foreign [Music] Europe's Northwest [Music] unexpectedly diverse and always full of surprises multifaceted with a broad Horizon and world famous culture [Music] characterized by water a new land on what was once the seabed the Netherlands is full of life and dramatic stories all in all a great little country neither water nor land the wadden sea characterizes the coastline of the Netherlands North a sea that never rests [Music] nature reserve of superlatives [Music] a resting place for millions o
f birds and since 2009 UNESCO world heritage site [Music] it's the enormous abundance of food that attracts so much life the wadden sea is one of the world's most fertile natural landscapes hardly any other country in Europe is so strongly connected to the Sea as the Netherlands [Music] almost half of the country lies below sea level without protection it would be completely flooded by the North Sea let's take the province of flavorland with its 2500 square kilometers up until the middle of the
20th century it was no more than a seabed covered in water here the Dutch created the world's largest artificial land mass [Music] the new land National Park covers around 12 percent of the man-made region it has its core in the ostwada's place Nature Reserve in the course of time this swamp-like area would eventually become overgrown as a prevention ungulates have been implied [Music] one of Europe's largest herds of wild horses roughly 400 animals horses originally inhabited the steps the vast
Meadows are a perfect choice for them they are Comics a breed similar to the extinct ancient European horses known as tarpons [Music] after a roughly 11-month gestation The Falls are born between March and April they've rapidly integrate into the herd each man has one full and suckles it until it starts to enjoy plant-based food [Music] the horses have been helping to keep the landscape of ostrada's pleasant free of reeds bushes and trees since the early 1990s they've never seen a stable in the
vicinity of the horses a vixen has established her territory [Music] her pups are three to four weeks old they only recently left the underground burrow for the very first time to discover the outside world they are so tiny each of them fits easily into the palm of a hand it will take a few more weeks until the brown baby fur is replaced by the typical red fox color scheme of their mother a vixen gives birth to between three and seven pups they are still totally dependent on their mother and wo
uld have no chance of survival should something happen to her but the experienced female has chosen her Den very carefully far away from the wild horses in May the stallions intimidate their Rivals by stamping their Hooves emphatically shortly after the foals are born the mares are already in heat and ready to mate short fights decide the dominance within the heart [Music] when the hierarchy is clarified peace is quickly reinstated foreign vividly illustrates just how Mother Nature can also bene
fit from land reclamation if allowed to do so [Applause] sunrise over the west region Islands the most westerly of all North sea Islands [Music] thank you the dots are in their element when just mentioning the seaside year after year thousands of holiday makers head for the beaches [Music] between the wadden Sea and the North Sea five main islands are connected like a String of Pearls the one in the middle tear shelling boasts the highest and most beautiful Dunes [Music] foreign [Music] as well
as 30 kilometers of Sandy Beach [Music] the island is only sparsely populated with enough space for animals not oyster catcher observes his surroundings carefully a after all he has something very precious to protect the distinctive birds are typical of the North Sea Coast the wide Horizon and the abundance of nature are the outstanding features of the island and its roughly 80 square kilometers [Music] per shelling provides around 60 bird species with perfect breeding grounds seagulls of course
are expected everywhere along the coast less so the birds in the background spoonbills have been breeding on the island since 1962. The Feathered Bonnet is especially resplendent during the breeding season it's fairly obvious why spoonbills are called spoonbills the conspicuously colored throat pouch is also typical of the season their nests are not exactly architectural masterpieces but the birds still carefully maintain them as if they were spoonbills tend to breed in the immediate vicinity o
f Seagulls as they are known to be the perfect alarm system Marsh harriers have a wide food Spectrum which also includes other birds checks but not today while seagulls are fledged after approximately six weeks spoonbills require around nine regular flight muscle training consumes energy and only those who intensively Beg For It receive it there are about 150 breeding couples on tear shelling and all of them are in stress the parents feed their young with a regurgitated nutritious gruel the vehe
