Countryfile - Storrington
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00Sun is shining, it is the start of the festival season Vic, what's the plan, where are we
00:08off to?
00:09We're off to where you might expect Jo, but there is a big headliner...
00:39Now, the headline act we've come to see is a creature that hadn't bred in the UK for
00:52hundreds of years, but thanks to a very dedicated community here in West Sussex, it's making
00:58a very big comeback.
00:59Yes, we are talking about the White Stork, once a familiar sight around the South Downs,
01:04so much so that there's even a local village named after them.
01:09That village is Starrington, which, along with the nearby Nett Wilding Estate, has been
01:14the focus of White Stork conservation for the past eight years here on the northern
01:19edge of the South Downs.
01:24In recognition of those efforts, together they're holding a Stork Festival and being
01:29crowned a European Stork Village, the first and only one in the UK.
01:33And we're going to find out why it's earned such a special honour and what exactly a Stork
01:37Festival involves.
01:40From meeting the mums and dads of the new colony...
01:43So the idea of these guys, they're acting like a magnet, drawing in wild storks.
01:47So they can't fly, but they can still breathe?
01:49Absolutely.
01:50To the next generation.
01:51Oh my gosh, is that a white stork?
01:54Yep.
01:55And there'll be chicks in there.
01:58And the four-legged members of the team looking after the white stork's habitat.
02:03They're a forest pig, they've got a long snout, really lends themselves to digging, which
02:07is the fundamental thing of what they do here, and really drives the ecosystem.
02:13While Charlotte investigates the impact of the sudden closure of a government scheme
02:18designed to encourage farmers to be greener.
02:21I've lost all faith in it, to be honest.
02:23At the end of the day, we're doing it for the environment as well as the farming, and
02:26then it just gets stopped overnight.
02:33Last spotted nesting in the UK 600 years ago, the white stork has been breeding at
02:38NEP since 2020, and people are flocking here, hoping to get a glimpse.
02:46So I've come to the epicentre of their revival, binoculars at the ready, hoping to become
02:51the newest member of the Stork Spotters Club.
02:54Now the only problem is, they do have a tendency to nest right at the top of the tree canopy.
02:58I've bagged myself an extremely well-qualified stork safari guide, in the form of Isabella
03:03Tree, co-founder of NEP Wilding.
03:08The estate was once intensively farmed, but since 2001 has been devoted to re-wilding
03:15the land.
03:17How many do you have?
03:18Well, I think it's very, very difficult to keep up, but I think we have about a hundred
03:23How many do you have?
03:24Well, I think it's very, very difficult to keep up, but I think we have about a hundred
03:30And then in our pen, which is kind of like the nucleus of the colony, we have about twenty
03:35or so non-flying birds.
03:38The first breeding birds on the estate came from an injury rehabilitation centre in Poland
03:43eight years ago.
03:45Though they couldn't fly anymore, they could still reproduce and act as a beacon for potential
03:51partners.
03:54They're coming and going all the time, and the wonder of it all is that they're now attracting
03:59wild birds in from Europe.
04:01What sort of visual cues or audio cues should we be looking out for?
04:05Visually, I mean, they are just enormous white birds.
04:08I mean, when they're flying, they're like a kind of barn door.
04:10They're huge.
04:13They've got this enormous red beak, they've got red legs, white and black wings, and they
04:19do this amazing bill clattering.
04:31When they partner up, the sort of bonding is the bill clattering noise.
04:36And you can even see the chicks begin to learn to bill clatter when they're just a few days
04:40old.
04:42It's thought that the species was driven to extinction by a combination of habitat loss
04:47and hunting, with the last known nesting pair recorded in Edinburgh in 1416.
04:53And that's why Knepp, with its rewilded landscape, was a perfect site to take part in the UK
04:59white stork revival.
05:02So if you can imagine that this whole area was just arable fields, and everything that
05:09has come up since is just amazing for insects, which of course the storks love, that's mainly
05:14their food.
05:15But they love grasshoppers, they'll eat beetles.
05:18In the winter, they'll probe the ground for earthworms.
05:21So all this now is a kind of cornucopia for them.
05:25But also we've got these great mature oaks, which they love nesting in.
05:30And then all this kind of open ground where they can kind of walk about, stalk about.
05:34Confirmation that this is high tier habitat for white storks.
05:39Oh my gosh.
05:41Wow.
05:42Is that?
05:43Yep.
05:44That's a white stork.
05:45Yep.
05:46Doesn't take long.
05:48So they're nesting right in the tops of our oak trees.
05:50And yep, there you are.
05:52You've got a stork on its nest and there'll be chicks in there.
05:56I can't believe we've just seen one straight off the bat.
06:00Oh my gosh.
06:01I didn't expect to see one so fast.
06:03He looks majestic.
06:04The way he's just sort of atop that tree.
06:06So high up.
06:07So huge.
06:08That nest is enormous.
06:09I know.
06:10I love the way they kind of look down on you, very kind of imperiously.
06:13Yeah.
06:15Yeah, they're huge things.
06:16And those nests, you know, after a few years, they can weigh as much as a tonne.
06:21And they're so big.
06:22And they're so big.
06:23And they're so big.
06:24And they're so big.
06:25And they're so big.
06:26And they're so big.
06:27And they're so big.
06:28And they can weigh as much as a tonne.
06:29It's a real work of architecture.
06:31Isn't it?
06:32Yeah.
06:33I love the way he's just popping out of there and surveying as well.
06:36Yeah.
06:37And seems...
06:38Oh!
06:39The span!
06:40Look at that wing!
06:41Where's he going?
06:42Because within that nest there'll be babies, right?
06:44There will be.
06:45There'll be chicks.
06:46I think there's chicks in this nest for sure.
06:47OK.
06:48And it's probably just going off to find some food.
06:51White storks can have a wingspan of more than two metres.
06:55But even for an imposing figure such as this, safety is in numbers.
07:01We have red kite, we have buzzards, we have all five species of owl here now.
07:06And so there's a lot of predators for their chicks and eggs.
07:10And that's why they need the colony.
07:12And you'll see other storks coming in if the red kites get too close to see them off.
07:17Right.
07:18And you'll always find one parent looking after them.
07:20They're very conscientious parents.
07:30I mean, they are so high up, but is there any way of seeing those chicks?
