0:00:06 > 0:00:07Europe.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12For two million years, ice has swept the continent...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16..not just once but many times.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Then, some 20,000 years ago,
0:00:24 > 0:00:29the bitter climate begins to ease its grip.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41The continent is formed into the greenest on Earth.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57And now a new force of change is gathering momentum.
0:01:01 > 0:01:07This force will have a relentless impact on Europe's wildlife...
0:01:09 > 0:01:11..its margins and inland forests
0:01:11 > 0:01:15and across the face of the land.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29This is the story of the struggle between man and nature
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and the taming of the wild.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Ten thousand years ago, Europe is a land of virgin forest.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Just a few millennia earlier,
0:02:07 > 0:02:13this was a treeless tundra roamed by herds of mammoth and reindeer.
0:02:13 > 0:02:20Now Europe's milder, more pleasant seasons attract waves of new immigrants.
0:02:31 > 0:02:38With the wood so impenetrable, the easiest access is along the newly formed waterways.
0:02:43 > 0:02:51These early hunter-gatherers follow the sweeping meanders of the Danube, Rhine and Rhone...
0:02:55 > 0:02:59..drawn by the abundance of fish, plants and waterfowl.
0:03:07 > 0:03:13This is a totally new world, entirely different from the recent past.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37The thick understory is no place for migrating herds of large animals.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Big game is rare.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47JUVENILES SQUEAL
0:03:47 > 0:03:51But there are many other opportunities.
0:03:52 > 0:03:58By creating forest clearings, early hunters find simple ways to lure their prey.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05man is not the only hunter.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45BOWSTRING CREAKS
0:05:23 > 0:05:26GRUNTS AND SOFT GROWLS
0:05:26 > 0:05:28LOW SNARL
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Hey-ah! Ha!
0:05:31 > 0:05:36people and predators have long been rivals -
0:05:36 > 0:05:39enemies -
0:05:39 > 0:05:43but they share an interest in finding food.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50And as the lives of animals and people begin to merge,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52a new approach is born...
0:05:54 > 0:05:57..the taming of the wild.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13As hunter-gatherers roam the lush, green heart of Europe,
0:06:13 > 0:06:19a radically new way of life dawns on the south-eastern fringes,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22one that will transform almost the entire continent.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Europe's first farmers.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37Around 8,000 years ago, they set to work
0:06:37 > 0:06:40exploiting the fertile landscape
0:06:40 > 0:06:43of the eastern Mediterranean.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55These newcomers have island-hopped from the Near east, lured by the gentle climate and rich soils.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02They have brought with them some unique goods,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07key plants, tools and animals used for generations back in Mesopotamia,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10the cradle of civilisation.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Even in the Stone Age, Europe's farmers have enormous impact.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32They soon replace hundreds of wild plants species with just a handful of their own -
0:07:32 > 0:07:35emmer-wheat, barley, rye and olives.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51If hunter-gatherers had never become farmers, the woodlands might have remained unscathed.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55But now the seeds of change have been sown.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00WOMAN SINGS
0:08:27 > 0:08:32With enough food available all year round, and with plenty of surplus,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35people can begin to settle.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59The forest canopies that once covered Crete and Malta now give way
0:08:59 > 0:09:02to fields and pastures.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Agriculture flourishes at the expense of the wild.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12In the eastern grasslands,
0:09:12 > 0:09:17the early settlers exploit another revolutionary resource,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20wild animals that can be easily tamed.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22IT SNORTS
0:09:28 > 0:09:32From the Middle East came goats and sheep, brought in by the immigrant farmers.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34THEY BLEAT
0:09:36 > 0:09:41Soon, these animals would spread across the entire continent
0:09:41 > 0:09:44and ultimately contribute to its deforestation.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56From the shores of the Mediterranean agriculture is now on the move.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Mnajdra, one of the many sun temples on the island of Malta
0:10:11 > 0:10:16erected by Europe's farmers more than 7,000 years ago.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22These are the world's oldest standing buildings, calendars of stone
0:10:22 > 0:10:25marking the times of sowing and harvesting,
0:10:25 > 0:10:30shrines of a civilisation in perfect synchrony with nature.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Like the rising sun,
0:10:35 > 0:10:40this new way of life creeps its way across the continent.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42In just 2,00 years,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44it reached the Atlantic.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50At Carnac in France,
0:10:50 > 0:10:55these standing stones are a testament to a once-thriving farming community.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Elaborate monuments like these
0:11:04 > 0:11:09are symbols of the massive changes to the European landscape,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11of settlement and ownership.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Of the thousands of Megalithic sites,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24this is one of the youngest and the most imposing of them all,
0:11:24 > 0:11:31Stonehenge, an enormous feat of engineering constructed with mathematical precision.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Over a hundred generations lived to its rhythms
0:11:59 > 0:12:014,000 years ago,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Europe's primeval forests are assaulted by another demand...
