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The Suez Canal.
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An immense ditch nearly 100 miles long,
cut through the desert,
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linking the eastern end of the Mediterranean
with the Red Sea
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and beyond the Indian Ocean.
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It was designed and promoted by a
French diplomat, Count Ferdinand de Lesseps,
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in the 19th century,
and its advantages were obvious.
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A vessel in the Mediterranean port
of Marseilles,
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bound for Bombay and India, for example,
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could cut 5,800 miles off its voyage
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if only it could cross the isthmus of Suez.
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Inevitably, there were doubters.
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Some people said that the difference
in level between the two seas was such
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that if the canal was cut,
one would drain into the other.
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But in the end, it was decided to go ahead
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and the work started in 1859.
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Thousands of locally recruited labourers
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set about the job quite straightforwardly
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with picks, shovels and baskets.
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Some shallow lakes lay
in the middle of the isthmus
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and de Lesseps' plan was to link them
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so that less than half the total length
had to be dug from dry land.
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Even so, it was ten years before
the work was completed
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and the first ships were able to sail
through the canal.
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Travelling from the ports of western Europe,
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they entered the canal at portside,
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on the far eastern corner of the vast
triangular delta of the Nile,
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here in the foreground dark with cultivation.
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They sailed down to the lakes
in the centre of the isthmus
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and then on to the Red Sea.
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This is a tropical sea,
an arm of the Indian 0cean,
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and it swarms with fish.
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There are far more species
of marine organisms here
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than there are in the Mediterranean,
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which by comparison is something
of an impoverished backwater.
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There are no locks on the Suez Canal,
so when that waterway was opened,
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there was nothing to prevent species
from these overcrowded waters
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from swimming into it, and they did.
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First, they established colonies
in the canal itself,
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and then eventually they began
to appear in the Mediterranean.
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This, the red soldier fish, is one of them,
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and it's very good eating.
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And since the cooks of the Mediterranean
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are always ready to welcome
something new to the kitchen,
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they provide a very good record
of the spread of this fish
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through the Mediterranean.
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In the 19th century, it was unknown here.
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At the beginning of the 20th century,
it was being eaten in Suez,
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and by the 1930s, it was on the menu
here in the island of Cyprus.
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Now, it's found in Tobruk,
1,000 miles west of Suez.
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The rabbit fish is another of these immigrants.
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And it's not just fish that have made the trip.
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This crab, too, comes from the Red Sea.
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In fact, over 100 species of one kind or another
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have travelled into the Mediterranean
by courtesy of the Suez Canal,
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and the number is still growing.
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But while some immigrants
in the Mediterranean
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greatly added to the variety of food,
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there was one that very severely damaged
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that other essential
for the Mediterranean meal...
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the drink.
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Grape vines grow wild
in many parts of the world.
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There are several species in North America
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and they are afflicted by a tiny aphid
called phylloxera
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whose saliva, when injected into
the leaves of a plant,
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induces galls.
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Inside each gall sits a female phylloxera,
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with her mouth parts sunk into
the leaf tissue, drinking its sap,
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and at the same time laying eggs
more or less nonstop.
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Without any contribution from a male,
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these eggs hatch into other females,
which eventually leave the gall
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and crawl away to create homes of their own.
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But some, instead of crawling to another leaf,
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clamber down the stem into the ground
and attach themselves to the roots.
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The galls they produce there kill the rootlets
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and therefore eventually the whole vine.
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0ne generation produces another
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and aphids spread to the roots
of vines nearby,
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without necessarily returning to the leaves.
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Somehow, in the middle of the 19th century,
these insects arrived in France,
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probably on the roots of North American vines
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that were being imported
for the breeding of hybrids.
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And in the summer of 1863,
French vineyards began to die.
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For some reason,
the leaves of the French vines
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were not to phylloxera's taste,
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and the insects concentrated
almost entirely on the roots.
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They were so small that for some time
they were not even noticed
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and no one was sure why the vines
all over France were dying.
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It was a national disaster.
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Then, a scientific committee
found the culprit and the solution.
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Some species of American vines
were immune to attacks on their roots.
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They should be brought across the Atlantic
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and the stems of French vines,
with their immune leaves,
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grafted onto them.
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It was a drastic solution, but it worked.
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So, the situation was saved,
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but there are some connoisseurs
who will tell you
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that the taste of the Mediterranean wines
has never really recovered.