mence of the young birds is torturous so a little rest is very much deserved I'll be helped until the little ones are ready to leave the nest the parents will have to fetch food on countless occasions foreign s of the Island's natural protection held together by the roots of the Maron grasses but at times when storms persevere this protective wall is destroyed by the combined forces of wind and water [Music] often enough destructive and violent storms begin with a harmless slight breeze but also
on the islands of armyland fleeland shimonicorg or Texel a stiff breeze is accepted as an everyday occurrence by the douche but should the stiff breeze intensify we have a storm on our hands [Music] a storm that attacks the natural protective wall and sweeps away countless tons of sand causing the dunes to lose substance the worst case scenario is when the final climax follows a hurricane driven by Winds of up to 130 kilometers per hour and an enormously destructive power [Music] when beaches a
nd freshly planted Dune areas disappear both the damage and the costs are of huge dimensions but all of this is nothing when compared to the flood disaster of 1953 the worst North Sea storm surge of the 20th century [Music] almost 2 000 square kilometers of land were destroyed and nearly 2 000 people died in the Netherlands alone more than 70 000 lost their livelihoods had to be relocated and evacuated consequentially the dutch-built state-of-the-art flood barriers like the one at the oyster sho
ulder south of Rotterdam [Music] Whenever there is a storm surge the floodgates close and seal off the hinterland [Music] in the north the final dike 32 kilometers in length separates the North Sea from the iselmere and shields the province of flavorland from Storm flooding [Music] the Dutch have mastered the art of controlling water for a long time as is the case in the town of encruzen here people like to cross the City by boat or by Simply Swimming life without water unthinkable not only the
canals but also the more than one thousand windmills are typical of the Netherlands up until a hundred years ago they used to pump the water from the lowlands back to the rivers behind the dikes the wind then played a hand in keeping the land dry [Music] today the fertile soils are areas of cultivation for the national flower the tulip as is also the case in flevel and province it has less to do with the flower blooms rather with the bulbs that are exported all over the world some four thousand
different varieties [Music] cultures as far as the eye can see areas lost by nature and what was once the seabed [Music] where the North Sea still Finds Its Own Way seals Gather in face of the rising tide the same goes for the donut a bay in the Northeast close to the German border [Music] thank you [Music] for their day out of land they only use this particular section on the Dutch side after carrying for 11 months the females give birth in July mother and child recognize one another by their i
ndividual scent this is important for life among seals distemper ravaged the North Sea Coast in the late 1980s three thousand seals survived in the Netherlands and the population has been recovering ever since today there are more than seven thousand animals the howlers are between several days and two weeks old milk contains 45 fat on a diet of concentrated feed the little ones gain roughly 300 grams per day five weeks and they are weaned all this with modern windmills as a backdrop tempers fla
re when things get too close for comfort the disputes May certainly look harmless but they do leave their marks seals are predators with strong Claws and some very impressive dentures at ebb tide the animals Retreat back into the water [Music] a relaxing mudslide [Music] [Applause] but the wooden sea has its downsides and can quickly become a fatal trap [Music] the youngster bravely struggles against the silt but its strength is waning his mother eggs him on as good as she can [Music] the poor a
nimal is stuck in a dangerous situation the omnivorous seagull is well aware of its plight [Applause] [Music] but then it defies fate and this time it's a happy end in the one sea around 170 kilometers west of the donut is the Lighthouse of amaland the island is a favorite with the marsh harriers regularly they go searching for food not for themselves but for them the largest check is 10 days old and the youngest of just five over 30 pairs of breeding on ameland disputes regarding food are the n
orm the number of harriers nesting on the 60 square kilometer island has been stable for many years an indication that the animals are on the right path rats pose a huge threat to the islands they are devastating for all ground nesting Birds fortunately the marsh harriers are now challenging their decimation [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] ERS carry food to the nest followed by a furious fight between the unequally sized Jenks foreign s remain on the sidelines and let things take their course co