0:12:07 > 0:12:10..more aggressive than even before...
0:12:11 > 0:12:14and in remote areas so far untouched...
0:12:18 > 0:12:20..metal making.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26The smelting of copper and bronze soon spreads from the Balkans and Cyprus across much of Europe.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57But as early as 2,000 BC,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01the flourishing metal industry on Cyprus collapses.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07It fails not because of the shortage of ore but the lack of timber.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Metal means wealth and power.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25Metal deposits scattered across the continent become the key incentive for conquest.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30And out of these struggles emerges Europe's mightiest superpower.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35600 BC.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39The Roman Empire is on the march.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Its aim is not just conquest
0:13:44 > 0:13:47but the civilisation of wild Europe.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02"Conquer with sword AND spade" is the mission-statement of the Roman army,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06making it the biggest road building enterprise ever.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11"All roads lead to Rome", the saying goes.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13But the opposite is true.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16All roads spread from Rome.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23As if capturing a wild animal, the empire cast a network of roads across the continent
0:14:23 > 0:14:27from Italy to Britain and from Turkey to Spain.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34"Via est vita", says the Roman proverb,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36"The road is life."
0:14:36 > 0:14:42The constant flow of livestock, goods and ideas between the "Eternal City"
0:14:42 > 0:14:48and the most distant corners of the empire would shape Europe's societies, landscapes and wildlife
0:14:48 > 0:14:51for thousands of years to come.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53COWBELLS CLANK
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Cattle and grain pour in toward the capital.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Mediterranean animals and plants spread in the opposite direction
0:15:03 > 0:15:07in what is one of the warmest periods in Europe's more recent history.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Roman culture travels on mule-back.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20The mule is a hybrid of donkey and horse non-existent in wild nature.
0:15:20 > 0:15:26It is mass-bred by the Romans as an all-terrain, all-purpose carrier.
0:15:31 > 0:15:37Endless caravans transport olive oil, cheese, wine and weapons...
0:15:39 > 0:15:41and raw metals.
0:15:45 > 0:15:52Tin is perhaps the only reason Rome conquered some of the colder and less inviting corners of the continent.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56THE tin mines of Cornwall,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01prized throughout antiquity, would be worked until modern times.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10500 years of systematic clearing
0:16:10 > 0:16:14has pushed Rome's wildwood frontiers far north.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Only beyond the Rhine and the Danube...
0:16:21 > 0:16:24GROANING BELLOW
0:16:25 > 0:16:27..true wilderness still exists.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33DISTANT CUCKOO CALLS
0:16:51 > 0:16:56But even in these remote woodlands, wildlife is no longer safe.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59There's a price on the head of big animals.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02And catching them is big business.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32IT ROARS
0:17:35 > 0:17:40Roman trade reaches out to the remotest fringes of the continent
0:17:40 > 0:17:43to regions as far north as Scotland and Siberia.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Tens of thousands of bears, wolves and lions are taken
0:17:50 > 0:17:54to supply a gigantic entertainment industry.