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So, during the 19th century,
there were many invaders
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into the Mediterranean.
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From the east, like the red soldier fish.
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From the west, like the phylloxera aphid.
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But perhaps the most influential
and lethal of all
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came down from the north.
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At the beginning of this century,
the Mediterranean coasts of France and Italy
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were quiet and sleepy,
basking in the warm sun.
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The French painters at the time
were among the first
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to recognise and celebrate their charms.
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Soon, the fashionable rich
began to travel down there for the summer,
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even though the journey
from the cloudy, rainy north,
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which for most was by rail,
was long and expensive.
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As the popularity of the French Riviera grew,
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the wealthier and the more adventurous
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moved across to the southern side
of the Mediterranean
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to Tangier and Morocco
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and there they discovered
more romantic villages
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and exotic peoples.
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Throughout the '20s and the '30s,
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the popularity of the Mediterranean grew
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and then came a development
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that made it an even more exciting
and attractive place
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to a whole new group of holidaymakers.
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40 years ago,
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the Mediterranean world that lies
just a few yards beyond the shoreline,
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was about as unknown and unexplored
as the remote Amazonian jungles.
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True, men had floated across
the surface of the sea
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and dangled lines with hooks on down into it,
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and they'd dragged nets blindly
across the bottom of it,
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but that was really about all.
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And then, in the 1940s,
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Jacques Cousteau invented this...
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the demander.
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And, suddenly, a whole new world
was on our doorstep.
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The sensation of being able
to move effortlessly
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00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,430
in not just two dimensions but in three...
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00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,559
of being, in effect, weightless...
was intoxicating.
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And so was the sight
of so many totally new creatures
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that seemed to bear no relation whatever
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to the pallid corpses
one might occasionally see
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on a fishmonger's slab.
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To add to the marvel, these creatures
had never before seen
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two... legged, two... armed mammals
trailing plumes of bubbles
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moving around in their world,
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and many were not in the least
alarmed by them.
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As swimmers became braver,
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they dived deeper and found
more and more excitements.
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0ur reaction, considering our past record,
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was only too predictable.
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(All shouting)
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0f course, the people of the Mediterranean,
from prehistoric times,
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have reaped a rich harvest from their sea.
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Fish like these, for many centuries,
were caught in great quantities
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by traditional methods.
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Men in small boats,
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relying on their intimate knowledge
of their own patch of sea,
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and their understanding
of the creatures that lived in it,
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would sail out one day and return the next
with rich catches.
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The sea seemed inexhaustible.
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But as more people came
to settle on the coast,
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as villages grew into towns,
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in order to accommodate
the increasing flood of summer visitors,
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so the demand for fish grew greater
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and the number of fishing boats increased.
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Gradually, the catches from
the inshore waters got smaller.
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They were being badly over... fished.
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So, bigger boats that could go farther out
and find fresh grounds
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were introduced... boats like these.
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It's a trawler, which fishes by scraping
the bottom of the sea with this board,
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and they're very efficient.
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And for many years, the catches were good.
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But then, again, they began to fail.
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These new grounds were being over... fished.
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So, then, they introduced even bigger boats...
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boats like these.
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These boats can stay out at sea
for weeks on end.
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But they are so expensive to run
they're not interested in the less valuable fish.
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Those are just thrown back into the sea, dead,
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and they can be as much as 70% of the catch,
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so boats like these
are devastating indeed.
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But the solution of getting
bigger and bigger boats
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to go farther and farther out to sea
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can't work for long in a sea
as small as the Mediterranean.
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And these ships, in this harbour in west Sicily,
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are now sailing so far south,
they're getting into Tunisian waters.
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100 or so of them are arrested every year,
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so there's a very big problem.
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And this... is another.
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The opening of the Suez Canal
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turned a sea that, in terms of world trade,
had been, for 400 years,
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no more than a blind alley
leading off the Atlantic 0cean
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into a major international highway.
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Then oil was discovered in the Middle East
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and a major new element
was added to the traffic.
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Today, a procession of gigantic tankers
like this one, over 1,000 feet long,
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00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,473
ferry oil from the eastern end
of the Mediterranean
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00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,120
to the industrial centres of western Europe.
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00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,832
An accident to one of these
could devastate the seas for miles around
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and accidents happen every year.
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00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,834
In 1979, one of these huge tankers
collided with a freighter
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at the mouth of the Bosphorus,
close to Istanbul.
