The Sava River - The Green Heart of Croatia | Free Documentary Nature

[Music] a protected wetland in croatia it's early may [Music] the meadows and forests have been flooded for weeks now [Music] life here is shaped by the water which is responsible for the biodiversity [Music] the people live in harmony with this landscape [Music] in porcevina the valley of the sava southeast of caesar [Music] [Music] shortly after sunrise in landscope a pig is already out and about enjoying the early light [Music] fresh rushes are particularly tasty at this time [Music] the polya is a unique paradise for birds particularly in spring [Music] black and white stalks hunt together in the wetlands and always in the company of several herons there are pools and small towns everywhere now with fish left behind after the sava flooded amphibians and insect larvae can be found here in large numbers it's a land of plenty the black stalk is searching the shallow water for prey with so much on offer he always catches something in his beak the delicate little egrets are pickier they only eat small animals of up to 20 grams and 10 centimeters in length the fish amphibians and insects develop rapidly in the shallow warm water each individual pond can contain up to 50 birds at any one time they have to hurry because in just a few days time the water may have evaporated taking away this plethora of food [Music] [Applause] the wild animals aren't alone in landscope human hands have been shaping the landscape for centuries the polia is pastureland [Music] hundreds of pigs horses and cattle roamed the meadows and forests from may onwards leading a wild and free life during the summer the farmers regularly visit their animals to prevent them from becoming altogether feral in winter they have to return to their farms [Music] only the dairy cows are let out during the day and brought back in again in the evening but only a few elderly farmers still make this effort most of the younger ones have a job alongside agriculture but they aren't willing or able to say goodbye to the old traditions like their ancestors they subscribe to the traditional method of keeping grazing animals the possavina method [Music] the stalks are just as much part of lanscopolia as the grazing animals are some villages have more stalks than people many farms have several nests [Music] life in the village along the sava is now a mix of tradition and modernity many of the timber houses are several hundred years old the older population are particularly likely to uphold traditions take ivan lonzarevich and his wife anna for example they're both over 70 but they still grow all their animal feed and couldn't imagine a life without agriculture i've worked in agriculture since i've been able to work i like this work and won't give up this life [Music] a few days ago a cow had a calf the lunchabics still treat their animals as individuals not as intensively reared anonymous meat producers ivan and anna have been married for more than 50 years she was 15 he was 17. dave built the farm together and still do all the work themselves i do everything with my husband when he needs help with cleaning out the cow shed or milking the cow for example after she's had a calf i help we let our cows live outside just like the pigs and poultry the efforts worth it because their animals lead a life that's appropriate for their species they only spend time in their sheds in the winter months swallows are nesting in the sheds and barns while the chickens come and go as they please [Music] [Music] in a few days time ivan will take the cattle out to the polia by then the calf has to be strong and steady on its legs so it can follow the herd everywhere [Music] the villages of the posavina still exude an air of agricultural tranquility the clocks run slower here than in the constant restlessness of the towns it's a place of peace and quiet for visitors [Music] every farm has its own flock of chickens like all the other animals these feathered creatures lead a carefree life a long mane and gentle eyes until a few decades ago the persavian horse the pusavac a small heavy but agile horse shaped the sava floodplains mio dragbegovic usually known as mishko is the president of the donya posavina a croatian association of horse breeders that aims to prevent the endangered poservacs from going extinct by mid-may most of the mayors already have their faults that's why the herd will soon be going out into the polia mishko was an electrical engineer at first but he was drawn to the countryside so in the year 2000 he bought an old derelict farmhouse and restored it then he started breeding possavax posavaks are small enduring and good-natured for centuries they were the farmer's typical workhorses mishko's one of the youngest ones here many have moved away because traditional agriculture doesn't bring in enough money but despite all the changes in recent decades life in the villages of lonzcopolia still possesses the typical rural atmosphere that existed in industrialized nations such as germany britain and france until the mid twentieth century the old framed houses in villages such as chigoch have timbers that came from the alluvial forests of the sava [Music] the intention is that old things will continue to exist alongside the new in the future almost all the farmhouse roofs now have stalks some have already had their first chicks that's the peace and quiet gone for the parents the little ones will have an insatiable appetite for the next eight to ten weeks again and again the store parents bring material