0:17:56 > 0:18:02By the first century AD, in Europe's forests the brown bear is almost extinct.
0:18:05 > 0:18:13In the huge amphitheatres of major cities and in Rome's Coliseum, the populace screams for fresh blood
0:18:13 > 0:18:14each afternoon.
0:18:20 > 0:18:26Even small garrison towns had their circus games,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28often in a makeshift arena.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30CROWD YELL
0:18:31 > 0:18:33BEAR GROWLS
0:18:48 > 0:18:54Day after day across the empire, thousands of wild creatures are slaughtered.
0:19:04 > 0:19:10Then, abruptly, the glory that is Rome comes to an end.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16A brutal change of climate hastens its downfall.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Failing crops force northern tribes to flee their homelands.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Wildlife reclaims the fields and pastures.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31It seems as if a new ice age is arriving.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38For the first time in centuries, the frontier rivers freeze over
0:19:38 > 0:19:43and invaders can cross the frozen Danube and the Rhine on foot.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48WIND WHOOSHES
0:19:52 > 0:19:56The greatest empire on the European continent has imposed order
0:19:56 > 0:19:59for nearly a thousand years.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02But its power crumbles within decades
0:20:02 > 0:20:07and with it, its palaces, its cities and its roads.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Yet Rome's legacy remains inscribed on the landscape.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37In some places, like Hadrian's Wall in northern England, it's plain to see.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Within the borders of the Roman Empire,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06some corners have remained totally unexploited...
0:21:08 > 0:21:11written off as sterile badlands.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20this is not North Africa.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25It's Spain, sun-parched and thirsty.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Towering over the desert are the snowy peaks of the country's highest mountain range,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34the Sierra Nevada.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42These mountains hold the key to the region's potential wealth.
0:21:44 > 0:21:45Meltwater.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49In the right hands, this treasure will pay dividends.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58After the fall of Rome, waves of invaders have come and gone.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02The ones to stay are an army of canal-builders,
0:22:02 > 0:22:07Berber and Arab tribes from the northern rim of the Sahara.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14For thousands of years, they have tapped the snows of Morocco's mountains,
0:22:14 > 0:22:16bringing the desert to life.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26The Moors, as they came to be called, are experts at harnessing the flow of water.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35From the eighth century on, they bring their expertise to Spain.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47They construct dams, reservoirs and aqueducts
0:22:47 > 0:22:54and intricate networks of canals, tens of thousands of kilometres of conduits large and small.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04To irrigate, they must first level the ground.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12Centuries after their arrival, every hillside within reach of a canal is terraced.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21In 700 years, the Moors turn Europe's driest land into orchards.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27The new fruits they cultivate are reminders of the African heritage they've stamped on Spain's landscape.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44Working miracles with water, the Moors create some of Europe's finest gardens.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49The Alhambra,
0:23:49 > 0:23:55the seat of Granada's Moslem kings, is a celebration of their favourite element...
0:23:57 > 0:24:00a fantasy of fountains and fragrances,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03of marble and alabaster.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Throughout the Middle Ages,
0:24:15 > 0:24:20the societies that succeed the Romans have left their varied imprints on the land.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23CHURCH BELLS RING
0:24:23 > 0:24:27But the land in turn is reflected in the people's culture.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32Nowhere is this more apparent than on the far side of the continent.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Scandinavia, Europe's Arctic fringe.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Cold fogs.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43Dark winters.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48No fertile soil for farmers.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51But the seas are alive.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Here, the Gulf Stream meets cold, nutrient-rich waters
0:24:59 > 0:25:04feeding a wealth of plankton and vast shoals of fish.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36This far north...
0:25:38 > 0:25:41life on land depends directly on life in the sea.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52Ever since the Gulf Stream freed the fjords from Ice Age glaciers,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56settlers have come to these coasts to harvest the ocean.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00But as communities grew, many were forced to move on
0:26:00 > 0:26:03and discover distant, greener shores.
