The fourth series of the immensely popular and uplifting ‘Back from The Brink’ presented by Derek Mooney will reach our screens this spring, beginning May 12th on RTÉ One.
Our planet is paying the price for generations of environmental mismanagement, but in this new two-part series Derek Mooney goes on a journey across Europe to find out how smart human intervention can bring Europe’s wildlife ‘Back from the Brink’.
The series showcases how European conservationists are working to stem the tide of a biodiversity crisis and climate change, one step at a time. The series is made by RTÉ Cork with the European Broadcasting Union, and ten other member broadcasters taking part with potential to be broadcast in 52 countries across the continent.
From the return of the magnificent Osprey to Ireland, persecuted into extinction over 200 years ago, to the giant task of removing 10,000 rats from an island to give its birdlife a chance to survive, the series celebrates the work of wildlife conservationists by showing how by working with nature we can help solve some of the problems we humans have created.
We’ll find out how an ancient breed of wild Irish goat might be the answer to the very modern problem of wildfires…. and we’ll try to understand why Killer Whales are attacking sailing boats off the Southern Coast of Spain and how the Beaver, nature’s master builder, is being brought back to Scotland.
Episode One
Scotland
Since their re-introduction began in 2009, the population of beavers in Scotland has grown to more than fifteen hundred. Despite being a protected species, licences can be issued to cull the animals. Until recently farmers and landowners, frustrated at the damage beavers can cause, were left with little alternative. But things have changed. Since the end of 2021 one it’s been possible to move problematic beavers. Nature’s master dam builders are making a rapid recovery
Ireland
The Osprey is a fish-eating bird of prey that was quite plentiful across the across Ireland until about two hundred years ago. Like many other birds of prey, it was persecuted into extinction. Now thanks to Norway the Irish National Parks and Wildlife service gathers to attempt the collection of 10 Osprey chicks for relocation to Ireland. Back in the Irish skies again after two centuries will they survive this time? A missing piece of our ecological jigsaw puzzle will have been slotted back into place. The reintroduction of the Ospreys to the Irish countryside was done in strict secrecy to protect the birds in their new environment. Few people knew about it beforehand.
Sweden
The extraordinary beautiful White Stork was once a symbol of the Swedish landscape. The loss of wetlands and the use of high-voltage power lines were the most common cause of its decline, finally dying out in the 1950s. In 1989, the Stork Project was founded to restore these very special birds to Swedish skies.
Northern Ireland
Once abundant in European waters, the Flapper Skate is now so rare that the International Union for Conservation of Nature – has placed it on their red list of the most critically endangered animals.
Romania
The Cioclovina Natural Park in Romania is home to the Stone Crayfish – a tiny animal that has a massive impact in protecting an entire freshwater ecosystem. Through their way of living, they clean these mountain rivers, and they can be considered the park keepers of the mountain creeks and rivers. If they disappear then the whole ecosystem is at risk.
Switzerland
The Grisons Caton in the High Alps of Switzerland. A stunning habitat where biodiversity seems to be abundant. Yet a crucial part of the picture was missing: a large bird of prey once found widely in the region. The Bearded Vulture. It was completely wiped out in the Alps by senseless human persecution. Across three Alpine countries there have been series of reintroductions of captive-bred bearded vultures.
Germany
The Bavarian pine vole. Sixty years ago, it was discovered in southern Germany but hasn’t been seen since then. Is it missing, or is it already extinct?
The Bavarian Environment Agency has been trying to find out … could it be possible that this rare rodent still exists against all the odds? Is nature more resilience than we think?
Slovenia
The Karst Edge region near the Adriatic Coast became a Bermuda triangle for Eurasian Eagle Owls. Each bird that entered would disappear shortly afterwards. This happened repeatedly.
So, what was happening to these birds?
Netherlands
In the northern Netherlands lies the Wadden Sea, one of the largest tidal systems in the world. At low tide, sand flats become visible, only to be flooded by the sea a few hours later. This area is a nursery for fish, crustaceans and shellfish and a vital food source for millions of birds, who forage here by low tide. But this stunning landscape is threatened by plastic waste
Spain
Off the coast of southern Spain a pod of Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, made headlines in summer 2023 by attacking and damaging slow moving sailing boats in the area.
This behaviour is new, as Orcas as have been living alongside humans here for at least three thousand years with no prior signs of aggression towards boats. What is causing this change of behaviour and what can be done about it?
