WILD ITALY: Survival in the Alps | Nature Documentary

[00:00:03]Jewels of the Alps, [music] the five largest lakes of Upper Italy.

[00:00:18]Born of glaciers, shaped by water, tamed by the human hand.

[00:00:29]They tell stories of nature and culture in the rhythm of the seasons. They all show a changing face, each [music] in its own way.

[00:01:05]where the top of the Italian boot meets the central European continent lie the lakes of Upper Italy.

[00:01:14]In easy reach of both Venice and Milan, their beaches and rocky shorelines are [music] an attractive getaway destination.

[00:01:23]Lake Eizo is no exception.

[00:01:26]Called the lake of a thousand faces, the Lago [music] Dio is perhaps the wildest of them all.

[00:01:35][music] Fall had arrived at Lake Eil.

[00:01:45]Shortly after dawn, it was still quite cold [music] in the valley.

[00:01:52]Even at the southernmost end, where [music] the lake feeds into a Pete bog conservation area, only a few designated individuals are allowed to enter the core zone of the Torbier delino.

[00:02:15]Once a source of pete and clay for local villagers, the pete bogs of Sabino are now a sanctuary for local animals.

[00:02:26]Ornithologist Paulo Troty visits regularly to monitor the condition and composition of the constantly changing bird population.

[00:02:40]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Paulo's companion was here for the first time.

[00:03:03]>> Did you hear that?

[00:03:07]That's a penduline tit. A little song bird that nests only in reeds and wetlands of this kind.

[00:03:16]>> Look, there's a kingisher, right? Perched on a willow.

[00:03:21]They love to perch on willows. From there, they can stake out the little fish.

[00:03:26]Are those seagulls?

[00:03:29]>> Yes, those are common seagulls. They come here when the cold season begins.

[00:03:33]gather in the hundreds and thousands here in the south in this peepog.

[00:03:41]>> While many birds only visit the moore in transit, the nutria [music] has now become a permanent resident.

[00:03:59]The forebears of this native of [music] South America first came to Italy a good h 100red years ago.

[00:04:08]The Torbiera del Zebino offers both migratory and sedentary animals food and refuge.

[00:04:24]The name Torbier del Zabino is derived from the Latin name of the lake Lacus Zabinos, Italy's sixth largest [music] lake.

[00:04:40]In addition to its size, the Sebino [music] is also known for frequent weather changes.

[00:04:52]Although it's always warm enough for the migratory birds from Northern Europe that winter here.

[00:05:06]The lakes aquatic plants are a good food source and provide safe cover.

[00:05:17]both for potential prey and for the predators.

[00:05:28][music] Countless shellfish populate Lake Eizo along with catfish and crayfish.

[00:05:43]The underwater world of this 250 me deep lago is also home to many an enigma. No one can remember how this Madonna got there.

[00:05:56][music] In [music] late fall, the water near the surface is quite calm.

[00:06:10]with one exception.

[00:06:19][music] A local legend on its last trip before the winter break.

[00:06:27]First launched in the 1950s on Lake Isizo, Reva motorboats were soon world famous.

[00:06:49]Every fall, some of the iconic old-timers return to their native shipyard at the southern end of the lake.

[00:07:10]Each surviving Reva boat is a precious one-of-a-kind treated here to expert TLC.

[00:07:24]After the careful restoration, the boats enjoy a long, cozy winter beauty sleep.

[00:07:45]At the southern tip of Lago, [music] the mahogany of the boat furnishings is not the only exotic wood around. Here where the lake [music] flows into the river Olio, it holds a real surprise in store.

[00:08:05]In the late [music] 19th century, a businessman from Sano brought specimens of the bald cyprus [music] back from Florida and planted the Bosco de Toddi along the riverbank.

[00:08:21]Although they stand in water, the trees can grow to a height of 40 m and can live for up to a thousand years.

[00:08:29][music] And when a bald cypress does finally die, it [music] lives on in its offshoots.

[00:08:41]These giant trees have a special knee just above the roots that stabilize them and support their oxygen supply. [music] In late fall, the female buds of the bald cypress mature into globus cones.

