,686
It is the pigs that create the open ones
the areas where the willow seeds can grow.
504
00:51:49,648 --> 00:51:54,062
So now we have many willow trees
where the pigs have farted.
505
00:51:55,615 --> 00:51:59,703
And willow is food for the larvae
of the little iris butterfly.
506
00:51:59,728 --> 00:52:01,813
One of our rarest butterflies.
507
00:52:02,549 --> 00:52:05,677
There are now hundreds
of those around Knepp.
508
00:52:05,792 --> 00:52:09,045
We now have the largest
grouping in the country.
509
00:52:11,929 --> 00:52:17,911
So one of the rare butterflies
thrives here thanks to the pig.
510
00:52:24,399 --> 00:52:27,691
There are so many similar connections,
511
00:52:27,716 --> 00:52:32,809
which reaches out and makes
the landscape more complex.
512
00:52:33,990 --> 00:52:38,622
And there is a new complexity
also in their lives.
513
00:52:43,925 --> 00:52:51,619
You can see their personality come through,
a full spectrum of expression, interaction and interest.
514
00:52:51,644 --> 00:52:56,924
And you realize that farm animals
are a shadow of themselves
515
00:52:57,007 --> 00:53:00,302
because of that environment
where we place them.
516
00:53:03,604 --> 00:53:09,739
It arouses feelings that
see the animals express themselves.
517
00:53:20,302 --> 00:53:22,357
I remember a special moment,
518
00:53:22,382 --> 00:53:26,303
where one of the foals led the herd
to Knepp's border
519
00:53:26,328 --> 00:53:32,310
and a beautiful thoroughbred horse looked in
from the human world outside.
520
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:53,108
It's easy to get a romantic picture
of everything you see,
521
00:53:53,133 --> 00:53:58,352
but I couldn't shake the thought of
that she must have watched with longing.
522
00:53:58,377 --> 00:54:02,840
Maybe with a form of
the horse's response to jealousy.
523
00:54:08,026 --> 00:54:10,922
It wasn't just the horses
who watched.
524
00:54:11,071 --> 00:54:16,201
It felt like the whole world was watching
when a new threat to our credibility
525
00:54:16,226 --> 00:54:19,453
began to spread across the farm.
526
00:54:22,029 --> 00:54:25,408
We had unleashed a monster from Earth.
527
00:54:25,507 --> 00:54:29,602
A plant that farmers always have
feared and fought against.
528
00:54:29,688 --> 00:54:31,906
It is called milk thistle.
529
00:54:34,419 --> 00:54:37,756
Its roots spread like wildfire underground,
530
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:42,149
when it clones itself
and create huge colonies.
531
00:54:42,687 --> 00:54:45,641
Only powerful pesticides
can knock it out.
532
00:54:48,510 --> 00:54:50,985
Even in this country,
where it is original,
533
00:54:51,010 --> 00:54:55,203
are there provisions to prevent
its spread in agricultural lands.
534
00:54:56,040 --> 00:55:00,878
It was not the new landscape we
had expected us after such a long time.
535
00:55:02,109 --> 00:55:05,738
Charlie began to doubt and think,
536
00:55:05,836 --> 00:55:09,367
that maybe we should spray them
and get rid of them.
537
00:55:10,614 --> 00:55:12,797
Too much was at stake.
538
00:55:22,902 --> 00:55:26,739
We were sure that one day
an official would come
539
00:55:26,808 --> 00:55:28,768
and shut down the project.
540
00:55:43,118 --> 00:55:50,000
Amazingly, and without our knowledge,
our rescue is mobilized in North Africa.
541
00:55:53,514 --> 00:55:57,746
2009, for the first time
for over ten years,
542
00:55:57,771 --> 00:56:02,776
migrated in large numbers
thistle butterflies to Europe.
543
00:56:06,738 --> 00:56:09,700
They arrived with a bang
544
00:56:09,783 --> 00:56:13,954
and which moved across the channel
in ever-increasing numbers.
545
00:56:14,144 --> 00:56:16,832
On the morning of May 25
546
00:56:16,897 --> 00:56:20,322
tracking a radar station in New Hampshire
the migration
547
00:56:20,347 --> 00:56:24,506
with a total of eleven million butterflies
on its way to the UK.
548
00:56:42,691 --> 00:56:45,569
I don't know how they found Knepp.
549
00:56:45,618 --> 00:56:50,915
They came down from the sky outside
the front door and flew towards the thistles.
550
00:56:51,050 --> 00:56:53,550
Tens of thousands of butterflies.