0:26:11 > 0:26:17These northern tribes have become fearless navigators and enterprising traders.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Their ships, known as knorrs, are built for heavy loads.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Drying cod as they go, the Vikings can undertake extended voyages
0:26:34 > 0:26:38from the Baltic to the Black Sea
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and from the North Sea to the Mediterranean.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44They even reach America.
0:26:48 > 0:26:54In Scandinavia, timber is still plentiful.
0:26:54 > 0:27:00The Vikings ship it south, where even the woodlands that Rome has left standing are becoming patchy.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Europe's ancient trees had come crashing down
0:27:09 > 0:27:14to clear land for farms, to build ships or houses
0:27:14 > 0:27:16and for fuel.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24Now, around the year 1,000, the wild woods suffer a fresh onslaught.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26MALE VOICES: PLAINSONG
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Once again, it is Rome that wields the axe.
0:27:32 > 0:27:39The Roman Church takes up where the empire has left off. It founds scores of monasteries.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42And their purpose is not purely spiritual.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50many are given vast tracts of wooded land to clear.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The monks' mission is to also tame the wild.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Especially Cistercian monasteries like Tintern Abbey
0:28:01 > 0:28:03use advanced farming techniques.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07Their libraries are databases of botany and horticulture.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Religious rulings alter Europe's landscapes.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Most abbeys are soon surrounded by fish-farms,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24although monks must fast for up to 150 days a year,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26they merely abstain from meat
0:28:26 > 0:28:28but not fish.
0:28:41 > 0:28:47Across the continent, monastic fishponds create thousands of fresh havens for wildlife.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57Yet some species suffer.
0:28:57 > 0:29:04Beavers and pond turtles live in water, so the Church declares them to be "fish",
0:29:04 > 0:29:08fir for consumption during fasts. They soon disappear.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25An abbey's civilising mission bears fruit
0:29:25 > 0:29:31when the wildwood-clearing of its first foundation becomes the site of a new town.
0:29:39 > 0:29:46By the 14th C, one in eight people in Central Europe lives within town walls.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58The streets of Europe's growing towns are paved with opportunity...
0:29:59 > 0:30:02and not just for humans.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05RAT SQUEAKS
0:30:10 > 0:30:13Rats crowd into the new urban centres,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16drawn by the wealth of food and refuse.
0:30:16 > 0:30:22Their presence foreshadows a lethal threat to civilisation.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30In the late 1340s, an epidemic flares across the continent like wildfire,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34leaping from door to door and town to town.
0:30:45 > 0:30:51In just three years, half the inhabitants of Europe are dead.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00Rats arriving on ships from Asia carry fleas with a killer bacteria,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04and the flea bites pass the Plague onto humans.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Old and young, rich and poor,
0:31:21 > 0:31:23great and small succumb.
0:31:25 > 0:31:31Many believe this to be the Apocalypse, the end of the world.
0:31:37 > 0:31:44It will take Europe's human population 250 years to recover to its former levels.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51For Europe's wildlife, this is a long breathing space.
0:31:56 > 0:32:01After the tide of terror recedes, few people are left to plant or harvest the fields.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05Herds of livestock run wild.
0:32:09 > 0:32:15And Europe's big predators, shoved to the edge of extinction for centuries,
0:32:15 > 0:32:17return for a heyday.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23CATTLE LOW
0:32:45 > 0:32:47WOLF WHIMPERS
0:33:01 > 0:33:03HIGH-PITCHED WHINING
0:33:12 > 0:33:17When humans flourish, wolves, bears and lynx are the first to suffer.
0:33:17 > 0:33:24Over the centuries, only plagues or extended wars have given them a chance to recover.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Throughout the Middle Ages,
0:33:47 > 0:33:52the higher Alpine forests have been cleared for grazing,
0:33:52 > 0:33:54forcing the tree-line down.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59But now, this constant attack is put on hold.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03Europe's temperate climate means that, left alone,
0:34:03 > 0:34:09most of the continent's regions would revert to their natural state, unbroken forest.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32After the Black Death,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34the wilds can now regenerate.