[00:09:09]Just like [music] larch trees, they shed their needles every winter.

[00:09:16]Now deeply rooted in Lake Iso, the imported forest has long become an organic habitat for native animals.

[00:09:36]Frogs soak up all the sun they can before their winter torper.

[00:09:43]A dragonfly couple lays eggs in the shallow water. The larve hatch in spring, but the parents die even before the onset of winter.

[00:10:00]The bald cypress forest was now in fall mode.

[00:10:06]Millipede larve [music] were leaving the treetops to spend the cold season underground.

[00:10:16]The high humidity promotes the growth of mushrooms. [music] Despite [music] the bald cypress trees autumn leaves, that afternoon the Sebino [music] again flashed a radiant sunny smile.

[00:10:50]Suddenly, [music] winter seemed very far off indeed.

[00:11:02]>> [music] >> The wall lizards were in high spirits, no doubt buoied by the warmth of the afternoon sun.

[00:11:13]And the sounds of spring had suddenly returned as well.

[00:11:25]All around the lake, songirds were in the mood for love.

[00:11:33]Having just fled the coming winter in Northern Europe, their mating calls now filled the fall air.

[00:11:46]The cause of the confusion, hunters.

[00:11:58]Bird hunters.

[00:12:10]They keep [music] their decoy birds in the dark until fall.

[00:12:15]>> [music] >> When the animals finally see the light of day, they think it's springtime and strike up their mating song.

[00:12:26]Here in the racket, thousands of migratory birds heading south make a pit stop to visit with their loved up feathered friends.

[00:12:37]But instead of a willing mate, they are met here with a shotgun.

[00:12:43]Shooting birds for personal need is legal in Italy.

[00:12:48]Activists [music] may only intervene when someone kills protected species or is caught selling song bird meat.

[00:12:57]Andrea Rutiliano gathers evidence in a hunting enclosure.

[00:13:05]These casings show the caliber the hunter used. They're small caliber, which means he was hunting small birds.

[00:13:12]A couple weeks ago, here in a camouflage shed, we caught a hunter shooting protected song birds. At his home, we found another 788 small birds. All protected species already plucked and ready for sale on the black market.

[00:13:30]Here the decoy birds we seized from that hunter this morning. A bramling with spring plumage.

[00:13:43]He used these birds to make spring.

[00:13:48]Here we have a beautiful halffinch. I can't release it yet because it's not perfectly fit. When they're in good shape, we release them right away. But if they're missing feathers, we wait a while until they've regained their muscle tone. This one will be gone in a week. I'll put it in a bigger cage, then release it.

[00:14:08]>> Despite hostility and threats, Andrea has fought illegal bird hunting for 20 years.

[00:14:17]>> For me, a song bird is extremely valuable. I was raised to think of their welfare and to love them. Whenever I see a song bird, it fills me with great joy.

[00:14:26]Knowing that they're being systematically slaughtered in 7,000 hidden sheds here in Brea Province alone, it doesn't bear thinking about.

[00:14:35]So, what I do think about are ways of stopping or reducing these activities as much as possible.

[00:14:43]Although we're outnumbered, it's not like Don Coyote tilting at windmills.

[00:14:48]The important thing is to take action.

[00:14:50]Every effort makes a difference because the hunters now realize that the wind has changed. Stopping them for good.

[00:14:56]That could take a long time. We're getting older. But so are they and they're older than us.

[00:15:08][music] As if to encourage the bird activists.

[00:15:15]Dusk brought a stunning spectacle.

[00:15:23]Thousands of starings flying in formation in the skies above Lake Eizo.

[00:15:38][music] The birds spend the cool fall nights in the trees on the eastern shore, huddled up close for warmth.

[00:16:20]Fewer and fewer of them continue on to southern Italy or North Africa.

[00:16:28]With current global warming, the winters here have become increasingly mild.