551
00:56:53,785 --> 00:56:59,542
If you closed your eyes,
it sounded like a distant waterfall.
552
00:57:01,970 --> 00:57:06,120
It was fantastic.
You could feel their presence.
553
00:57:07,549 --> 00:57:10,136
They lay their eggs on the thistles.
554
00:57:10,844 --> 00:57:14,181
The caterpillar started eating the leaves.
555
00:57:15,249 --> 00:57:18,823
Soon only the stalks remained.
556
00:57:18,867 --> 00:57:21,831
They were completely torn apart.
557
00:57:23,664 --> 00:57:28,502
We were saved for the moment
of a cloud of millions of butterflies.
558
00:57:30,470 --> 00:57:35,058
People are still talking
about the fantastic year 2009.
559
00:57:35,157 --> 00:57:41,066
They did not return the next spring.
Not a single one of them.
560
00:57:49,164 --> 00:57:54,169
Finally we got a glimpse
of how nature works.
561
00:57:54,361 --> 00:57:59,700
A group of species that link together
and covers an English landscape,
562
00:57:59,744 --> 00:58:02,664
the likes of which no one has seen for hundreds of years.
563
00:58:09,387 --> 00:58:12,723
It's magical.
An unreal landscape.
564
00:58:12,948 --> 00:58:16,910
With tall, spiky, white flowers.
565
00:58:16,994 --> 00:58:20,370
And birds chirping everywhere.
566
00:58:20,637 --> 00:58:23,933
The highest concentration
of songbirds in the country.
567
00:58:33,074 --> 00:58:38,019
Paths that open up shrubbery and cross
each other like the mushroom network underneath.
568
00:58:38,595 --> 00:58:44,394
And creates a fantastic, complex,
dense and deep vegetation structure,
569
00:58:44,552 --> 00:58:47,096
which is like rocket fuel for wildlife.
570
00:58:51,738 --> 00:58:57,847
The feelings you get are one of those things
that wells up in your mind,
571
00:58:58,285 --> 00:59:00,078
transports one to the past.
572
00:59:00,103 --> 00:59:04,847
It feels as if you are there
you in a completely different place.
573
00:59:08,238 --> 00:59:11,940
Consider how a small
microcosm that Knepp is,
574
00:59:12,124 --> 00:59:16,332
how it can create something much bigger
than the sum of its parts.
575
00:59:17,671 --> 00:59:21,574
The feeling of having accomplished it.
576
00:59:22,476 --> 00:59:24,808
Just by letting go.
577
00:59:36,153 --> 00:59:41,242
The years of watching this happen,
has also changed us.
578
00:59:47,135 --> 00:59:49,628
It has made us more and more aware
579
00:59:49,653 --> 00:59:53,371
about the losses that were constantly going on
580
00:59:53,543 --> 00:59:55,336
all around us.
581
00:59:58,628 --> 01:00:02,293
Fourteen million birds
has disappeared from the sky.
582
01:00:02,477 --> 01:00:05,759
We have lost 97 percent
of our wildflower meadows.
583
01:00:05,784 --> 01:00:09,121
We have plowed up 120,000 km
wild hedgerows.
584
01:00:09,221 --> 01:00:12,023
We have lost tens of thousands
old forests.
585
01:00:12,121 --> 01:00:17,510
A quarter of all mammals in
Britain is threatened with extinction.
586
01:00:17,947 --> 01:00:21,909
We are one of the most impoverished
the countries of the world.
587
01:00:29,222 --> 01:00:34,104
Fifteen years after we first
heard our turtle doves on Knepp,
588
01:00:34,202 --> 01:00:37,289
I found a dead pigeon on the ground.
589
01:00:38,395 --> 01:00:43,942
It may have died of old age,
or from stress during migration.
That happens.
590
01:00:44,072 --> 01:00:48,143
And it coincided with one
scientific report that showed that
591
01:00:48,353 --> 01:00:52,580
many of these species
are doomed to extinction.
592
01:00:52,699 --> 01:00:58,243
Tricks can never stop
the extinction of turtle doves
593
01:00:58,268 --> 01:01:00,354
on your own in the UK.
594
01:01:07,471 --> 01:01:10,956
It emphasized how small the project is.
595
01:01:15,153 --> 01:01:18,233
Trick is a bubble,
a drop in the ocean
596
01:01:18,258 --> 01:01:24,690
in relation to the enormous transformation
that this planet needs.
597
01:01:32,996 --> 01:01:36,625
The experiment showed us solutions.
598
01:01:36,723 --> 01:01:40,543
How to tie together
a wild landscape.