mpetition between the siblings is always Fierce and it's always over just one thing food it's doubtful whether the younger one will survive [Music] thank you [Music] on armyland researchers attempt to discover more about the birds just how many Marsh harriers breed on the island and how they are developing every year Johan crawl and his assistant head for the harrier's breeding grounds once there they count the chicks attach rings to them and accumulate a wide variety of data with more than 30 y
ears of experience in dealing with Marsh harriers the chicks couldn't be in better hands than your hands really Nathan with some money the different body measurements reveal just how the birds develop the young males data are painstakingly recorded foreign has been at the Forefront since bird of prey conservation was prioritized on Army land in the late 1980s the female is understandably anxious about her Offspring but Johan has everything under control [Music] five hundred and fifty grams the i
deal weight of a four week old male [Music] and theater the primary feathers are 240 millimeters long the marsh harriers on Army land are developing wonderfully but they are not alone [Music] in ostrada's Pleasant another bird of prey has also recovered significantly [Music] oh white-tailed Eagles were off the radar for a long time in 2006 they came back they are effective Hunters but not altogether flawless the red foxes benefit from this the Cubs are hungry and still keep their mother on the m
ove on one of her forays she came across an unusual treat big fat carp a wide-tailed eagle must have dropped it a pleasant fish Aroma is in the air for the very first time some of the pups appear interested in solid food good mother's milk is still the best according to the little ones oh [Music] the pumps have grown significantly the mother now only nurses them in a standing position patiently she enjoys the goings-on beneath her stomach four to five times a day [Music] when The Milk Bar is clo
sed the young foxes just go out to play this promotes coordination strengthens team spirit and is a lot of fun as well [Music] just another six weeks and the pups will no longer require their mother's care [Music] in the Netherlands just as in Germany and Denmark shrimp fishing has a long tradition Captain Johann rispins is on route to his fishing grounds around 200 Dutch fishermen have a shrimp fishing license there used to be many more but the North Sea has to be protected from overfishing shr
imp Cutters are regularly followed by a whole flocks of birds the sediment churned up by the gnats brings food to the surface a veritable Feast for the seagulls Captain rispens is satisfied his team hauls in the beam troll which has been especially designed to catch North Sea prawns the yield in the shallow man Flats is particularly effective in the summer months once caught the bronze are carefully washed [Applause] modern sorting Machinery separates the Crustaceans from the bycatch prawns also
known as crivettes or shrimps turn their typical red color when boiled on board fishermen are not destined to become wealthy as catch volumes are negligible anything larger than a prawn lands in the bycatch separator and is then returned to the Sea where the seagulls eagerly take up position [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] s Meander through the island of tercheling [Music] this is the habitat of a special species of bird the pied avascent being black and white the name is presumably derived fro
m the clothing of early Advocates or lawyers the absence breeding places can be found on the banks of the tidal channels the chicks are precocial which means they wander around with their parents shortly after hatching avasense only stay a short few months on the Dutch coast and spend the cold season in Africa first they stir up the sediment with their legs then comb through the water in search of something edible an effective use of their unusual beaks [Music] it doesn't look quite as elegant w
hen the chicks try to follow suit ever sets are quick tempered they always find something they can argue about with their neighbors all right they breathe in colonies yet sometimes they can't get along with one another but they can't be without one another either three months later and they'll be on their way to Africa again foreign something surprising has occurred on Army land the young Marsh harriers have grown significantly [Music] smallest chick has survived [Music] it energetically Shields
its food from the other siblings the worrying condition it was in just three weeks ago now seems to be a thing of the past [Music] gain the respect of its siblings the young Marsh Harrier really had to fight hard without food it would not be here today [Music] the harriers will soon have plucked out the very last of their white down feathers our straggler will no doubt need a little longer slowly but surely the birds begin to resemble their parents they don't miss a chance to train their flight
muscles it won't be long before they take off and fly the population of Marshall is on Army land is secure and will remain so in the future [Music] the sun rises over the Eastern Mainland some 100 kilometers from the coast [Music] foreign there is one type of landscape here that requires a sensitive hand the soil is sandier in the eastern Netherlands and contains less nutrients than the coastal regions do providing ideal conditions for Heath growth around 40 large heathlands are protected by th