0:34:34 > 0:34:40For the first time in thousands of years, animals enjoy increasing freedom.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01As fields and pastures lie uncultivated year after year,
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Europe's woodlands soon widen their territory,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09filling up the farmland in an endless sea of trees.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13But the truce does not last.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19Late in the 16th C, the forests face the biggest assault ever.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23It is the era of Europe's great navies,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25of overseas exploration
0:35:25 > 0:35:28and of momentous wars for sea-power.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Tall ships need tall trees,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38mature wood in many shapes and species.
0:35:38 > 0:35:4310,000 trunks are toppled to construct the biggest vessels yet built...
0:35:44 > 0:35:45..huge galleons.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51Europe's prime timber is sent afloat to do battle.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03July 1588. The greatest invasion fleet to date.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05The Spanish Armada...
0:36:07 > 0:36:10..meets its opponent, the English navy.
0:36:16 > 0:36:17Outnumbered,
0:36:17 > 0:36:22the English set fire ships adrift among the enemy anchored off Calais.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34CRIES AND SHOUTED COMMANDS
0:36:46 > 0:36:48The Armada boasts 120 vessels,
0:36:48 > 0:36:54including 30 galleons - powerful, but difficult to manoeuvre.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00Panic and flames force the floating fortresses out into the north sea.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10As they round Scotland and Ireland,
0:37:10 > 0:37:15a violent Atlantic storm batters the Spanish fleet,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18shattering many of the ships.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25Near the coast of Ireland...
0:37:27 > 0:37:31Spain's finest forests sink to the sea floor.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Although the Armada has not changed the course of history,
0:37:41 > 0:37:43some of its wreckage will.
0:37:46 > 0:37:52In Ireland, gathering seaweed to fertilise the thin, impoverished soils
0:37:52 > 0:37:58had long been a way of to better crops in the few, wind-protected valleys where wheat grows well.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10But what washes ashore in the surf that summer of 1588,
0:38:10 > 0:38:15will revolutionise Ireland's - and ultimately Europe's - staple crops forever.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23To the locals, a shipwreck near the coast is a stroke of good fortune.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27This time, they scarcely know just how lucky they are.
0:38:32 > 0:38:38Potatoes first made the journey from the New World to Spain decades earlier, with Columbus.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43They prove ideal rations for the Spanish navy.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47To the rest of Europe, they're virtually unknown.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00Irish farmers soon discover that this foreign plant from the slopes of the Andes
0:39:00 > 0:39:06is well suited to the short days, cold nights and poor soils of their island -
0:39:06 > 0:39:09better than anything they've planted before.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Soon, potatoes prosper where cereal crops failed.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20The fate of the Irish rapidly becomes linked to a single plant.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24Inside two centuries, fields and crops multiply tenfold.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29So does the population to more than eight million.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47But then, in the winter of 1845,
0:39:47 > 0:39:49disaster strikes.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52THUNDER RUMBLES
0:39:52 > 0:39:58a stowaway from America, a fungus, rots the food stores in farm cellars.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07The following year, it ravages fields and farms.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15Within a few months, millions lose their livelihood.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29Advancing 100 times faster than any other potato disease,
0:40:29 > 0:40:31it infests the whole country
0:40:31 > 0:40:34and sweeps on into mainland Europe.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39This is the worst famine in Europe's history.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42In Ireland, the body-count rises,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44eventually reaching a million.
0:40:44 > 0:40:50One and a half million impoverished survivors desert their stricken farms.
0:40:55 > 0:41:01Their mass exodus signals a shift to a new era that has already begun in England...