[00:16:42]Some believe the lack of cold has its advantages, [music] but on Lago deo, climate change is already having a noticeable [music] negative effect. For example, on the island in the middle of the lake, Monte Isola, the largest island within a lake [music] in southern Europe. It has a circumference of 9 km and towers [music] more than 400 m above the water.

[00:17:27]The island is largely carfree and can only be reached by ferry.

[00:17:39]The first olive groves here were terraced way back in early Roman times.

[00:17:49]Several of the heirloom varieties have survived over the centuries.

[00:17:57]Although the harvesting techniques have been modernized nowadays, the islanders use battery operated shaking machines to coax the olives into the nets.

[00:18:27]The terracing plus the force of gravity makes collecting [music] the olives easier.

[00:18:39]>> Maioa eagerly awaits them down below.

[00:18:46]It's my job to extract the oil from the olives cultivated here in the typical terrace groves.

[00:18:56]As an island, we have a unique microclimate which enables us to produce a unique oil. You could say it's unlike any other in the world.

[00:19:07]A few years ago, Maio acquired a small oil mill hoping to raise the profile of the island's ancient olive varieties.

[00:19:18]Why do I do this work? I was born in Monte Isla and I'm very attached to this area. I probably have it in my blood, in my DNA.

[00:19:28]Maritzio made a major investment with the aim of building up a healthy business together with the island's olive farmers.

[00:19:36]But there are problems.

[00:19:41]This year we've had a 95% loss of product.

[00:19:46]Climate change can definitely be felt in the olive production on Monte Isa.

[00:19:52]My grandfather is now 90 years old. when he used to harvest in November, although there was no snow, the temperatures were around freezing and it was a brutal cold.

[00:20:05]Nowadays, we harvest at 25°.

[00:20:10]The change has put pressure on the plants, disrupting their natural northern Italian habitat.

[00:20:22]Instead of the usual weeks of intensive work, Maitzio would now press the entire annual harvest in a single evening.

[00:20:33]A worrying development that has already prompted Italy to react.

[00:20:39]It is the [music] first country in the world to introduce climate change into the school curriculum [music] at all levels.

[00:20:50]Monocultures are a [music] critical aspect.

[00:21:01]Fresh approaches, [music] new ideas are needed. And on Monte Isula, you don't have to look far to [music] find them.

[00:21:12]A former olive grove in the northwest of the island [music] is now a lush garden of diverse edible delights.

[00:21:26][music] This is the realm of the damos.

[00:21:34]On ancestral land in the family for generations, [music] two sisters work to harness the power of diversity.

[00:21:47]With a mixture of traditional knowledge and forward-looking [music] action, Joanna and Monica Aini are true trailblazers.

[00:21:59]The two were born and raised with a love of agriculture.

[00:22:03]Our passion for the damos, the red ladies, comes from our grandfather. But he farmed for subsistence and made no profit. We decided to switch to a more diverse cultivation instead of just olives and corn. So we added saffron, then soft fruits, and slowly we're evolving.

[00:22:33]Saffron cultivation has a long tradition in Italy dating [music] back to the 13th century.

[00:22:42]In late November, Jovana harvests the precious [music] crocus blossoms every morning for 2 weeks.

[00:22:57]The sisters then meet up in the farm kitchen to process [music] the delicate produce.

[00:23:05]>> The business is not yet turning a profit, but the women enjoy the fruits of their labors. Nevertheless, [music] >> I'm a big eater and my favorite dish is saffron risotto. It was always my dream to grow it here. And that's how our saffron production was born.

[00:23:26]To make risotto with your own saffron is a whole new proposition.

[00:23:31]It's so satisfying to smell the scent, to handp pick it, to taste the saffron threads. It's all just something else.

[00:23:41]>> Two to three [music] threads are carefully removed from each blossom and laid out to dry.

[00:23:48]Oh my god.

[00:23:49]>> Just one of the many tasks that the sisters carry out in their daily work [music] together.

[00:23:56]>> Easy.

[00:24:02][gasps] >> It's nice to work with your own sister.

[00:24:06]Very nice.

[00:24:09]>> Yeah. Even when we've had a fight, we still call each other that same night.