07:34It's going to be quite difficult to see chicks from here.
07:36But I think if we go a bit further on, we've got what we call stork central,
07:40which is closer to the breeding pen.
07:43And that's where we've got lots more nests and trees.
07:45And we might be able to see a little head poking up.
07:47Have a look.
08:05As well as the storks, there are many other residents here at NEP.
08:08And all of these animals have a vital job when it comes to managing the habitat.
08:14Stockman Pat Toe has been working at NEP for the last 16 years,
08:19managing the livestock across 1,100 acres.
08:24Hello Pat.
08:25Hi Joe.
08:26How's it going?
08:27Very well, mate.
08:28Mind if I jump in?
08:29Please do.
08:30Right, let's get going, shall we?
08:32Yep.
08:44So what's your role here, Pat?
08:45I manage the livestock here, so the longhorn cows.
08:48Oh, we've got one here, have we?
08:49We have, yeah.
08:50They're sort of scatting around all over the place.
08:52So the longhorns, export ponies, Tamworth pigs.
08:55And Tamworth pigs, why Tamworth?
08:57What is it about the breed?
08:58They've got a long snout, really lends themselves to digging,
09:02which is the fundamental thing of what they do here,
09:04really drives the ecosystem.
09:06Very self-sufficient, quite calm.
09:09Yeah, a great pig.
09:10So what are we doing today, Pat?
09:12We're going to go and find some pigs.
09:14They're very close to farrowing.
09:15Check them, see whether everything's OK.
09:18We don't really intervene.
09:19It's a fairly tough time of year for them, being so dry.
09:22We just like to keep track of them and see everything's OK.
09:25I can see a few longhorn cows around.
09:27Yes.
09:28No pigs yet?
09:29No.
09:30In 1,100 acres, it's perfect pig hide and seek.
09:35The livestock at Knapp are free-roaming,
09:37so they can naturally move around the landscape of their own accord.
09:42Tamworth pigs are hardy, natural foragers,
09:45well-suited to the outdoors.
09:47They're perfect for Pat's minimal maintenance,
09:50but finding them often requires some detective work.
09:55Yeah, got some diggings here.
09:59So would this be pig activity?
10:00This is definitely pig activity.
10:02OK, let's have a look.
10:07They really have been to work here,
10:09presumably when it was a bit wetter.
10:10Yes, not as fresh of diggings as we'd like to find.
10:13Gosh, do you think there's still some insects around?
10:15Could well be, yeah.
10:16Might be spiders.
10:18Oh, there's some grubs here.
10:20Oh, yeah.
10:21Yeah.
10:23So this really benefits storks, other birds coming in.
10:26Yeah, absolutely.
10:27And the pigs themselves, would they be eating these?
10:29Yeah, oh, yeah.
10:30Give them a chance, they will, yeah.
10:33Yeah, some spiders, some more grubs there.
10:36Yeah.
10:37Oh, yeah, in fact, quite a lot of grubs.
10:38Yeah, there's a lot going on.
10:39Yeah.
10:42As well as unearthing grubs for the storks and other wildlife to feast on,
10:46their foraging also encourages seed germination.
10:51What's this, is this one oak coming through?
10:53Yeah, a little oak tree, yeah.
10:54It's amazing that they've kind of rooted around
10:56and they've obviously not chomped on that.
10:58That's not to their taste.
10:59And this is actually a big part of NEP, isn't it?
11:01I mean, it's the oaks that the storks are nesting in.
11:03It's the oaks that provide the acorns to fatten up the pigs in the water.
11:07Absolutely.
11:08Actually, this coming through is a good sign.
11:10It's beautiful, yeah.
11:11Well, look, this looks all fairly dry,
11:13so we don't think they've been here that recently.
11:15No, no.
11:16But they must be around here somewhere.
11:17Is there a slightly wetter area?
11:18Yes, there's a flood plain down there.
11:20OK, come on then, let's go and check that.
11:28Soon enough, we are face to face with the Tamworth pig,
11:32or should I say face to snout.
11:35Well, Pat, you had a good feeling about this area,
11:37and you were right, here they are.
11:38Yes, although we've got sort of six of them,
11:40they don't all just hang around together.
11:42They like to be in like twos, threes, something like that.
11:44They're not rooting here, are they?
11:46So what are they doing? They're grazing?
11:47They're grazing, yeah.
11:48You can see there's a little bit of rooting.
11:50It's drying hard and it gets to a certain point
11:52and then they start grazing,
11:53which is unusual for this time of year.
11:55And that shows how dry it is,
11:56that here on a flood plain,
11:57even now it would be quite difficult to turn over this.
12:00Yeah.
12:01Tell me about the actual snouts.
12:03It's such an impressive tool, isn't it?
12:04It's something that really fascinates me about pigs.
12:06They push it through dirt all the time
12:08and I cannot believe that it's not just a calloused, hard lump,
12:12but it's this very sensitive tool that they use all the time.
12:15Now, the older one, it hasn't got any piglets,
12:17but do you think this one might be about to farrow?
12:20Yeah, she looks like she's got a belly full of arms and legs, doesn't she?
12:23I'd say within a week she's going to farrow.
12:26Interesting. Are you happy with how she's looking at the moment?
12:28I'd like her to be in a little bit better condition,
12:30but it's been a long winter and now spring is late and dry.
12:34They're still doing quite well.
12:36They're not exactly how we want them to be.
12:38We've got some more pigs that I think are in a drier area,
12:40so we might go and have a look at them, see if we can find those.
12:43Yeah? Check on them?
12:44Yeah.
12:45Can we find them? Let's see.
12:48One last place to check is the woodland,
12:51where the pigs typically find shelter and build nests before giving birth.
12:57There's one piglet over there
12:58and we think there's one elsewhere that we haven't found yet.
13:01So she was not too far.
13:03I wonder whether she's still there or not.
13:05I think there might be one.
13:06Oh, my goodness.
13:08Oh, look at that.
13:10Wow.
13:12I'd have missed that. I think I'd have walked straight past.
13:14Yeah.
13:15So that's a nest that she's built?
13:17Yes.
13:18So it's just a slight hollow.
13:19Literally that.
13:20And it looks like what, little twigs?
13:22Yeah, a bit of dead grass, that kind of thing.