e government by chewing of the young shoots sheep ensure that the area remains free and is not overgrown with trees [Music] reason has his sheep where he can see them and his dogs under control [Music] border collie training takes years the stock dogs are intelligent and immediately carry out numerous commands it's not here by 10 10 come by come by you could say a Dream Team as long as there is a heath in the Netherlands there'll be a shepherd and his dogs [Music] sheep too of course [Music] wit
h more than a massive 1000 square kilometers the villuir the largest Forest area of the Netherlands also extends into the east [Music] extra the velue is home to both northlawn and Red Deer in the past few years the area has had to come to terms with little rainfall and large periods of drought causing the plants to become parched foreign [Music] this should now be the ratting season for Red Deer but at the moment the mere thought of having to fight Rivals is unbearable it's far too hot what cou
ld be more refreshing than a puddle with their massive bodies male Red Deer are especially susceptible to overheating waving his antlers is the only thing he can do at the moment [Applause] it's better to wait for cooler temperatures in regard to decisive ratting bouts along the coast the hot spells are less extreme Norton vast flocks of migratory Birds land here they have returned from their breeding grounds in the Arctic many of them have flown for several thousand kilometers if it were not fo
r the productive wooden sea they would starve to death Ruddy turnstones sanderlings and many others recharge their batteries here hidden away in the kelp and mud they can find snails worms and small crustaceans the birds will spend the ensuing months here relaxing and then fly back to their Arctic breathing rounds oyster catchers spend their entire lives on the wadden Sea Coast [Applause] [Music] put the spoonbills now a set course for their wintering grounds in Africa [Music] late autumn in the
forest [Music] [Music] strange life forms now populate the ground [Music] thank you [Music] while snails and mushrooms appear Dressed to Kill others flaunt their skills to the hilt its ratting season for fallow deer a stag proudly marks branches with his own irresistible scent [Music] almost all Stags like to loudly announce their supposed superiority it's little more than showing off making sure that both the competition and the ladies see them but the latter are impervious to the natural beha
vior of the males all Stags mark their own territories I sent and by making a rutting pit it's highly inadvisable for anyone else to make his bed here tension Rises [Music] then the time has arrived with their average fighting weight of 80 kilograms the animals develop enormous strength a short break but these two are not the sole adversaries in the forest [Applause] oh foreign match it's a draw for now at least winter an increasingly rare guest in the Netherlands [Music] iced over Waters have b
ecome a seldom occurrence temperatures now are mostly far too mild [Music] yet this fellow is perfectly equipped for some zero temperatures the otter he is warmly encased in a dense fur made up of some seventy thousand hairs per square centimeter although extinct by the end of the 1980s today thanks to a dedicated reintroduction program around 400 otters now live in the Netherlands foreign [Applause] people have recognized just how important a preservation and restoration of natural habitats are
this includes the floodplains they can store large amounts of water thereby protecting the land from a devastating deluge not only nature benefits but us too [Music] this is especially true of the flood plague Netherlands back in the 1990s floods of the Rhine and Muse Rivers caused much suffering [Music] along the coast barrages and dikes help to prevent flooding however when rivers overflow only one thing helps space an area that also benefits the beaver foreign despite the rodent being eradic
ated in the Netherlands like the otter and the white-tailed Eagle it has returned in the meantime around 600 beavers populate the country excellent prospects for Europe's largest rodent [Music] the Sub-Zero temperatures last just a few days [Music] with over 500 inhabitants per square kilometer the Netherlands population density is more than double that of neighboring Germany and one of the highest in Europe [Music] still the Dutch have managed to successfully share space with nature this is mor
e than worthy of imitation and a solid basis for the successful coexistence of Nature and Mankind [Music] let us hope despite the threat of global warming and the associated rise in sea levels that the Netherlands remain with us [Music] and that the wooden sea as it has been for millennia remains a sea that never rests [Music] [Applause] [Music]
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