[00:24:13]>> We work well together. We don't always agree, but we always try to find the middle ground.

[00:24:22]>> Their agreement [music] to focus on diversity is already paying off.

[00:24:30]>> The advantage of diversity becomes apparent in a year like this when there are no olives. So, at least we can count on the saffron. At least we have an income. Our father is 81 years old and he's never seen a year like this. Not ever.

[00:24:47]>> Climate change has probably begun to affect the plants.

[00:24:57]>> Daily changes of weather on the other hand has been the norm in late fall on Lago deo for centuries.

[00:25:09]>> [music] >> In the forests on the northern side of the lake, a sudden hail storm.

[00:25:31]The temperature dropped immediately.

[00:25:38]Up in the mountains, the first snowfall already lay on the ground.

[00:25:49]For mountain animals, that meant [music] major changes in daily life.

[00:25:55]The wanderings of the ruting shamwa bucks would now be considerably more strenuous.

[00:26:03]And with fresh snow on the [music] ground, the red fox would have to sniff harder to read the scent marks of prey and fellow foxes.

[00:26:19]In ruting season, Shamoa bucks visit various herds and challenge the other males to a fight.

[00:26:38]The buck that forces his opponent to flee often then scores with the females.

[00:26:49]The losers [music] have to wander on.

[00:26:57]On the western side of Lake Eizo, there is a [music] place where seasons play no role at all.

[00:27:08]15 years ago in the hinterland [music] of the village Fonteno, researchers discovered a vast cave system.

[00:27:20]In the Bueno Fonteno, nature calls the shots.

[00:27:26]He who would enter the cave has to play by its rules.

[00:27:34]The cave explorers had spent months planning their expedition.

[00:27:48]The river system in a remote cave passage had not yet been documented.

[00:27:54]The coming 48 hours would change all that.

[00:27:59]Here every move must be well considered.

[00:28:09]Speliology, the study of caves, is dangerous and difficult, slippery and cold. But Fabioati is a true enthusiast.

[00:28:21]Her passion for speliology is sort of like falling in love. You enter a cave for the first time and without knowing why, you feel good. No matter how cold it is or how cramped and uncomfortable, you still feel good.

[00:28:37]And suddenly, you don't ever want to be without it again. You want to keep going further and deeper into it. When things go well, you can discover incredible things for the first time. And if you're really lucky like we are, you have a completely free hand in your research.

[00:29:07]The carst cave system is over 32 km long and extends down [music] to depths of 500 m. Water is its architect.

[00:29:20]>> [music] >> It's a long, arduous way down, so stops for rest and fueling up are important until deep into the night. The cavers tweaked their plans and prepared their equipment.

[00:29:56]They wouldn't reach the subterranean river until the next day.

[00:30:11]The caves in the cliff coast opposite are man-made, allowing trains to go through the mountains instead of over them.

[00:30:26]The little village looks out over the northeastern half of Lake Eo.

[00:30:53]>> [bell] >> Depending on the season, a train passes by on the single track as often as every half power.

[00:31:12]A deafening disruption that the villagers of Veil have lived with for over a hundred years. [bell] Without its train traffic, Vetho would be the epitome of a sleepy lakeside village, >> especially in the fall with no tourists meandering through its little lanes.

[00:32:14]The only sign of life now was in the pastor's garden by the church.

[00:32:28]Marinated freshwater sardines from the lake and freshly foraged sweet chestnuts would make a simple wholesome dinner.

[00:32:44]>> You might think you are in paradise if it weren't for the last train of the evening.

[00:33:05]The olive farmers of Monte Isula bringing their entire annual yield harvested in just a single day to Maritzio Ribo's oil mill.

[00:33:17]This year he was mixing varieties to [music] get as much oil as possible.

[00:33:24]The whole fruit pits and all goes through the press.

[00:33:32]It is very important that olive trees survive here.

[00:33:36]Because the olive is synonymous with family, a plant that brings people together.

[00:33:45]To abandon this culture would be to betray the tradition of the region. We must never allow that to happen.