for the nest to bolster it for the delicate chicks still only a few days old the nests look unappetizing and uncomfortable from the outside but on the inside they're quite soft and warm one parent will always stay nearby to look after the young towards noon many stalks arrive from the polya and bring food and water stork nests are communal places there are always several sparrow families living here as lodges this pair have already dealt with the first brood and are passionately preparing the next one [Music] the male stalk meanwhile tries to steal twigs from the neighboring nest it's a behavior that's widespread among birds breeding and colonies success at last and now for a quick getaway before the neighbor gets back stalks constantly expand their nests over the years and decades a nest can become several meters high and weigh up to two tons while the stalks take care of their young on the roofs village life takes place down below a lot of people in posserina are still self-sufficient and own at least one cow one pig or a flock of chickens the transition between gardens and the small fields is usually seamless the arable crops for the animals are grown here without pesticides and fertilizers no one has to go very far that saves energy the herd of hungarian grey kettle are grazing in the crappie doll ensuring that this internationally important bird sanctuary is conserved a colony with at least six european heron species [Music] there are plenty of grey herons great white egrets and little egrets but the eurasian spoonbill which is endangered in europe is particularly at home here spoonbills are dependent on wet land particularly within the immediate vicinity of their breeding colonies the area was at risk of drying out in the late 80s the eurasian spoonbills disappeared but sustainable conservation measures and the foundation oyo natura made sure that the rare herons returned and started breeding here again even the glossy ibis bird of the gods in ancient egypt can regularly be found in the crap yadol representing all the other endangered species the eurasian spoonbill adorns the emblem of the landscope nature park the strange bird with a spoon-like beak is an indicator of intact marshlands almost all the villages in the landscope are on the water to a greater or lesser extent the many towns oxbow lakes and pools foster species diversity in the region pond turtles have gone extinct in large areas of central and western europe because bodies of water have been transformed and drained however in the sava flood plains this reptile is still abundant even though the sava was made navigable a long time ago and was even damned in the 1970s most oxbow lakes remained in place they still lined the villages today it's mid-may the time has come for ivan to take his cattle to their summer pastures since his farm's on the other side of the server he has to use the ferry the animals are excited they know they're heading out to the polia finally they can enjoy life in the great outdoors again evan's also happy about that [Music] i drive the herd out onto the landscape in spring i then see to the farming it's relaxing to head out to the landscape if i see something that needs doing i'll do it if nothing needs to be done that's fine too i'm happy but if you have your animals in sheds you have to work all the time this year the flood was particularly high it took a long time for the water to subside the land is still flooded over large areas the ground is muddy and wet a flood like this has advantages and disadvantages although the animals can only get out late the high water also helps the regeneration of the forests and meadows [Music] two months earlier at the end of march the land's underwater there was a lot of rain in recent months including in the upper reaches of the sava the water has come all the way to here with the flood some animals are even outside in the winter a farmer from loft chitsa doesn't have enough shed space for his pigs at home the waters climbed to the threshold of their hut but they're all in good health this year the water's two meters high in the forests and meadows over an area of more than 300 square kilometers that's not a problem for the fisherman's huts the people here know their river and have adapted to its moods [Music] [Applause] [Music] but the late arrival of winter has proved difficult for the stalks [Music] although it doesn't look it right now spring is just around the corner we're in southern europe at 45 degrees north after all [Music] a few weeks later in may the animal residents of the landscope are benefiting from the big flood the stalks in particular they can expect a plentiful supply of food and therefore a good success rate with their offspring that's also true for the shy relative of the white stalk which lives a reclusive life in the alluvial forests the black stalk is dependent on relatively open natural forests with lots of water unlike its white relative it eats hardly any mice and reptiles it prefers fish amphibians and water insects they're developing particularly well this year the black stalks young are due to a hatch in the coming days [Music] the stalks aren't alone in their forest anymore many herds of cattle are now roaming wild there are more than three thousand animals populating the forests and meadows of the polya every summer several small herds owned by different farmers joined together into larger ones every herd has a territory where they occasionally go on large migrations this is a good place to observe cattle in their natural behavior over the