599
01:01:42,076 --> 01:01:47,582
But after fifteen years in the project, ours had
message that the recovery has not taken off.
600
01:01:48,853 --> 01:01:52,754
It must reach beyond these limits.
601
01:01:52,973 --> 01:01:55,503
Beyond Knepp's fortress.
602
01:01:55,587 --> 01:01:58,381
It has to reach other people.
603
01:02:02,080 --> 01:02:05,777
But a new animal would come
profile us in a way
604
01:02:05,802 --> 01:02:09,681
like no cow or pig
ever been able to do.
605
01:02:12,064 --> 01:02:16,316
This new chapter on Knepp
would in a way
606
01:02:16,441 --> 01:02:19,110
become the most important of all.
607
01:02:19,778 --> 01:02:21,321
So, yes.
608
01:02:24,363 --> 01:02:26,073
Head first.
609
01:02:29,788 --> 01:02:30,830
Hello.
610
01:02:32,566 --> 01:02:35,268
Sixteen years after the start of the project
611
01:02:35,293 --> 01:02:37,918
did we introduce an animal,
612
01:02:37,990 --> 01:02:41,077
that have not been reported to reproduce
in Great Britain
613
01:02:41,223 --> 01:02:43,225
since 1416.
614
01:02:45,822 --> 01:02:47,762
It feels like magic.
615
01:02:47,787 --> 01:02:51,208
The thing about storks
comes with children in its beak.
616
01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:55,576
They still symbolize luck,
rebirth and fresh start.
617
01:02:58,181 --> 01:03:02,852
It was such a beautiful moment
when the birds take off from the enclosure.
618
01:03:08,480 --> 01:03:15,098
They spread their wings and immediately
they circled up there.
619
01:03:15,125 --> 01:03:18,295
And looked down upon the new world.
620
01:03:27,220 --> 01:03:29,723
The big question for us was:
621
01:03:29,861 --> 01:03:32,781
Can our birds build nests
622
01:03:32,895 --> 01:03:36,524
when no storks have been born here
in hundreds of years.
623
01:03:40,988 --> 01:03:43,545
As they collected branches I just thought:
624
01:03:43,570 --> 01:03:46,823
Do they even know how to build a nest?
625
01:04:10,469 --> 01:04:13,391
Later they started one
even more odd process,
626
01:04:13,475 --> 01:04:18,484
when they try to mate on an apparently
uncomfortable bed of branches.
627
01:04:28,471 --> 01:04:30,556
And the crowning glory was
628
01:04:30,586 --> 01:04:35,189
that one early morning I heard
beak sound from the chimney.
629
01:04:38,333 --> 01:04:42,003
I never thought that they
would be so confident
630
01:04:42,125 --> 01:04:45,586
that they would dare to build
a nest on our roof.
631
01:04:52,586 --> 01:04:57,470
Now we have to wait and see
if any chicks hatch.
632
01:04:57,519 --> 01:04:59,829
Which will be
the first wild storks
633
01:04:59,900 --> 01:05:03,181
who were born in Britain in 600 years.
634
01:05:07,417 --> 01:05:11,368
And after waiting
on permission for ten years
635
01:05:11,585 --> 01:05:14,338
we finally got our beavers.
636
01:05:31,725 --> 01:05:34,478
An animal that has become extinct in Britain,
637
01:05:34,568 --> 01:05:39,239
which we have eradicated by hunting,
had returned to British soil.
638
01:05:39,394 --> 01:05:41,998
And they were there completely legally.
639
01:05:44,274 --> 01:05:46,099
It was so exciting.
640
01:05:57,252 --> 01:06:00,380
Beavers are amazing engineers.
641
01:06:00,659 --> 01:06:06,415
They create complex watercourses that absorb
storms and prevent floods.
642
01:06:06,546 --> 01:06:09,924
It's amazing how an animal acts
643
01:06:09,949 --> 01:06:14,323
not only can heal the earth but
also change people's lives
644
01:06:14,348 --> 01:06:16,392
far beyond Knepp's borders.
645
01:06:36,992 --> 01:06:41,538
Amazingly, now we have two stork children.
646
01:06:41,670 --> 01:06:45,882
And they are ready for their first flight.
647
01:06:50,694 --> 01:06:55,235
Inspired by this
fantastic story
648
01:06:55,883 --> 01:06:58,164
the people come.
649
01:07:08,965 --> 01:07:12,385
It has attracted some public interest.
650
01:07:12,570 --> 01:07:17,158
So people now know what has been lost
651
01:07:17,183 --> 01:07:19,730
in other parts of the country.