[00:33:56]This year there would be no oil for sale, but there would at least be enough to supply the local families for the winter.

[00:34:12]At the end of the night, a strange fog swept through the Sabino Valley.

[00:34:27]A fog so thick and heavy that it seemed able to [music] awaken woodland spirits.

[00:34:47]When the fog lifted, the Bosco deii, the forest of the gnomes, was revealed in all [music] its glory.

[00:34:57]The wooden figures are the work of an artist known as Il Roso.

[00:35:13]>> [music] [music] >> The suite of 70 sculptures guides hikers all the way from Lake Eizo up [music] into the mountains.

[00:35:37]Meanwhile, the caver's wakeup call was late.

[00:35:42]>> Moritio, time to get up.

[00:35:45]>> Mama mia, I'm still so tired.

[00:35:49]>> The explorers had gone to bed at 4:00 a.m. Getting up now was a chore.

[00:35:58]>> Come on, guys. Duty calls.

[00:36:02]>> But for Italian cavers, instant coffee for breakfast was the real hardship.

[00:36:20]>> And then it was time to go.

[00:36:24]>> Well, what do you say to that?

[00:36:30]The documentation of the subterranean river began.

[00:36:36]Meanwhile, Fabio [music] pursued other assignments.

[00:36:45]Animal life in the cave is his focus [music] area.

[00:36:53]Cave isopods and crayfish thrive in the cold, clear waters of the Bueno Fonteno.

[00:37:03]These animals have adapted to the conditions here. One of the most striking observations is that they've lost all contact with the rhythm of day and night and even with the seasons.

[00:37:16]that has a major effect completely altering the animals biological cycles.

[00:37:22]Many of them stay young their whole lives in a sense and live longer as a result.

[00:37:30][music] >> In the meantime, the rubber dingy crew was approaching a subterranean lake.

[00:37:44]>> [music] [music] >> One of the speliologists main aims was to track the precise routes the water takes through the cave complex. [music] Their data is often relevant for water supply issues above ground.

[00:38:09][music] Nowadays, we're able to carry out hydrogeeological research at quite an advanced level. We can study the subterranean pathways of the water very effectively.

[00:38:25]In fact, the real beauty of cave research is the search for water and the study of its pathways, which in a cast complex are totally unpredictable.

[00:38:37]So, we have to carry out direct on-site experiments to see what path the water takes within the mountains.

[00:38:45]A color marker they introduced into the carst stream would first appear on the surface 25 days later in a source 6 km from the cave. The water took that long to wend its mysterious way to the surface.

[00:39:07]On the [music] opposite shore of Lake Isizo, the water literally moves mountains.

[00:39:19]Its force is expressed [music] impressively in what are called the pyramid zone, the pyramids of the zone.

[00:39:32]Rain [music] showers wash scree down the steep mountain slopes.

[00:39:40]At [music] some spots, individual boulders act as umbrellas, protecting the rock towers they rest upon from erosion.

[00:39:53]Such formations arise only with the right hillside slant and regular rainfall.

[00:40:04]That's why the pyramid zone is the perfect habitat for a certain moisture loving animal.

[00:40:22]Fire salamanders [music] take advantage of the rainy fall days to look for suitable winter quarters.

[00:40:32]There they will remain in a winter torper [music] until they revive again in the spring.

[00:40:39][music] Their conspicuous skin coloring signals predators that they come equipped with a poisonous substance.

[00:40:57]Thanks not least to this self-defense mechanism, fire [music] salamanders can live to up to 50 years of age.

[00:41:06]The cooler the outside temperature, the slower and more awkwardly these coldblooded amphibians move beneath the pyramid. The creature would surely quickly find refuge.

[00:41:32][music] Rain showers are fairly frequent on Lake Eizo, even in summer.

[00:41:48]Due to changes in climate, fall downpours in northern Italy are now harder and more sustained.

[00:42:04]Then only a few waterproofed visitors stroll along the lakeside prominards.

[00:42:17][music] [music] >> [music] >> When the rain keeps pouring, trickles turn into rushing rivers.