13:25Oh, my goodness.
13:28For their safety, we're sticking to the path.
13:31Oh, there are few things in life more adorable than those piglets.
13:35That is just gorgeous.
13:37Wow.
13:39How's she looking?
13:40I mean, it's difficult because she's lying down,
13:41but you've got experience in judging the condition here.
13:44Yeah.
13:45She's in not bad condition, but we're prepared to give her a bit of food,
13:48which is something we haven't done for maybe ten years,
13:51because once they've had the piglets,
13:53she's obviously producing lots of milk then.
13:55It's a drain on them if they haven't got that fat reserve,
13:58and it's so dry they're not digging much.
14:00So potentially we might think about just supplementary feeding.
14:03Because you do think she needs it. I mean, that's the point.
14:05I think it will help her out.
14:08It's a big sight, isn't it?
14:09Yeah, it is.
14:10And this is a bit of a needle in the haystack,
14:12and the fact that you've been able to keep an eye on it
14:14and you know where it was likely to happen,
14:16to see this is such a treat.
14:17So thank you so much.
14:18Pleasure.
14:20These piglets will soon be ready to follow in Mum's footsteps,
14:24shaping the environment here at Knapp.
14:34Now, farmers are often being asked to do more
14:37to protect and encourage wildlife on their land.
14:40But earlier this year, a key government scheme
14:43that pays farmers in England to do exactly that
14:46was shut without warning,
14:48with some farmers saying they've been left
14:50tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket.
14:53Charlotte investigates.
14:57The finances of farming are changing.
15:00It's out with the old EU-style subsidies,
15:03linked to how much land a farmer had,
15:05and in with a new public-money-for-public-goods approach
15:09for English farmers,
15:10paying them for things like growing wildflowers,
15:13supporting hedgerows and using less pesticide.
15:18Over the past few years,
15:19a range of schemes have been developed
15:21to encourage farmers to farm in a more environmentally friendly way.
15:25The largest of these in England
15:27is called the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the SFI.
15:33It was first rolled out in 2022,
15:36but has grown to be worth more than a billion pounds to farmers
15:40and covers around half of the farmland in England.
15:43Will Lowe, a third-generation farmer with cereal and beef
15:46on nearly 700 acres in Shropshire,
15:48decided to sign up a year after it started
15:51for what was then the SFI 23 scheme.
15:56The old-style subsidy payment was getting phased out
15:59and it was decreasing year on year.
16:01SFI came as an option we thought would be a good way
16:04of bridging the gap to help the farm income, really.
16:07And what did you have to do to get involved, then?
16:09We have to manage it in a way that we're told for the SFI
16:12and then sort of graze it carefully
16:14and then leave it over winter ungrazed to leave a habitat
16:17and let the wildflowers grow and obviously help for the environment
16:21and it's worked well.
16:23Good for the wildlife, but not so good for intensive farming.
16:27But good for the cattle, as we can see.
16:29Good for the cattle, as we can see.
16:31Will wanted to do this kind of farming on more of his land
16:34and had been planning to submit an application
16:37for the latest version of the SFI scheme, SFI 24.
16:41It had expanded on the previous year's scheme,
16:44offering farmers money for a whole host of new measures
16:47to support nature-friendly farming.
16:49We've got another agreement that I've been working on,
16:51almost there to go, so we're going to put in another big chunk into SFI.
16:55But unfortunately, obviously, overnight that was pulled from underneath us.
17:01On March 11th, the government shut down the scheme
17:04after only eight months, saying it had run out of money
17:07after a record number of applications.
17:09Ministers blamed their predecessors for setting up a scheme
17:12that they said was uncapped, despite having a finite budget.
17:16This time last year, these schemes were undersubscribed.
17:20They are now oversubscribed, and it's not a complicated thing to say
17:25that when the budget is spent, a responsible government responds to that.
17:29In the aftermath of the closure, some farmers told Countryfile
17:33they'd missed out on as much as £140,000 in SFI funding.
17:39Will says he's coming to terms with losing out on around £30,000 in SFI money.
17:45He's now preparing to grow more crops in areas that, weeks before,
17:49he'd planned to support in a more nature-friendly way.
17:54We were going to plant herbal lays onto some of the arable ground,
17:59one to give the actual ground a break from corn,
18:03improve the soil structure, which in turn improves environmental gains.
18:08We were going to plant some pollen nectar mixes.
18:12And what will happen to all of those plants now?
18:14Well, unfortunately, at the moment, if we're not getting paid for them,
18:17I can't just afford... I haven't got money in the pocket to do it.
18:20We're going to have to keep farming intensively fields like this one we're in now
18:24that would have worked on an SFI option.
18:26What went through your head the day you heard
18:29that it was closing to new applications and you hadn't got yours in?
18:32Massive frustration and sort of just gutted, really,
18:36because I had seen a future that our farm could work within the SFI.
18:40And some people will argue that actually that's the problem here.
18:43Farming should be more profitable.
18:45You shouldn't be relying on schemes paid for by the government.
18:48100%. I agree with that. It should be more profitable.
18:51But it's never been more profitable because we've always wanted cheap food.
18:54So we've kept... The subsidy has kept cheap food on the plate for the consumer.
18:59And that's where the problem lies.
19:02Now Will questions how the farm will keep going.
19:06I struggle. I can't see at the moment a way to carry on doing what we're doing.
19:12And in certain times, sort of, yeah, really difficult to see a way through.
19:18So it's, yeah, now it's taken its toll.
19:25Jane Bassett is a fourth-generation farmer
19:27rearing cattle and sheep in the Peak District.
19:30She says she was close to submitting an application
19:33for around £20,000 of SFI funding when she found out the scheme had closed.
19:41Had you got the money, what would you have done on the farm?
19:45Well, we've got ambition for the farm.
19:47We've got some dew ponds on the farm.
19:49So those could have been into an environmental scheme.
19:53And then up in front of us here, Charlotte, what we can see here is a woodland.
19:58We want to expand this woodland, make it more diverse.
20:01That's two of the projects we want to do, along with other projects on the farm.
20:05Why, though, should taxpayers have to help you, for instance,
20:08plant a woodland behind us here?
20:10If you want to do that, then go on and do it.
20:12Environmental delivery costs.
20:14So, yes, we put our contribution in,
20:16but we need the contribution also of government to be able to do it.
