Wild Holland celebrates the diverse natural heritage of the Dutch rivers and delta region while sketching the cultural and historical context that has played such a vital part in shaping them.

After the overwhelming success of The New Wilderness, the film’s makers now come with the spectacular second two-part series as a (re)discovery of the Netherlands and its wild nature in all its strength, riddles and beauty. It is often said that while God created the world, the Dutch created Holland.

Wild Holland presents a portrait of this unique wetland area of Europe as never seen before; capturing it in an important moment of change, when many of the natural processes, all but strangled by dikes, pumps, and canals, are recovering. At a time when new life is flooding back into the delta, we experience the resilience and dynamic of nature. The series explores this lush water world through the eyes of five main characters: the white-tailed sea-eagle, the beaver, the hare, the stickleback and the large scarce blue butterfly. Each creature gives access to a different facet of the delta.

In the first episode, The Living Delta, the delta is introduced through the fascinating migration of the stickleback. Using cutting-edge cinematic techniques ranging from eagle’s eye aerial views to unprecedented underwater scenes this epic journey was captured for the first time on film, from the starting point in the North Sea through sea locks to their breeding grounds far upriver in a beaver pool. There we follow the work of a beaver family as they build dams and cut down trees to shape a new landscape. This not only provides an ideal breeding ground for the stickleback but also an expanding home to scores of new creatures, including the ring-necked grass snake.