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00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,550
Its cargo of oil, leaking onto the sea,
caught fire.
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00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,996
Flames leapt from the water
300 feet into the air.
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00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,277
For over a month,
the cargo continued to burn.
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00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,078
Eventually, it was put out,
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but oil, even now,
is still seeping from the wreck.
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00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:46,791
By the beginning of the 1970s,
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00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:51,237
800,000 tonnes of oil were being
spilled into the sea every year,
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00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:53,993
either accidentally from collisions or wrecks
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00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,470
or deliberately by tankers
washing out their tanks at sea,
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00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:02,350
and all round the Mediterranean, the rocks
were being coated with black, sticky tar.
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00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:10,916
This is not oil.
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00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,036
This is untreated sewage,
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00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:17,272
floating in the water
just off the French city of Toulon,
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00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:22,229
25 miles or so from some of the most
fashionable and expensive holiday beaches
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00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:24,072
in the world.
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00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,035
Most living organisms
are poisoned by such filth.
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00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:48,111
0nly few can survive.
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00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:49,679
Among them, mussels.
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00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,433
They feed on particles,
which they filter from the water.
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00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:57,435
But they also absorb bacteria that can cause
virulent diseases in human beings.
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00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:04,150
Elsewhere, on the bare rocks, where no plants
or other encrusting organisms grow,
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00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,196
are other scavengers.
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00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,277
Black sea urchins.
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They too are eaten. But if they're gathered
from such a place as this,
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they will poison you.
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A third scavenger typical
of these polluted areas
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is perhaps fortunately not edible...
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the black brittle star.
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00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:27,437
In the filthier parts of this sea,
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it's almost the only large organism
that survives in any numbers.
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00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,789
And with no competitors,
it swarms over the sea floor.
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00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,158
Healthy coastal waters can look like this.
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A rich meadow of sea grass, posidonia,
thronged with fish.
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The thickets are even richer
than they seem at first sight.
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For these are the nursery grounds
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00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,549
where the young of many Mediterranean fish
can hide from predators
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00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,313
and find the tiny microorganisms
on which they feed.
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00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,513
Some species of fish, like this scorpion fish,
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00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,273
which is camouflaged to match
the sea... grass roots,
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00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:20,316
live almost nowhere else.
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00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,237
Scallops lie, with shell agape, filter feeding.
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00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:27,789
Sea urchins nibble algae.
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00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:33,438
The biggest shell to be found in European
waters, the pinna, also lives here
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00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:35,158
and indeed nowhere else.
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00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,111
Grey mullet prospect and rummage
among the vegetable debris,
245
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,031
looking for edible particles.
246
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:47,793
And there's a great deal here
that's good to eat.
247
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,477
And there are seahorses.
248
00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:11,395
They, too, depend on an abundant and healthy
concentration of microorganisms
249
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,233
such as are generated
around the sea... grass thickets,
250
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,118
which they take in
through their pipe... like mouths.
251
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:25,238
It's only a few inches long, a pipefish
that has elected to swim upright,
252
00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,630
so freeing its tail to be
hooked onto twigs of coral
253
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:30,790
or twined around posidonia leaves
254
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,635
so that the seahorse can maintain its position
in the swirling currents of the coastal waters.
255
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,877
The whole meadow is a single,
complicated community
256
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,873
of a multitude of species,
all dependent on the posidonia.
257
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,792
But all round the sea,
stretches of posidonia are dying.
258
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,440
Sewage is only part of the problem.
259
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,316
Sediment, too, can be a killer.
260
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,233
This was once all green weed.
261
00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,475
But sediment coming down
and settling upon it
262
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:25,756
is slowly killing it with this blanket of filth...
263
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:32,277
so that, on it... grows algae.
264
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:35,591
And everything...
265
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:38,712
disappears.
266
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:50,554
By the early 1970s, it was clear
that the Mediterranean was dying.
267
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,631
Something had to be done.
268
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,070
The United Nations called a conference
269
00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,470
to which all states with a Mediterranean
coastline were invited.
270
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,195
They declared that they would take action.
271
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:08,035
Ten years later, in 1985,
they reassembled in Genoa.
272
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,070
Here, in one room,
brought together by the crisis,
273
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,994
were gathered capitalists and communists,
Muslims and Christians,
274
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:21,672
rich and poor.
275
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,309
Conferences can, of course,
be nothing more than talking shops.