coming days the animals will go crazy about the fresh green shoots finally they don't have to eat last year's hay anymore they can enjoy fresh juicy leaves and twigs [Music] the sava and its tributaries the lonya and trebish have returned to their riverbeds it's the end of may the situation becomes easier by the day [Music] the fisherman's huts are dry again too [Music] the summer snowflake blossoms in the alluvial forests around the sava at this time of year it's closely related to the spring snowflake both of which are toxic during the day the horses are sent into the forest to protect them from the ever more powerful sun the foals are still delicate and need shade [Music] the abundance of blossoms and insects is increasing summer is just around the corner the warm weather is also causing the amphibian population to explode that's good for hungry predators [Music] the grass snake approaches almost silently the frog should be easy prey [Music] unimpressed by all this a family of pigs are dozing in the noon sun the grass snake can't harm them anyway but then someone gets in the way after all the farmers visiting his pigs the snake goes rigid the boats are coming right towards it the pigs meanwhile are looking forward to the extra portion of maize even though they can find enough larvae and roots here the farmer can make sure his animals won't forget him and go pharaoh his heart belongs to the sava that's always been the case nikola yankovic is on the river almost every day despite being 80 years old he's a fisherman for a period he had to be away from this area he spent a few years working in germany for example [Music] but in 1992 nikola returned to his river for good sharing it with white-tailed eagles herons and other fish hunters he regularly places and checks his fish traps the nets are empty today but he's not bothered he's not dependent on his catch often the fish aren't even the reason why he comes here especially in early spring when the willow has its scent i like coming here during that time sometimes i don't even put up traps or nets i just come for a little boat trip or to sit and watch the river i enjoy it the sava is nicolas alexia [Music] on warm spring afternoons an unusual concert can be heard in the alluvial forests the mating ritual of the european fire belly toads has begun there's a male every two to three meters sitting on the shallow water calling the black stalks still on the nest after more than five weeks of brooding the young should hatch any day now [Music] and indeed almost invisible there's a small yellow beak moving behind the edge of the nest the adult stalks keep a food reserve in the nest while sitting on the brood that way they don't have to leave the nest and put the eggs and young at risk the chicks only a few hours old its siblings will hatch in the coming days since the female starts brooding after laying the second egg the first chick is often up to a week older than the last one to hatch that's why the youngest ones stand almost no chance of survival in bad years marsh spurge is flowering in the forests in the past it used to be widespread all over europe's flood plains but because of modern agriculture it's disappeared in many places the torts mating ritual reaches its climax on balmy evenings the primeval amphibians pumped their lungs full of air before expelling it fully via their vocal sex to produce a bell-like sound they do that up to 40 times per minute such exertion [Music] requires an energy boost the landscope is one of europe's most primeval alluvial and cultivated landscapes intact habitats and traditional ways of life are often sacrificed to progress cost to humans and the environment tends to be overlooked [Music] the oil natural foundation has designated the village of chigoch a european stork village to highlight the significance of the lonscopolia [Music] was the first place to be awarded this distinction more than a dozen followed these stork villages are supposed to emphasize the significance and diversity of the meadows and fields in europe from the flood plains of the sava to the steps in spain's extra madura [Music] chigoch is definitely one of the most beautiful among them [Music] the pollya farmer chelco streemage is calling his picks for his weekly visit with a sack of maize to bribe them of course the pigs immediately come running and throw themselves on to the tasty treat in the past the landscope was largely inhabited by two polio pigs they were ideal for living on the floodplains all year round they were bred as early as the 14th century today it's tough to find pure breeds chelco is in a hurry he's doing a deal with another farmer he wants to sell cattle the interested part he wants to buy young cattle to keep in sheds but the negotiations are tough the buyer doesn't think the animals are fat enough that's not least because the animals move around a lot outside but chalco is convinced by his way of keeping animals i enjoy it when i come here and get a complete overview of my animals my heart and soul relaxes when i see every animal breathing it's important to me that the cows don't spend much time in the sheds it's better for them to be outside that also means that they supply pure organic meat [Music] summer's in full swing there are more stalks on the roofs of chigojc than there have been for a long time 173 white stalks as against 90 people a ratio of almost two to one that many young are always hungry the stork parents get almost no break [Music] [Applause] many nests have five or even six young stalks [Music] it's not always harmonious