0:41:06 > 0:41:12..one that will alter the face of Europe more radically and rapidly than ever before.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38This new economy is no longer based on crops
0:41:38 > 0:41:41but on minerals and technology.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45This is the mechanical age,
0:41:45 > 0:41:50a steam-driven revolution accelerating at an unprecedented speed.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56Machines now dictate the rhythm of life,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59the movements of the body,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02the rate of productivity.
0:42:08 > 0:42:14Factories claw in crowds of labourers from rural districts to new industrial centres
0:42:14 > 0:42:16around the coal fields.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27New means of transportation link far-flung places.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31canals run from coast to coast.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37Coal fuels the revolution.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39By the mid-1800s,
0:42:39 > 0:42:4450 million tons go up in smoke each year,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47choking and blackening England's towns.
0:42:47 > 0:42:54In the most striking change to the landscape, sprawling cities swallow up green farmland.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07The industrial revolution begins in England but soon, in the second half of the 19th C,
0:43:07 > 0:43:12palls of smoke hang over continental Europe.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22Here, at first, the industrial revolution is fuelled by wood,
0:43:22 > 0:43:28especially around the Alps, where the remaining forests are plundered wholesale.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Rivers become conveyor belts.
0:43:33 > 0:43:39Hundreds of thousands of foresters supply the iron industry with raw material for charcoal.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42But so all-consuming are the furnaces
0:43:42 > 0:43:48that in the long run, only the vast deposits of coal can satisfy their hunger.
0:43:54 > 0:44:00For industries to reach beyond Europe's borders, they need efficient transportation...
0:44:00 > 0:44:04giant, steel ships and an expanding rail network.
0:44:04 > 0:44:12Britain exports railways all over Europe, linking port and mine to factory,
0:44:12 > 0:44:14city to city, nation to nation.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25For the first time, people can cover long distances with ease.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44Now, inhabitant of smog-ridden towns
0:44:44 > 0:44:47can escape to the countryside.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52Suddenly, some are made aware of what is missing in their lives...
0:44:57 > 0:45:00..clean air, wide open spaces...
0:45:05 > 0:45:07..blue skies...
0:45:17 > 0:45:21..and perhaps their greatest discovery...
0:45:23 > 0:45:26..the silence of true wilderness.
0:45:32 > 0:45:37Ever since humans set foot on this continent,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41the Alpine peaks have been feared and avoided.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48Up here, there was little to be gained.
0:45:50 > 0:45:56But now, mountain-climbers, painters and poets, botanists and geologists...
0:45:58 > 0:46:03..even ambitious photographers are crowding to these peaks
0:46:16 > 0:46:21These sons and daughters of the Industrial Revolution discover
0:46:21 > 0:46:24treasures that money cannot buy.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32The most spectacular of these is the vast mountain wilderness
0:46:32 > 0:46:35in the very centre of a tamed continent.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40They descend with a powerful new message.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47Wild Europe, in all its varied glory, is worth protecting for its own sake.
0:46:50 > 0:46:51At the dawn of the 20th C,
0:46:51 > 0:46:54this message comes just in time.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59As modern cities sprawl, populations surge...
0:47:01 > 0:47:07..man-made landscapes abound and ever-new inventions add to the human impact on land,
0:47:07 > 0:47:09climate and wildlife...
0:47:10 > 0:47:16Europe's journey through time begins to take a new direction
0:47:16 > 0:47:18from consumption to coexistence...
0:47:19 > 0:47:22with wild nature.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27Europe's cities are turning into new wildlife havens,
0:47:27 > 0:47:32and natural landscapes into protected sanctuaries.
0:47:32 > 0:47:37Civilisation and nature are more and more entwined.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47WHOOSHES AT EACH TURN
0:47:50 > 0:47:52In Europe, wildlife is everywhere...
0:47:54 > 0:47:58..on farmland, in planted forests and wildwoods
0:47:58 > 0:48:03on city fringes and in the continent's remotest corners.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Now, in the new millennium...
0:48:08 > 0:48:12it's in human hands to keep Europe wild.