20:19We all benefit as well as a community
20:23and the public from better environmental outcomes,
20:26looking after the soils, looking after the water on your farm.
20:29What will it mean for the finances of your farm now?
20:33As a farm, as a family, you know, absolutely massive impact to us.
20:37You know, really shocked and blown a big hole in our finances,
20:41our farm finances going forward for now and our future plans.
20:45Like many farmers, we all want to farm in a sustainable manner
20:48and continue that sustainable farming to deliver on it.
20:52But, you know, how can we do that without a budget?
20:57The SFI scheme pays for things like managing hedgerows,
21:00offering farmers £13 per 100m of hedge for a period of three years,
21:05or for protecting ponds in arable fields,
21:08worth nearly £700 per hectare each year,
21:11or managing grazing land so it encourages birds,
21:14worth £121 a hectare.
21:18The news, then, that the scheme had been closed to new applications
21:22also came as a blow to wildlife organisations.
21:25They're particularly concerned that farmers will now farm more intensively.
21:32Countryfile's been told about one early indicator
21:35that seems to support those fears.
21:38The Agricultural Industries Confederation told us
21:41they'd seen a sudden increase in demand for fertiliser chemicals,
21:44which they put down to the weather and the SFI closure.
21:48They said it amounted to an extra 200,000 tonnes almost overnight.
21:55Craig Bennett is in charge of the Wildlife Trust's organisation,
21:58which represents 46 wildlife groups across the UK.
22:02What's going to be the impact on nature of this scheme being suspended?
22:07Well, I think it will be devastating, and the reason is because,
22:11actually, when you're trying to restore nature,
22:13and what's the point in supporting farmers to restore nature,
22:16actually having stop and start in that doesn't help.
22:19But it's only one scheme being suspended,
22:22so it surely won't have that kind of impact.
22:24That's the thing, is it's often the actions that farmers are taking today,
22:27the real impact you'll see on them for nature
22:30will be two, three years' time from now.
22:32And so, actually, what you need,
22:34when you're talking about nature-friendly farming,
22:36you need some kind of confidence and certainty
22:39about what the long term looks like.
22:41And that's particularly true for nature-friendly farmers.
22:43Often they're the ones that are planning sometimes eight years ahead
22:46for eight-year crop rotations.
22:48And, actually, with all this kind of unsettling, chopping and changing,
22:51that really undermines confidence.
22:53So we've got to make sure that we protect as much nature as we can
22:57in the short term, while at the same time
22:59looking to develop those schemes longer term
23:02that will support farmers to do the job that I know so many of them want to do,
23:06restore nature and grow good, healthy food at the same time.
23:10Now, when it comes to the SFI scheme,
23:12we are just talking about farmers in England.
23:17Agricultural policy is devolved,
23:19so Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are developing their own schemes
23:23which will be introduced over the next couple of years.
23:26In the meantime, farmers there are still being paid
23:29the old EU-style subsidy.
23:32SFI 24, then, may turn out to be a warning to those nations
23:36about what can go wrong with these sorts of schemes.
23:39It was only launched last July, just as the new government took power.
23:43But by the time it shuts in March of this year,
23:46it had received nearly 13,000 applications.
23:50But there were also around 3,000 applications
23:53which had been started in the two months before the scheme closed
23:57but hadn't been completed.
23:59So farmers say they missed out at the last minute.
24:02And that's where, nearly two weeks ago,
24:04and just days after my visit to Farmers' Will and Jane,
24:07the government made a partial U-turn.
24:10It turned out that those 3,000 farmers
24:12who were part way through filling in the paperwork online
24:15had wrongly been told they'd be given six weeks' notice
24:18of any closing down of their applications.
24:23The SFI scheme was suddenly reopened again,
24:26but only for this selection.
24:28Unfortunately for both Will and Jane,
24:30neither of them had quite got to that point in their applications,
24:33so they will still miss out.
24:37David Exwood is Deputy President of the National Farmers Union.
24:40He says it was the threat of legal action from NFU members
24:43that prompted the government to back down.
24:46When the SFI scheme was suddenly closed,
24:48a group of members approached us
24:50and we supported them in a legal challenge.
24:53We said, look, we've got to do something about this.
24:56We supported them in a legal challenge to the government
24:59because there was clear advice that they should have expected
25:02to have six weeks' notice of closure.
25:04We welcome that the government recognise they got this wrong.
25:08But, he says, the decision to reopen the scheme still has problems.
25:12It helps the 3,000 farmers who'd started their applications
25:15in the two months running up to the closure in March,
25:18but, he says, it excludes another 3,000 farmers
25:21who'd begun applying before that time.
25:24It also introduces a new limit on how much those farmers
25:27who are being allowed to complete their applications can now claim.
25:31The issue is that they've gone far, but they haven't gone far enough.
25:35They've brought in a cap per agreement of £9,300,
25:39which actually, for many people,
25:41will be very low below what they expected,
25:44and also there's some criteria about the length of time you're able to apply.
25:48What that means is, of the 6,000 people who've had an application open,
25:52only 3,000 will be able to reapply.
25:56The government said details of a reformed version of the SFI scheme
26:00should be available in the summer,
26:02although farmers may not be able to apply for it until next year.
26:05The NFU says a new scheme will face a lack of trust from farmers.
26:10When the scheme comes back, are farmers going to join it?
26:13The uncertainty this has created,
26:15just that lack of trust, that lack of certainty going forward.
26:18We want the government to reopen the SFI scheme
26:21as soon as possible so that money is available to farmers,
26:24and the new scheme must be universal,
26:26open to all farmers in all landscapes, in all sectors,
26:29right across the country, and it must support sustainable farming.
26:33That's the way we get change at scale.
26:37A lot of this, of course, comes down to money,
26:40and we're coming up to the government's annual spending review,
26:43which will determine how much budget there is for the next SFI scheme.
26:48Tom Lancaster is an analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit,
26:52an independent non-profit organisation.
26:55He's an expert on the SFI scheme.
26:58In the way that the scheme was set up,
27:00it was inevitable that it was going to run out of money
27:03because the government made choices,
27:05or the previous government perhaps more accurately made choices,
27:09about how the scheme was designed
27:11that meant they didn't have any means of capping or managing expenditure.