276
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,154
What, in practical terms,
has this one actually done?
277
00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:36,232
Well, it's established over 200 research stations
right round the Mediterranean,
278
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:40,677
which are finding out exactly what the pollution
is, where it comes from,
279
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,558
how it circulates in the sea
and how to measure it,
280
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:44,755
all of which you have to do
281
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,719
if you're going to establish international laws
and agreements to control it.
282
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:54,798
Secondly, it has totally outlawed the dumping
of oil or any other waste at sea,
283
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,873
and thirdly, it has created procedures
to deal with a big emergency,
284
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,076
such as a wrecked oil tanker.
285
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:03,355
But there's a lot more that's got to be done yet
286
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,193
if we're going to control pollution
in the Mediterranean.
287
00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:13,669
And what about the lands
around this polluted sea?
288
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,433
They have been maltreated by man
for much longer.
289
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,990
The Greeks and the Romans began the process
3,000 years ago.
290
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:24,232
They built great cities in North Africa
from wealth produced by the soil,
291
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:28,279
but in seeking more and more, they cut down
more and more of the forests.
292
00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:31,352
The cities fell to ruin, the aqueducts dried
293
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:33,317
and the rich farming land was wrecked.
294
00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:38,794
Today, it can only provide meals of thorns
to a few sheep and goats.
295
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,596
(Bleating)
296
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:53,791
The waters of the Nile enabled Egypt
to escape these misfortunes.
297
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,075
But now even it is imperilled.
298
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,715
This beautiful temple of Philae
once stood on an island lower down the Nile
299
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,950
and was brought here, farther upstream,
300
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:09,033
and meticulously reconstructed
only a few years ago.
301
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:12,112
And if it hadn't have been,
it would have been submerged.
302
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,432
Because, during this century, engineers
have built two great dams across the Nile,
303
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,557
one just below stream
and one five miles upstream,
304
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,029
which have greatly raised the level of the water.
305
00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:27,114
Indeed, the dam upstream
has flooded the valley for 300 miles
306
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:32,593
and 100,000 people who lived there have
had to abandon their fields and their homes
307
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,989
and be resettled elsewhere.
308
00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:39,396
The benefits brought by the high dam
have been colossal.
309
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,393
Its turbines provide about half
of Egypt's electrical power
310
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,391
and it does control the extent of the floods,
311
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,233
which in the past, in some years,
were catastrophic.
312
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,435
But it's not added to the size or the fertility
of the cultivated lands
313
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,637
that lie lower down the valley,
in the way its builders promised.
314
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,832
As the waters of the Nile flow into the lake,
315
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,514
they drop the sediments
which fall onto the lake floor.
316
00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,191
And as they lie in the sun
spread over a vast area,
317
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,510
they evaporate very quickly.
318
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,709
So when the Nile flows out
through the turbines of the dam,
319
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,553
it has lost nearly a third of its water
320
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,551
and nearly all of its silt.
321
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:26,352
Downstream, in lands that were cultivated
in the times of the pharaohs,
322
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,159
there is now less water to irrigate the land.
323
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,755
And the soil is no longer
as well fertilised as it was.
324
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:43,110
So artificial fertiliser has now to be used.
325
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,634
Manufacturing it requires electricity
326
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:50,191
and that uses a significant part of the power
the dam was built to provide.
327
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,998
The seaward edge of the delta
before the dam was built
328
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,596
used to advance every year
as the annual deposit of silt was added to it.
329
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:03,879
That growth has now stopped and in places
the delta is actually being eroded away.
330
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,470
Nor is that the end of the cost.
331
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,950
Since the Nile carries so much less sediment
into the Mediterranean,
332
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,474
there is much less there
for the fish to feed upon.
333
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,269
In consequence, Egypt has lost
its sardine fishery
334
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:26,036
and the country gets less than half the tonnage
of fish from the sea
335
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,759
than it did before the dam was built.
336
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,076
Chemical fertilisers are now being used
all round the Mediterranean
337
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,196
to increase the productivity of the land,
338
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,033
together with pesticides and insecticides.
339
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:46,237
But those poisons are very stable chemically.
340
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,232
They accumulate in the bodies of birds
that feed on the insects
341
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,311
and eventually poison them.
342
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,509
The total cost of their use is even now
not fully apparent.
343
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:03,310
Almost certainly, it will include the death
and total extinction of these birds.