652
01:07:22,288 --> 01:07:24,040
I found a butterfly!
653
01:07:42,110 --> 01:07:44,445
A summer evening in June
654
01:07:45,454 --> 01:07:50,459
Hatched the first great king
in Britain in 600 years.
655
01:07:51,397 --> 01:07:54,196
It left the nest.
656
01:07:54,821 --> 01:07:57,115
And just flew.
657
01:08:12,766 --> 01:08:17,859
Now I have a big pile of
branches on top of the chimney.
658
01:08:18,089 --> 01:08:20,781
An excuse to get Charlie to climb up there.
659
01:08:20,840 --> 01:08:24,511
Is it on all three chimneys
or just two?
660
01:08:24,936 --> 01:08:29,398
He doesn't seem to be listening.
It is not unusual.
661
01:08:31,941 --> 01:08:34,027
- Charlie.
- Yes..?
662
01:08:34,604 --> 01:08:38,203
- How does it look up there?
- Gray ragwort grows up here.
663
01:08:38,281 --> 01:08:39,672
No...
664
01:08:39,892 --> 01:08:43,586
It can feel like the end of spring
story, but of course,
665
01:08:43,690 --> 01:08:45,718
Charlie has new ambitions.
666
01:08:45,773 --> 01:08:49,914
Dreaming of a future
far beyond Knepp's borders.
667
01:08:50,674 --> 01:08:52,759
From here I can see
668
01:08:53,004 --> 01:08:58,531
the road through the Downs to the River Adur.
669
01:08:58,983 --> 01:09:01,937
Cattle, pigs and deer
670
01:09:02,055 --> 01:09:06,168
and the horses go towards the sea.
671
01:09:09,295 --> 01:09:14,774
Consider how corridors can
shaped like veins in a body
672
01:09:14,901 --> 01:09:17,403
throughout the UK.
673
01:09:17,499 --> 01:09:19,793
And change the landscape.
674
01:09:19,899 --> 01:09:24,070
Throughout our country,
our world, our planet.
675
01:09:26,923 --> 01:09:31,677
There is something magical about it
this enormous transformation
676
01:09:31,854 --> 01:09:37,319
on this piece of depleted land.
And most of our planet is depleted.
677
01:09:37,808 --> 01:09:41,613
It is amazing to imagine
themselves that these large herbivores
678
01:09:41,688 --> 01:09:48,528
as they wander around and recreate
the landscape where they walk.
679
01:10:17,361 --> 01:10:22,103
It is possible that our pigs will come
to reach all the way down to the beach.
680
01:10:22,176 --> 01:10:25,388
Where they root in seaweed
and brings nutrients
681
01:10:25,471 --> 01:10:29,392
from the coastal areas throughout
the way up to the mountains.
682
01:10:35,942 --> 01:10:39,298
It felt lonely for so long.
683
01:10:43,038 --> 01:10:47,751
In one of our darkest moments sent
a friend this clip
684
01:10:47,776 --> 01:10:52,213
on a man performing a crazy dance.
685
01:10:52,553 --> 01:10:56,275
And everyone sitting around
him thinks he's crazy.
686
01:10:58,576 --> 01:11:02,955
But soon others will start
brave people dance.
687
01:11:10,344 --> 01:11:13,176
And then everyone starts joining.
688
01:11:19,846 --> 01:11:22,439
And suddenly they have formed a movement.
689
01:11:23,674 --> 01:11:28,054
And the few that still are
sitting suddenly seems strange.
690
01:11:28,177 --> 01:11:30,028
They do not participate.
691
01:11:31,699 --> 01:11:34,073
We are no longer them
the lonely lunatics,
692
01:11:34,098 --> 01:11:39,090
who dance like crazy to
attract attention.
693
01:11:40,640 --> 01:11:45,895
We are part of a great movement
by people who understand.
694
01:11:55,018 --> 01:12:00,807
If we want to save the system
on which all life depends,
695
01:12:00,873 --> 01:12:04,393
then we have to change ours
way of looking at the world.
696
01:12:04,735 --> 01:12:07,403
And Knepp has shown how we can do it.
697
01:12:14,280 --> 01:12:18,159
It shows that we can
bring life back
698
01:12:18,376 --> 01:12:20,628
to places where there were none before.
699
01:12:26,231 --> 01:12:30,987
We know how to do it. We know how
you get nature back into our lives.
700
01:12:33,950 --> 01:12:37,950
>> Translation and Sync. <<
== StAlphonzo ==