27:16They thought that that would be OK
27:18because they didn't think it was going to be as popular as it was,
27:21but with a terrible harvest, with really high fertiliser prices still,
27:26those created the conditions for the surge in demand
27:30that they saw at the beginning of this year.
27:33At this point, with the public finances where they are,
27:37how likely is DEFRA to be able to persuade the Treasury
27:41in the spending review that they deserve more money?
27:44Well, it's a hard sell, no doubt about it.
27:47And I guess the sell they need to make is this is a great investment.
27:54This isn't just about farm incomes,
27:56this is about all of those environmental outcomes,
27:59but it's also about the resilience of our food supply.
28:02So we've just seen a second-worst harvest on record in England.
28:05Before that, there was a drought that baked crops into the soil.
28:08There's lots of evidence that farming through schemes like this
28:12can increase the resilience to climate change.
28:15Schemes like the SFI are absolutely the right sort of investment
28:19we need to be making in the long-term resilience of our food.
28:23The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
28:26told Countryfile that in reopening the scheme for 3,000 farmers
28:30who'd been part way through applying,
28:32they'd tried to be as fair as possible,
28:34while also ensuring the prudent use of public money
28:37and the wider public interest,
28:39and had introduced a financial limit
28:41to help control the costs of these new SFI 24 agreements.
28:45The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner, said,
28:50The government are investing a record £5 billion into farming,
28:54the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country's history.
28:58As a result of this investment,
29:00a record number of farmers are now in farming schemes,
29:03and more money is being paid to more farmers under the SFI
29:07than ever before.
29:11But for farmers like Will and Jane, who still miss out on SFI funding,
29:15that cuts little ice.
29:18I've lost all faith in it, to be honest.
29:20It's been a real downer, and sort of, yeah,
29:22it takes a bit of getting your head round.
29:24At the end of the day, we're doing it for the environment
29:27as well as the farming, and then it just gets stopped overnight.
29:30We have a son and a daughter, and our son, you know,
29:33it's unlikely that he'll be able to do it.
29:36It's unlikely that he'll be able to carry on farming here.
29:39Really? Very unlikely.
29:41Because, you know, that has to be able to stack up.
29:44To see that potentially this is the end of the line,
29:47you know, it hurts. It really hurts.
29:57We're in West Sussex,
29:59where the revival of the white stork is in full swing.
30:03Now, when we think of storks, many of us imagine
30:06them perched high on a rooftop, making a lofty nest.
30:10Now, while such sites are pretty rare today,
30:13you may still catch a glimpse of something equally fascinating
30:16above the rafters here,
30:18as the art of thatching is still alive and well in West Sussex.
30:25Gavin McDonald has been a master thatcher for 42 years.
30:29No doubt they'll be using the same watery that we use,
30:32you know, same species of plant.
30:34I'm quite happy to lose the odd bunch of reed
30:37to a nesting pair of storks if they really want it.
30:41Happy to oblige, yeah.
30:44Working across the villages of Sussex,
30:47he's helping to keep both the craft
30:49and its ecological benefits alive.
30:53Business is incredible at the moment.
30:55I've never known it to be as busy as we are.
30:58There seems to be a really constant demand at the moment.
31:01Very fortunate.
31:04So, there's the water reed, the straw, the sedge.
31:09That's it. This one's got to go up there.
31:12When I first started thatching,
31:15I could go to about four or five different straw suppliers,
31:19all within Sussex.
31:21But all the small guys have all gone.
31:26We're using here a mixture of reeds from Ukraine and Turkey.
31:31Water reed is absolutely international.
31:35That just gives me the shape that I'm looking for.
31:39Refetching a roof is a slow and highly skilled process.
31:44A lot of it is very repetitive
31:47and it takes a lot to get going when you start.
31:52Different bunches of reed in different areas of the roof
31:56and then hopefully we'll end up with a nice even finish.
32:00It can take around five years to properly learn the craft.
32:09There we go.
32:14You've got to have younger people coming through
32:18able to make a living from it
32:20and then having the will to take on that work.
32:23And I'm hoping that that's going to change
32:26over the next 15 to 20 years.
32:29Over the years, Gavin has passed on his expertise to many apprentices
32:34and now he's training his son Luke to follow in his footsteps.
32:38We've had about a year, year and a half, just Luke and I.
32:42It's nice to be able to spend time with Luke
32:47and give time to Luke to do thatching
32:51rather than moving materials, clearing up
32:54and doing all the other stuff that needs doing.
32:57Yeah, it's all working out well.
32:59It is, isn't it?
33:00Yeah.
33:02It's just nice to spend some time with him up on the roof.
33:06It's a great feeling, very satisfying.
33:09I think it works really well, but then I would, I'm biased.
33:13No, we get on great, really.
33:15It's really come on in the short period of time
33:18that I've been able to really dedicate all my energies just into Luke.
33:24It gives me a great sense of pride as well.
33:27I can appreciate all the thatchers that have come before me
33:31and the generations.
33:34We all have our own little certain niches
33:38and little ways of working, yeah,
33:41which are just slightly different from each other.
33:44But that's also quite nice,
33:46because then you can work out who's done what roof.
33:49After a while, yeah, you get a certain eye for it.
33:53At the end of the day, look at what you've done.
33:57Yeah, it's really satisfying.
34:00Already, you know, he's done a lot of things on this roof
34:03that we haven't done before.
34:05There's always one or two things on each roof
34:08that you won't do on any other roof for so many years.
34:12And he'll keep that in his back pocket, hopefully,
34:15and, yeah, he'll remember it the next time
34:18that he's confronted with that.
34:21Working on rooftops throughout the seasons
34:24gives Gavin and Luke the perfect spot to enjoy the local wildlife.
34:29The kites and buzzards, yeah,
34:31to the owl that we keep hearing as well, the daytime owl.
34:35And also the cows in the morning.
34:37They're really loud at feeding time.
34:40It's a real good soundscape as well.
34:43Fantastic place like this to work.
34:46Yeah, it's a beautiful office.
34:48Very lucky all in. Nice to do a traditional craft as well.
34:53Thatched roofs also provide valuable habitats for wildlife.
34:57From birds and bats to insects,
35:00they make a surprising hotspot for biodiversity.