344
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,155
They are bald ibis.
345
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,156
0nce, they lived on cliffs
in Germany and Austria,
346
00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,037
Syria and Algeria.
347
00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:34,953
Now, there are only two colonies of them left.
348
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,999
A pathetic group of eight nesting
outside a small village in Turkey
349
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,676
and this slightly larger colony
on remote sea cliffs in Morocco.
350
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,072
0ther birds... the sacred ibis,
the imperial eagle, the black vulture...
351
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,277
are being driven from the Mediterranean
by man's activities,
352
00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:01,672
but these species still survive in wild parts
of Africa and central Europe.
353
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,758
But this bird seems only to thrive in the warm,
dry climate of the Mediterranean.
354
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,032
It has nowhere else to go.
355
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:11,873
If it dies here, it's gone forever.
356
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:28,678
The creation of fertility does not necessarily
depend on the use of artificial fertilisers.
357
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:34,315
Land like this, that bakes beneath
a cloudless sky throughout the year,
358
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,516
may seem irredeemable,
359
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,160
but even this can be brought to life.
360
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:42,838
Down by the Dead Sea,
361
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:44,956
in the Biblical wilderness of Sodom,
362
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,952
the Israelis have had spectacular success.
363
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:06,120
This kibbutz has been a leader in finding ways
to make the desert bloom.
364
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:10,512
By irrigating in the right way,
by selecting the right kind of plants,
365
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,116
they produce a succession of rich crops
through the year.
366
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,556
This is a pomelo, a kind of giant grapefruit.
367
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,275
Beside that plot stands a group of date palms.
368
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,674
Their huge long bunches of fruit,
369
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:37,788
bagged with black plastic netting to catch it
if it falls and protect it from birds,
370
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,997
are now being gathered
and will fetch excellent prices.
371
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,835
Young mango trees properly tended
also do well
372
00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:50,391
and will add to the variety of fruit that now
comes from a land that was once considered
373
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,110
the most barren and inhospitable desert
anywhere around the Mediterranean.
374
00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,912
Mediterranean man has always hunted for meat,
375
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,037
and the forests around the shores
were originally extremely rich
376
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,190
in game of one sort or another.
377
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:12,672
The Romans were great hunters,
378
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:17,117
as much for the excitement of the chase
as for, one suspects, the meat it produced.
379
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,998
That tradition continued right through
the Middle Ages.
380
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:27,198
Hunting was a masculine attribute,
a reflection of a man's virility.
381
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:31,836
And that attitude persists,
382
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,310
even though the targets now are rarely eaten.
383
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,516
(Speaking Italian)
384
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:49,870
Every year, honey buzzards migrate north
across the Mediterranean to Sicily,
385
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,077
and as they arrive, guns await them.
386
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,958
The hills along the coast are lined with bunkers,
387
00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,759
built on sites that have been
the jealously guarded possessions
388
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,229
of particular families for centuries.
389
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:17,631
There is little attempt to conceal them.
390
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,551
The birds have to come this way.
391
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:21,949
It's the shortest route across the Mediterranean
392
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,190
and there are so many shooting platforms
393
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,511
that avoiding one simply puts them
within the range of another.
394
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:44,632
Another honey buzzard.
395
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:16,836
A dead honey buzzard.
396
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,477
This hunt is illegal.
397
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,872
People concerned for the welfare of the birds
come up to the hills to monitor their numbers
398
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:27,279
and to check their progress.
399
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:31,556
The forestry authorities responsible
for the upholding of the law
400
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,870
do their best to stop the shoot
401
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:36,997
but this slogan says "Long live the hunt"
402
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:39,150
and while local report remains so strong,
403
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,869
it's nearly impossible to suppress
this longstanding tradition.
404
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,353
Mechanical lures attract songbirds.
405
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,519
A few hunters maintain that these tiny corpses
make a tasty pate,
406
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,438
but the impulse to kill seems a more likely
explanation for their actions.
407
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,672
The slaughter is at its most intense not in
the poorer countries of the Mediterranean
408
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:19,390
but in the rich southwest...
Spain, France and, worst of all, Italy.
409
00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:25,589
Each year, several hundred million wild birds
die at the hand and the whim of man.
410
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,593
The forests themselves are now endangered.
411
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:33,830
Fires rage through the summer.
412
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,115
Some are doubtless started by accident...