here two are fighting over an adult grass snake [Music] grass snakes are particularly popular with white stalks [Music] the older one wins in the end the young stalks have to be supplied with food but also with plenty of water now in july the temperature often reaches more than 35 degrees in the shade pigs aren't familiar with problems like that they always find a puddle in which they can roll around and dick to their heart's content what would a poor indoor pig gift to roll around so pleasurably in the mud flies are also thursday in weather like this much to the delight of the young frogs you can't always be successful these frogs hunt in water [Music] but that's associated with risks a great white egret is looking for prey but he'll have to make do with tadpoles today the green sandpiper also has tadpoles on the menu and the ponds full of them meanwhile there's a new danger in the reeds although maybe it's one that's too noisy and conspicuous group of frogs have long since noticed the intruder [Music] but the young little bitten has set its sights on a fat adult frog no luck the marshes of the lonscopolia are full of life in the summer months there's an over abundance of predators and prey be it a little crack or a kingfisher they've all got their preferences and strategies the delicate little egrets like to follow digging pigs they don't let all this hustle and bustle bother them they're just enjoying the summer suddenly some of the birds become restless mishko is chugging through the polya on his motorbike he wants to check on his horses escorted by a small group of pigs who are racing this unfamiliar vehicle the horses can hear the motorbike from a long way off and wait for their owner during the hot midday hours they tend to spend time in the forest knows where they like to be but he can't ever be certain because out there the hurt goes where it pleases despite all his enthusiasm for and commitment to his persavian horses mishko is plagued by doubts about their future economically this lovable breed has become almost completely insignificant sometimes it's possible to earn a bit of money from selling them but it's not a lot this job will die out over time and there'll be fewer and fewer horses on the meadows the herds are becoming smaller every year oh my god we had 450 animals last year this year we've got and 150 fewer let's stay in spanish there's less and less point in breeding them for centuries the possibilities were popular both as agile war horses that could pull cannon and as docile willing workhorses today they're being replaced by tractors their time like that of the two rupaulian pigs is coming to an end it seems there are only between fifteen and nineteen hundred horses in the entire lonzo polio region [Applause] most owners keep them out of conviction but will they be able to live off them in the future but maybe this pleasant workhorse will experience a renaissance as a riding horse or coach host the dung of these horses attracts camberwell beauties with a wingspan of up to seven and a half centimeters it's one of the largest european butterflies their happiest in light broadly forest such as this one since this habitat is experiencing more and more destruction camberwell beauties also known as morning cloaks have become rare in large parts of europe the alluvial forest of the lonscopolia feels like a dense wild jungle in the summer these forests were once europe's answer to the amazon but most of them have been destroyed here on the sava there are still around 10 000 hectares of relatively pristine alluvial forest they're a valuable place of refuge for the shy black stalks the young birds have developed well and will fledge in a few weeks they'll gradually pluck the white down feathers of their juvenile plumage [Music] their parents are constantly busy getting food and water the food is quickly regurgitated into the nest it's predominantly fish frogs and water insects which the young greedily devour they have to get going again five hungry young stalks don't leave time for idleness after the meal the young turn to looking after their plumage again in a good four weeks they'll fly to their winter quarters in africa for the first time a young starling is curiously peeping out of his nest keenly watched by a young buzzard young starlings will also leave their nest in a few days time alluvial forests are among the most biodiverse and also most threatened habitats in europe until a few centuries ago they covered large sways of the continent river diversion and land drainage have destroyed most of them however especially in western europe the sava floodplains demonstrate what river landscapes used to look like what abundance of flora and fauna they had and that people can live well with them although large alluvial forests have been lost in the lonscopolia too the forests that are still there possess a high ecological potential and could develop into proper jungles again [Music] flood plains are habitats full of natural wonders [Music] [Music] towards the evening the big herds of horses leave the forests and move out onto the meadows to graze [Music] the black stalk brings one last food ration to the nest but the farmers can't stop working yet the hay has to be brought in before the night's dampness sets in and reduces its quality the farmers help each other with the hay harvest the whole family gets involved they're particularly worried about the hay going mouldy then the valuable feed for the winter would be lost [Applause] at this time of year the farmers work every evening until