35:04All these materials and the environments that they support,
35:09that's kind of the important thing now, I think, with thatching.
35:13You see the owls, the first cuckoos every year.
35:17We get hibernating butterflies.
35:20They'll be up at the ridge level.
35:22And it's really nice to uncover that kind of thing
35:25in the winter months, autumn months.
35:27Very sweet.
35:28The one that we have a lot of is all the corvids.
35:31So all the magpies, all the jays, all the jackdaws,
35:34they absolutely adore thatch.
35:36They'll come and take thatch, yeah, all day long.
35:39You're in a natural environment.
35:41You're working with natural materials.
35:43You've got to expect a little bit of that.
35:45I'm sure, given time, we will see storks more and more in the local area.
35:50Even 10 years ago, they were just a complete rarity.
35:54Now they're almost everywhere.
35:56We live in hope. We're as close as we can be to them here.
36:01We've put quite a lot of reed on today, Luke, you know.
36:04Yeah.
36:15These days, the sky over this part of West Sussex
36:18is one regularly punctuated by white storks.
36:23These captivating birds, with their vast wingspan,
36:27glide effortlessly on the thermals,
36:30crucial for finding habitat, food and potential partners.
36:36But how did this breathtaking scene come to be?
36:43And more specifically, how do you go about creating from scratch
36:47a whole colony of these majestic birds?
36:50Well, behind this fence is how the White Stork Project did it,
36:54in a decidedly down-to-earth way.
37:01Inside is the estate's six-acre stork pen,
37:04home to around 25 very special storks,
37:07who are the linchpin of the whole endeavour.
37:10Yet not one of them can fly.
37:14But that's not a problem here.
37:16In fact, it's a bonus.
37:19Laura Vaughan-Hirsch is the White Stork Project manager,
37:23giving these flightless birds a second lease of life.
37:28So, non-flying storks, where have they come from?
37:31So, these birds are originally from Poland.
37:33So, they had a bit of a sad start to life.
37:35They were injured in the wild.
37:37So, some of them might have had collisions with traffic, would you believe?
37:40Some of them actually had collisions with trains,
37:43or more often, electricity pylons.
37:45And their injuries meant that they'll never be able to fly again.
37:48Wow.
37:49So, Warsaw Zoo in Poland did this incredible job of rehabilitating them.
37:53So, they were brought over, quarantined by Cotswold Wildlife Park,
37:57and then eventually brought here, back in 2016.
38:00And with what purpose in mind?
38:02Every year, you'll get storks fly across the channel,
38:05look up and down the south coast for evidence of other storks,
38:08not see anybody, so go back again.
38:10Oh, right.
38:11So, the idea of these guys,
38:13they're acting like a magnet, drawing in wild storks,
38:15but also, they're breeding.
38:17And the young that they produce are free to go off and migrate.
38:19As you can see, this is an open-topped pen.
38:21And hopefully, they'll return back to us eventually.
38:23Wow.
38:24So, they can't fly, but they can still breed?
38:26Absolutely.
38:27And they are colony breeders, are they?
38:28They like company.
38:29Exactly that.
38:30That's a really important part of their behaviour and ecology.
38:32They're a highly social species.
38:34They're gregarious.
38:35They come back to the same nest year after year.
38:37And they want to be really close to each other.
38:39Yeah.
38:40It gives confidence, doesn't it?
38:41I think humans can recognise it.
38:42If we go to a new place,
38:43and you're walking along looking for somewhere to eat,
38:45and you see a restaurant on a Thursday night,
38:47and it's completely empty,
38:48you're not going to go in there, are you?
38:49Exactly.
38:50So, lots of storks are indicative of good quality,
38:52good feeding opportunities,
38:53but also their safety in numbers.
38:55So, they want to be close to each other,
38:57so they're not being harassed by other birds and things like that.
39:00We've got it in stereo from two oak trees.
39:02We've got this wonderful sound.
39:04What is it they're doing when they're making this sound?
39:06So, this bill clattering or clacking is usually a lovely bonding noise.
39:10So, bonding pairs will do it to each other.
39:12They'll throw their heads back for several minutes at a time,
39:15and they're saying hello.
39:16So, it's usually a greeting.
39:18As the adults come back to the nest.
39:22Although this magnetic bunch are well adjusted to life on the ground,
39:26their limitations in the air mean a little extra help is needed.
39:30So, I'm going to assist with a spot of supplementary stork feeding.
39:34Oh, there's a lot of food in here.
39:38Can I have a look inside?
39:39Yeah, absolutely. Have a look.
39:42Oh, I've got fish.
39:43Oh, you've got some fish.
39:44You've got a mix in here.
39:45Mixed meat, so off cuts from the butchery.
39:47So, there is actually venison, beef and pork.
39:50Wow.
39:51Very lucky storks.
39:52From NEP?
39:53From NEP, yeah, from the estate here.
39:54So, anything that we can't use, the tenderny bits, the cartilagy bits,
39:57rather than compost it and waste it, we feed it to the storks.
40:00That's fantastic.
40:01It's perfect, high quality food for them.
40:04White storks are opportunistic carnivores,
40:07eating anything from insects to small rodents.
40:11So, this protein-rich mix is perfect if you're a ground-restricted stork.
40:18Or, being opportunists, some lucky flying ones too.
40:24So, we're just going to scatter pretty much anywhere.
40:27Don't worry too much about where it ends up.
40:30Oh, in they come.
40:32So, this is supplementary feeding.
40:34So, they're actually getting a huge amount of what they need
40:36from the pen itself and from the lovely big pond round the corner.
40:39Ah, OK.
40:40But this is just to top them up.
40:44So, what we'll do once it's all out is we'll kind of retreat a bit
40:47and give them a bit of space.
40:48Right, last couple.
40:50Empty the bucket.
40:54I love that sound.
40:56It's good.
40:57Gosh.
41:00These birds have lost the ability to fly,
41:03but the work of the project ensures they don't want for anything else.
41:10I just can't get over this.
41:12They're such beautiful birds.
41:14They're amazing, aren't they?
41:16And you get the real scale of them.
41:18They're large animals when you're up quite close.
41:22So, the idea of this is to create this self-sustaining population.
41:25So, this supplementary feeding is actually quite short-term.
41:28In years to come, we won't be doing any of this.
41:31So, this is to make sure that those non-flies have got enough.