413
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,760
a cigarette end, a campfire
that got out of control.
414
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,353
But the authorities say that as much as 80%
are started deliberately
415
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,557
by those who want a legally protected
forest destroyed
416
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,074
so the land can be used
for profitable development.
417
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:53,676
Even by people who just take pleasure
in seeing trees burn.
418
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:05,957
Putting them out requires all the ingenuity
and technical muscle that man can muster.
419
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:07,996
And even then, it may not be enough.
420
00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:18,232
Seaplanes scoop up seawater
1,000 gallons at a time.
421
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,793
Some add special fire... extinguishing chemicals
to their load.
422
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,276
In 1986, in the south of France alone,
423
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:04,559
170 square miles of land were devastated
by these fires.
424
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,795
We burn the land, we strip it of its forests,
we poison it,
425
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:17,836
we also drain it.
426
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,914
Wetlands and marshes around the sea
427
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,312
have been the one place where you could rely
on finding an abundance of wildlife.
428
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,477
They survived that way because people thought
they were not worth the cost of reclamation.
429
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:36,710
That is no longer the case.
430
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,509
Modern machinery now makes drainage
much easier and cheaper
431
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:42,750
and the wetlands are disappearing fast.
432
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:46,914
Some of the drained land
is used for agriculture,
433
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,709
although the extra crops may not be needed
and may even be left to rot.
434
00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:55,315
0ther stretches along the coast
are being turned into holiday complexes
435
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,391
to cater for the huge number of us
436
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:01,359
who now make the annual migration south
to the sea and the sun.
437
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,876
Today, hotels stand beside almost every beach
438
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:09,272
and an almost continuous line of buildings
runs for 200 miles
439
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,193
along the coast of southern France and Italy.
440
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,238
No marshland, no quiet reed bed
441
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:18,392
can any longer be considered safe
from development.
442
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:45,436
At the last detailed census in 1973, 60 million
people visited the Mediterranean shores
443
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,159
during the short few months
of the holiday season.
444
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,275
The figures now are astronomic,
445
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,749
for every year more and more come
446
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,832
and more and more facilities are built
to accommodate them.
447
00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:16,870
Foundations for yet another jetty,
448
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:18,757
yet another marina.
449
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,553
Sun, it seems, is the prime reason
most of us have for coming here,
450
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,552
yet this is a recently acquired enthusiasm.
451
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,030
0nly a century ago,
the wealthy ladies who strolled here
452
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,714
prided themselves
on their milk... white complexions
453
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:36,030
and wore clothes of elaborate awkwardness
454
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,874
to make it clear that they were totally
unacquainted with the outdoor life.
455
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,510
Today, just the same kind of people
456
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,353
strive to get a skin colour
that gives the impression
457
00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:48,000
that their entire lives are spent out of doors,
458
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,913
even though the process of getting it
is often painful,
459
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,309
certainly runs the risk of skin cancer,
460
00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,597
and even when successful,
only lasts for a week or two.
461
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:02,199
Amidst all this,
462
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:05,238
wildlife strives to maintain a place.
463
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:08,753
A loggerhead turtle,
464
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:13,118
looking for a nesting site off the beach
in one of the Greek islands.
465
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:19,756
(Speedboat approaching)
466
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,591
Loggerheads come up to lay
under the cover of darkness
467
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,514
and a few will brave the flashing lights
and the near continuous noise
468
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:55,318
to dig their nests.
469
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:57,356
(Pop music and people partying)
470
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,270
The turtles' needs are no secret.
471
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:33,999
The beaches that were once theirs
are well known
472
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,833
and this is the most important
of those they still use.
473
00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:42,396
A notice asks visitors to keep away
and give the turtles the privacy they need.
474
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:45,398
It's used for target practice.
475
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:49,637
Many of the turtles that are brave enough
to climb up the beach
476
00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:54,748
turn around, repelled by the noise,
and go back to the sea with their eggs unlaid.
477
00:39:57,200 --> 00:39:58,872
In just a few places,
478
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:03,158
the rich wild world of the Mediterranean
does still survive.
479
00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:05,674
The northern coast of Majorca has no beaches
480
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:08,991
and remains quiet even during the hubbub
of the holiday season
481
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:13,039
and a few pairs of black vultures
can still nest there.
482
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:18,996
It's one of the biggest of all vultures,
483
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:20,991
with a wingspan of over seven feet.
