Nature Reclaims the Border

Country / Region

Germany

Year

2014

Producer

Uwe MUELLER

Director

Uwe MUELLER

Time

44min

Language

English with Japanese Subtitles

Production

Capricornum Film

Distribution

Telepool GmbH Leipzi

For decades, barbed wire divided Germany. It separated two political systems, families and friends and made border crossings almost impossible. In the shadow of the restricted zone, which no-one was permitted to enter, a refuge developed for threatened plants and animals. Rarities such as the black stork, otter, Wanstschrecke, which is a large grasshopper, and the whinchat have found ideal living conditions here in the marshy land, the moors, pioneer woodlands and sparse grasslands of Germany’s Green Belt. In excess of 5,000 different animal and plant species live in this unique habitat; more than 600 of them are critically endangered. Today, this former ‘no-man’s land’ is Germany’s longest wildlife corridor ?  and a part of the Europe’s Green Belt. The film reveals the ways and paths wild cats, sea eagles, beavers and whinchats used to use and how they claim the former border strip for their own. Breathtaking wildlife observations and thoughtful observations of contemporary witnesses and conservationists form a fascinating bond of stories and history.