41:34But when they eventually are not here,
41:36hopefully they'll live a long life and die of old age.
41:38We won't be doing any of this supplementary feeding anymore.
41:43For now, in their second chance at life,
41:45these adults have a full belly.
41:47Although there's no time for a siesta,
41:49as they've got young mouths to feed.
41:55There's one there.
41:56There we go.
41:57Can you just make out, Joe,
41:59the tiny little movement in the middle of the nest?
42:02You might be able to spot there's some chicks.
42:04Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
42:06I love that it's a fully formed nest.
42:08I think that's remarkable.
42:09So, that's a natural instinct.
42:10Even if they can't fly, to still build a nest.
42:12To still build a nest.
42:13To these, the parents can't fly,
42:15but with a bit of help,
42:17these will fledge into really good sort of wild adult birds
42:20that will then go off to other places.
42:22And migrate.
42:23Yeah, exactly.
42:24And hopefully come back here.
42:25And hopefully return when they're ready to.
42:27Oh, look at these.
42:28Fantastic.
42:29So, we've got three chicks.
42:32Oh, that's amazing.
42:35There's four.
42:36There's a fourth one there.
42:37Fantastic.
42:38So, they're literally a couple of days old.
42:41I'll give the first handful.
42:42Yeah, do, yeah.
42:43So, we're just going to chuck some fish around.
42:46Feel free to do the same.
42:47Look at that.
42:48Just wolfing it down.
42:50Oh, wow.
42:57Scatter it all around.
42:58Is four a good number?
42:59It's a great number.
43:00They can only have a maximum of five eggs.
43:02Four chicks is lovely.
43:03Wow.
43:04Well done, mum and dad.
43:06So, to me, they all look really healthy.
43:08Aren't they gorgeous?
43:09Squeaking nicely, nice and active.
43:11There's one that's slightly smaller than the other three.
43:13So, maybe hatch later, but that's normal.
43:18Oh, can't take my eyes off them.
43:19Right.
43:20So, we'll back off.
43:21Exactly.
43:22Mum and dad will be just over there.
43:23There's the pond.
43:24That's probably them there keeping an eye on us.
43:26And you can see that their neighbours
43:28are some other ground nesting birds as well.
43:30They haven't hatched yet.
43:31There's eggs in that one.
43:32So, those eggs are due to hatch any day now.
43:34Goodness me.
43:35So fab.
43:36We'll leave them to it.
43:37They look happy and healthy.
43:38What a sight.
43:43Right, that was a very quick in and out.
43:45Is that about right?
43:46Yeah, a couple of minutes is perfect.
43:48So, as soon as we leave,
43:49the parent will hop back on to the nest.
43:51And what does it feel like seeing them?
43:53I mean, they're doing so well.
43:54That must make you very proud.
43:55Yeah, it's really satisfying.
43:57It's really exciting to consider
43:58that those chicks that we've just seen,
44:00they might very well be all the way
44:01in North Africa by Christmas.
44:03Wow.
44:04And you'd expect maybe all four of them
44:05to fledge into healthy adults?
44:06They're looking really happy and healthy.
44:08They're eating well.
44:09So, as long as the weather remains kind,
44:10they should make it.
44:13Well, look, to see the four of them,
44:15it is a testament to all your hard work,
44:16the project, the various stakeholders.
44:18What a treat.
44:19Thank you so much.
44:22With us gone,
44:23mum and dad quickly returned to watch over
44:25the next generation of white storks
44:28born in the UK.
44:42So, you can just make out a nest up there
44:44and a white stork keeping a beady eye on us.
44:46Now, I've just learned that storks
44:48have a rather unusual way
44:50of keeping cool during hot weather.
44:52Unlike us, I mean, we keep cool by sweating.
44:55They have a more peculiar method.
44:57They actually poo on their own legs.
44:59Can't personally recommend it,
45:01but apparently the moisture evaporates
45:03and it keeps them cool,
45:04providing some relief in hot weather.
45:06Well, will we all need to find ingenious ways
45:09to keep cool this week?
45:11Here's the CountryFar forecast.
45:22Hello.
45:23Well, there's no hot weather on the way anytime soon,
45:25that's for sure.
45:26Let's see what's in the wings for the week ahead.
45:29Now, after a really blustery day today,
45:31thanks to an area of low pressure,
45:33we're going to see further areas of low pressure
45:35heading our way.
45:36So, spells of rain in the week ahead.
45:38It's going to be quite windy at times once again,
45:40but it's not all bad.
45:41There'll be some sunshine around too,
45:43but then again, rain is not bad.
45:44We do need the rain.
45:45Here's the satellite image,
45:47and if you look at it,
45:48there's actually a daisy chain
45:49of weather fronts and low pressures
45:50stretching across the Atlantic,
45:52originating all the way from Newfoundland there.
45:54And that weather front here
45:56will be crossing the Atlantic
45:58and approaching us later on Monday.
46:00At the moment, we've still got that low
46:02to the north of Scotland,
46:03giving the blustery conditions this evening
46:05and overnight.
46:06Now, showers,
46:07and plenty of them around this evening,
46:09but they will become less frequent,
46:11at least across the bulk of the UK,
46:13by the early hours of Monday morning.
46:14Now, if you're up early in the morning,
46:15about seven o'clock,
46:16these are the temperatures.
46:17I suspect most of us will still be in bed.
46:19Of course, it is the bank holiday.
46:21The weather will be showery
46:23right from the word go, though,
46:24across parts of Scotland
46:26and also much of Ireland,
46:27Northern Ireland, too,
46:28and then the showers will reach Wales.
46:30And actually, as you go through the course of the day,
46:32it will tend to cloud over.
46:33So your best bet for some sunshine
46:34is early in the morning on Monday,
46:36and then later on,
46:37it's going to be rather cloudy
46:38with the rain coming and going.
46:40Now, the temperatures,
46:41nothing spectacular,
46:4212 degrees in the lowlands of Scotland,
46:44about 16 in Liverpool,
46:45perhaps a few degrees higher further south.
46:48And then Monday night into Tuesday,
46:50one weather front moves away,
46:51or low pressure,
46:52and then the next one arrives
46:54early in the morning on Tuesday.
46:55So once again,
46:56if you're up very early on Tuesday,
46:57there'll be some fine, bright weather around.