484
00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:23,990
It once lived in many parts of Europe
485
00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:27,197
but it feeds on carrion,
and, apart from anything else,
486
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,396
the improvement of farming practices
487
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,552
has deprived it of food
over much of its former range.
488
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:36,235
Now, only a few hundred pairs are left
in all western Europe.
489
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:43,990
The shallow lakes and lagoons
that were once common around the coast
490
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:45,832
have now largely gone.
491
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:50,357
But drive west, from Bizerte airport in Tunisia,
just before dawn in winter
492
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:53,079
and you will find half a million birds.
493
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:55,116
(Squawking)
494
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,715
They have assembled on a rare stretch of water,
Lake Ishkul,
495
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,268
and are busy feeding in the first light.
496
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:22,476
(Squawking)
497
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:32,630
Virtually the entire European population
of wild greylag geese
498
00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:34,392
come down here to feed.
499
00:41:52,720 --> 00:41:54,836
In the shallower parts, there are waders...
500
00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:58,276
avocets and redshanks and many other species.
501
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:25,157
For many of the geese and ducks,
502
00:42:25,240 --> 00:42:27,515
this is a vital wintering ground.
503
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,160
For the waders, an essential staging post
504
00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:33,949
on their long migration route
between southern Africa and Europe.
505
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,115
But others want the precious waters
of Lake Ishkul.
506
00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:44,670
Local people would like to build dams
across the rivers that feed it
507
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,433
and use the water to irrigate their farms
508
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:49,715
and to supply the hotels
that are now being built
509
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:53,759
in order that Tunisia should get its share
of the tourist bonanza.
510
00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:05,950
But if the lake is starved of water,
511
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:08,190
then these birds can no longer feed
512
00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:11,795
and no one knows how or if they will survive.
513
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:26,069
This is one of the last patches
of truly natural forest
514
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,116
to be found around the sea.
515
00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:32,839
The southern shores in North Africa
were deforested by the Romans,
516
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:34,956
the northern shores by later people
517
00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,429
who wanted more farmland and more timber.
518
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:42,919
This area, around the Plitvice Lakes
in Yugoslavia in the east
519
00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,309
has therefore become specially precious.
520
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:50,271
It has spruce and fir growing alongside beaches
521
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,079
and among the trees wander
most of the big animals
522
00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,835
with which man shared the forest
during prehistory.
523
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:19,196
The rivers flow over limestone
and dissolve it away to form deep caverns.
524
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:24,558
Then, lower down their course,
they deposit the lime again as travertine,
525
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:29,509
which dams the streams and forms
a series of spectacular waterfalls and lakes.
526
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:43,109
Elsewhere in Europe, otters are under threat
because, of course, they catch fish
527
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,316
and men want to do that.
528
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:48,153
But here, they are allowed to take their share.
529
00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:11,032
The deltas of Mediterranean rivers
were once tangled wildernesses.
530
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:13,793
Around the mouth of the River Nestos
in Greece,
531
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:16,678
you can see what they were originally like.
532
00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:20,878
It's a place of great fascination,
for it was in such swampy woodlands as this
533
00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:23,713
that men first found the wild grapevine,
534
00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:25,597
and it grows here still.
535
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,513
It's also a place of great beauty.
536
00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:30,909
(Birds twittering)
537
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:39,791
Damselflies mating.
538
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:42,952
The male has seized the female's head
with the tip of his tail
539
00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:44,553
and fertilised her.
540
00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:46,471
Now, while he still clings to her,
541
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,994
she will deposit her eggs into the water.
542
00:45:51,240 --> 00:45:55,074
A striped grass snake,
hunting for tadpoles and frogs.
543
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:14,671
In these warm waters, terrapins flourish.
544
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:19,915
0nly two species... the pond terrapin
and the stripe... necked... occur in Europe
545
00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:22,195
and they both live here.
546
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:56,911
Islands in the Mediterranean
are popular places.
547
00:46:57,000 --> 00:46:58,831
But a few are so difficult to reach
548
00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:01,798
that they have remained virtually
uninfluenced by man.
549
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:05,511
The Sporades stretch eastwards
from the Greek mainland
550
00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:08,068
and this is one of the most remote of them.
551
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:12,631
There's no safe anchorage here and severe
storms can blow up with little warning.
552
00:47:12,720 --> 00:47:16,076
There was once a small monastery,
but that has now been abandoned
553
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:19,232
and the birds have the place
almost to themselves.