[00:42:51]These forceful waters carry large amounts of detritis and sediment into the lake.

[00:43:06]>> [music] [music] >> That's how an unruly river called the Borleta created an [music] entire peninsula at the northern end of Lake Iso.

[00:43:31]The river brought hundreds of millions of cubic [music] meters of sand and stone rolling down from the mountains.

[00:43:40][music] That land mass is now home to a steel mill owned by the Lucini family who diverted the river in 1915.

[00:43:52]The company's intake basin is closely guarded.

[00:44:02]Now that the river no longer crosses the peninsula, the steel mill takes its cooling water from Lake Iso.

[00:44:10]Once filtered and purified, it is conducted to its deployment site.

[00:44:16]Because steel processing always involves infernally high temperatures.

[00:44:31]The furnaces are fired up around the clock at Lucini RS.

[00:44:41]The RS stands for rolling stock.

[00:44:47]The company is founded on its railway division.

[00:44:56]They manufacture wheels for most of the world's train.

[00:45:09]The plant uses water from the lake at every stage of the manufacturing process.

[00:45:18][music] When the finished wheels are finally completely submerged, the water appears to recoil from the heat.

[00:45:30]Droplets dance on a cushion of steam.

[00:45:36]A roulette wheel of opposites.

[00:45:46]After a job well done, the steel works returns the water to the lake cleaner than it was to start with.

[00:46:07]At the base of the peninsula, [music] the former bed of the river Borleta nestles against the foothills.

[00:46:16]Coming down from the mountains, [music] it flowed through a gorge into Lake Iso.

[00:46:26]Steel wheels are now stored in one part of the dried riverbed.

[00:46:32]The other [music] part has become a little patch of paradise, Tinato Park.

[00:46:42]The former riverbed is special terrain that creates [music] a stable, humid microclimate.

[00:46:53]It thus forms the basis for rich biodiversity within a relatively [music] tight space.

[00:47:21]The caretaker of this little gem is Masimora.

[00:47:27]>> [music] >> In the fall, his job is to take stock and register any damage.

[00:47:35]The plan was to ready the park for welcoming tourists and school groups again next summer.

[00:47:45]This area is rich in biodiversity because for many years it was enclosed within the grounds of the steel plant.

[00:47:52]So no one ever set foot there.

[00:47:55]Two distinct worlds met here, separated by a simple fence.

[00:48:04]Every square meter of these grounds exudes nature and history. So when we come in here, it's a magnificent thing for us.

[00:48:21]Some spots are in dire need of renovation because fungi have a field day here as well.

[00:48:36]At the heart of the park lies the Tinato Gorge.

[00:48:45][music] there. Several of the more delicate animal types had already set up house for the winter.

[00:48:55][music] Even in the wintertime, [music] the gorge offers the comfort of sustained mild temperatures.

[00:49:12]And the farther in you go, the more distant the outside world seems to be.

[00:49:20]>> Absolutely. The real highlight is the Tinato Gorge.

[00:49:26]This fisher was not carved out by the river. No, it's a tectonic fault split open due to geological activity.

[00:49:35]The river then took advantage of the terrain using the gorge as its bed.

[00:49:47]For millennia, the forces of water worked to carve out the pits, hollows, and overhangs now used as winter [music] quarters by many animals.

[00:50:11]>> [music] >> an oasis of serenity only possible without the river.

[00:50:24]>> The river no longer flows through the gorge. It was a torrent causing frequent catastrophic flooding. That's why over 100 years ago it was completely diverted. This part dried out and is now a fossil.

[00:50:40]>> A thick wall and a longforgotten piece of civil engineering redirected the river out of the gorge.

[00:50:50]Now in late fall, the tamed Borleta flowed calmly down its man-made riverbed into Lake Isizo.

[00:51:05][music] The season was over. Both human and animal residents of the Lago deo [music] were hunkering down to await the winter.

[00:51:16][music] The proverbial lake of a thousand faces always was a master of transformation.

[00:51:29][music] Ever calm at its depths, even amidst storms of change, it still always retains its magic.