dark it's the most exhausting time in their calendar [Music] night falls quickly a pale full moon shines on the meadows of the landscope [Music] the next morning fog drifts over the floodplains as is so often the case [Music] the summer is coming to an end [Music] at this time of year there's more and more fog and it doesn't clear as readily eurasian spoonbills are becoming an increasingly rare sight at the few pools still present they search for frogs and water insects together with the herons a pig is enjoying digging for scarab larvae and roots again it becomes clear how closely the lives of wild animals and livestock are intertwined in the landscope all this abundance of food is provided by the regular returns of the sava floods without them the land here would be barren and poor it's only the regular high water that guarantees that hundreds of stalks herons eagles and many other creatures tied to the water can come to the landscape to raise their young plans to build a danube sava canal to the adriatic have been around for a while now if they were to be implemented it would be the death blow for this unique habitat it would be the end of this wealth of plants birds and other animals that are desperately reliant on wetlands such as this one stalks and herons would soon disappear in addition it would mark the end of traditional grazing practices that have existed here for centuries man and nature at hand in hand in the lons copolya they're directly dependent on each other so we can only hope that such plans whose economic feasibility is also in question by the way are never implemented [Music] right now the server still meanders into the danube along with the seasonal fluctuations in water levels that are natural for rivers [Music] even fish hunters like kingfishers and cormorants are still plentiful and there are still plenty of fish more than 40 species live in the river [Music] fishermen nikola is out on the saba this evening he wants to catch catfish he's using freshwater pearl mussels as bait he cleverly picks them out of the sand on the server's banks he attaches the flush of the muscles to a hook that he'll later hang over board to dangle in the water as the boat drifts down river i'm used to life with this river i love it and it's my main occupation i prefer watching the server to watching television is much more interesting nikola likes fishing using the traditional method he taps the water with a wooden stick to attract the catfish it's not clear what the tapping does to the fish but it's a proven method and the fishermen are convinced of it now in the evening the birds become active again too the harens have gathered on an island in the crappy doll the rare and shy black crown night heron can also be found among its bigger [Music] relatives in 1972 people started draining huge tracts of land around the sava but even during the planning phase it became clear that a river that had been channelized wouldn't be able to cope with the quantities of water that the server transported to the danube in order to protect the towns and fields large floodplains are needed that's why the landscope has remained in place as a dike marsh and bird paradise the flood plains of the sava can store a total of two billion cubic meters of water that's why there have never been any dramatic floods unlike with many other major rivers in europe the server is now considered an outstanding example of flood protection by other countries in germany for example large parts of the alp flat plains are naturalized again because people have recognized that this form of flood protection is the best and most sustainable this gives nature a place of peace and quiet and of wilderness in a globalized urbanized world the late summer languishes over the polar once again the farmers go out to check on their animals just like they always have done [Music] the lonscop is one of the most primeval floodplains and cultivated landscapes in europe this form of managing the land goes back to at least the time of the austro-turkish wars between the 14th and 18th centuries and probably even further instead of recklessly transforming and exploiting the natural world humans have chosen to work with it here and have benefited greatly as a result hopefully the 21st century will still see horses and cattle and pigs roaming the landscope spending their summers in freedom because the result of this measured approach to the environment is a biodiversity that's hard to find anymore the oil natura foundation the croatian state and the eu are at pains to conserve the tradition and culture here they're supporting the farmers financially too in material terms it's definitely a modest life in the basic wooden houses always exposed to nature's whims but it's also a unique gift [Music] the stalks are still in the villages hopefully that will never change in the lonzko polya croatia's green heart [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] you

Channel: Free Documentary - Nature

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), nature documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Nature, Wildlife, Wildlife Documentary, Wildlife Documentary 2021, Animals, Animal Documentary, Sava River, Sava Floodplains, Croatia, Croatia Documentary, Balkan Documentary, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Zagreb, Sava, River, River Documentary, free high-quality documentaries, national park, nature conservation, Wildlife Preserve

Id: Gu8epX7Y4Pk

Length: 52min 0sec (3120 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 01 2021