554
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:22,073
Two of them are Mediterranean specialities.
555
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:27,749
Audouin's gull, the Mediterranean's
unique version of the herring gull,
556
00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:29,558
so common farther north.
557
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:31,517
It differs from it mainly in coloration,
558
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:35,912
having greenish legs and a scarlet beak
tipped with black and yellow.
559
00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:47,030
Eleonora's falcon is the other
of the island's unique birds.
560
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:55,757
Eleonora was a princess who ruled in Sardinia,
where this falcon also lives,
561
00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:57,478
during the 14th century,
562
00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:02,236
and she passed the law protecting falcons from
human interference during the breeding season.
563
00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:06,313
A law, it must be said, that was made largely
for the benefit of falconers,
564
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:09,358
rather than a concern
for conservation in general.
565
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:13,353
This bird was named in her honour
when it was first recognised by science
566
00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:15,192
during the 19th century.
567
00:48:19,480 --> 00:48:23,758
It winters down in Madagascar
but it comes up to the Mediterranean to breed.
568
00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:26,308
For most of the year, it feeds on insects
569
00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:29,039
but now it has extra mouths to feed.
570
00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:33,079
Its nests are strategically placed
on migration routes across the sea
571
00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:36,436
and it catches warblers and other small birds
for its chicks.
572
00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:49,600
But the island's rarest inhabitant
lives in the clear seas around its coast.
573
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:00,672
The monk seal.
574
00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:13,428
Fishermen have always regarded it
as their enemy.
575
00:49:14,080 --> 00:49:17,914
It took their fish... worse, it sometimes
got entangled in their nets
576
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:20,036
and caused expensive damage.
577
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:23,032
Anyway, its soft skin fetched good prices
578
00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:25,554
so they killed it whenever they got the chance.
579
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:29,795
Today, there are probably less than 350 left,
580
00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:32,110
but even now, it is still hunted.
581
00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:39,910
The cliffs of the island are of limestone
582
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:43,515
and the pounding waves have tunnelled
a few caves deep into them,
583
00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:45,352
close to the waterline.
584
00:50:09,240 --> 00:50:12,835
And this is one of the last places
585
00:50:12,920 --> 00:50:17,675
where this rarest of the Mediterranean mammals
can find safety.
586
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:23,112
Many seal species can go to sea
for months on end
587
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:26,749
but this animal is very much a coastal animal
588
00:50:26,840 --> 00:50:31,516
and it needs to have quiet beaches
where it can haul itself up for rest.
589
00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:35,479
But more than that, it needs to have
gently shelving beaches
590
00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:38,028
where it can have its pups.
591
00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:43,274
This little creature,
for the first two weeks of its life,
592
00:50:43,360 --> 00:50:44,713
can't swim.
593
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,678
And unless the beach is gently shelving,
594
00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:51,718
then there's a danger that a big wave
may come in
595
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:54,155
and sweep it away and drown it.
596
00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:59,279
The sunny, sandy beaches have now
been claimed by others.
597
00:50:59,840 --> 00:51:02,718
Now the seals must use places like this.
598
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:06,156
A tiny cave that can only be reached
from the sea
599
00:51:06,240 --> 00:51:09,198
and only entered by boat in a flat calm
600
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:14,274
which is why this little pup
has been born in safety
601
00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:16,157
and survives.
602
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:22,958
And now, it's just old enough
to play in the break.
603
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:31,717
It was in the lands around this sea
604
00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:34,678
that some 10,000 years ago
605
00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:39,151
human beings first discovered
how to tame animals and cultivate plants.
606
00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:41,639
Could it be here too
607
00:52:41,720 --> 00:52:46,953
that they also first learned from the mistakes
they made during that process?
608
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:52,753
That nations, no matter what their political
philosophy or economic circumstance,
609
00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:54,876
or religious beliefs,
610
00:52:54,960 --> 00:52:59,078
recognised that they simply had to
get together and agree
611
00:52:59,160 --> 00:53:04,712
if they were to save these wild landscapes
and the animals and plants that live in them.
612
00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:09,109
That that perhaps is just one more lesson
613
00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:12,237
that the Mediterranean could offer to the world.
614
00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:17,875
For surely these things are among
our most precious possessions,
615
00:53:17,960 --> 00:53:23,080
the last glimpses we have
of mankind's first Eden.