46:59And then this next weather front
47:01spells rain for much of Ireland
47:03and to much of England and Wales.
47:06And at times, the rain will be heavy.
47:08And these are the temperatures,
47:0915 in Newcastle,
47:11around 17 expected in Norwich,
47:13and really quite breezy
47:14around some of these western
47:16and southwestern coasts.
47:17So Tuesday night and into Wednesday,
47:20that low pressure moves away.
47:22The next one's in the wings.
47:24But I think the gaps
47:26between the weather systems on Wednesday
47:28will be a little bit larger.
47:29So if I stand in the middle,
47:30you can see one weather system
47:31here out in the Atlantic,
47:32this one pulling away into central parts of Europe.
47:35We're in the middle.
47:36So Wednesday is actually going to be
47:38a decent day with some sunshine.
47:40As a result, the temperatures
47:41will be a bit higher.
47:42High teens in Newcastle,
47:44about 20 expected in London.
47:45But it won't last very long
47:46because by the time we get to Thursday,
47:49the next low pressure pays us a visit.
47:52So rather overcast there,
47:54lots of layers of cloud
47:55and outbreaks of rain,
47:56but never cold.
47:57This is more or less subtropical air.
48:00So temperatures,
48:01even despite that rain,
48:02will reach perhaps 19 or 20 there
48:05in central parts of England.
48:07And then Thursday night into Friday,
48:09that low pressure pulls away.
48:11And then towards the end of the week,
48:12we're under the influence
48:13of this weak air of high pressure.
48:15We call it a ridge of high pressure.
48:17So I think the best of the weather,
48:19at least as it stands now,
48:20is probably going to be Friday.
48:22Not completely dry.
48:23There'll be some showers around,
48:24probably developing during the day.
48:25But I think for most of us,
48:27quite sunny and also warmer
48:29temperatures in the low,
48:30possibly the mid 20s
48:31and even beyond Friday,
48:32it could be the case
48:33that temperatures rise further.
48:34But that's still some way away.
48:35Let's summarise the week at a glance
48:37then for some of our major cities.
48:39And you can see a rather cloudy picture
48:42with rain at times,
48:43but sunshine too
48:44and those temperatures rising.
48:46So in summary...
49:00We've been in West Sussex,
49:02exploring the revival
49:04of the white stork in the region.
49:07So we're just going to
49:08chuck some fish around.
49:09Feel free to do the same.
49:11Look at that, just wolfing it down.
49:13I've had my first tantalising views
49:15of white storks already,
49:17but as we're at the height
49:19of breeding season,
49:20I can't let Jo be the only one
49:22to spot some chicks.
49:24We should be able to see a nest,
49:25so a lower down nest.
49:27So there's quite a few nests
49:28in these trees here.
49:30Fortunately, my guide for the day,
49:32Isabella Tree,
49:33has a spot in mind
49:35she calls Stork Central
49:37and for good reason.
49:42Now, this is interesting.
49:44Very interesting.
49:45Oh, hello.
49:48Do you see?
49:49Yeah.
49:50So that bird came in
49:51and was kind of, you know,
49:53checking that nest out
49:55and so the parents then
49:56defensively start bill clattering.
49:58Making it known.
49:59But they also bill clatter
50:00when they kind of
50:01come back to the nest
50:02to sort of reaffirm that bond.
50:04You might hear them
50:05bill clatter again.
50:09After a noisy showing
50:11of parental care,
50:12hopefully the coast is clear.
50:14You might just see a stork chick
50:16pop its head up.
50:19Can you see in the front?
50:20You could just about see a chick.
50:22Yeah, do you see it?
50:23Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
50:24And can you see it
50:25trying to bill clatter?
50:27I can't believe what we're seeing.
50:32Oh my gosh,
50:33I feel like you can see
50:34there's a few.
50:35There's a few little mouths
50:36coming up, a few little beaks.
50:37Yeah.
50:39There's a real tenderness as well
50:41about the way that they're
50:42feeding their young.
50:44They're incredibly good parents.
50:46They really are incredibly good.
50:47I mean, they get better and better.
50:49Some of the first-timers,
50:51you know, are a little bit kind of lax
50:53and leave the nest for a bit too long.
50:55Like we're all learning.
50:56Yeah, exactly.
51:04Just being around the storks
51:06for a day
51:07has been a privilege.
51:09But for Isabella,
51:10who has shared the estate
51:11with the birds for approaching 10 years,
51:14it means so much more.
51:17They've got into our DNA somehow.
51:19They're a charismatic species
51:21and I think, you know,
51:23we tend to think of charismatic species
51:24as dolphins or lions or pandas.
51:27There's very few birds
51:28that actually connect with people
51:30in the same way that storks do.
51:32And for us,
51:33I think that's the power of the stork
51:35is this ability to pull people
51:37into nature and birdwatching.
51:42So why is it an important thing
51:44that we do look out for the storks?
51:46Why is the revival necessary?
51:48I think it's just so important.
51:50We focus so much, I think, in Britain
51:52on just conserving the scraps
51:55of what we've got left.
51:56And we've forgotten about
51:58all the species we've lost.
52:00And so to have white storks
52:02back in our skies
52:03after, say, 600, 700 years
52:06is a real story of hope.
52:08And yeah, we're being applauded there.
52:15Isabella wants to show
52:17how everyone can enjoy
52:18the efforts of the project
52:20no matter where they are.
52:24So this is Ania and Bartek.
52:26So they were born to Polish birds
52:28that had come here from Warsaw Zoo.
52:30So these are now free-flying birds.
52:32This is the second year
52:33they've had chicks.
52:34So they'll head off as fledglings
52:37this year, probably.
52:39They might venture as far as Spain
52:41or even Morocco.
52:43I'm completely addicted to this.
52:45I have it on my second screen
52:46and I'm, you know,
52:47I'm off and watching.
52:48I just can't.
52:49So anyone can be tuning in?
52:50Anyone can tune in.
52:51And we now have tens of thousands
52:53of people who watch this.
52:55It's so brilliant that you're able
52:56to monitor that colony,
52:58its dynamics,
52:59the way that they're breeding.
53:01We've already had seven birds
53:03from the project
53:04who've made it back here
53:06and nested and brought up chicks.
53:08So that's an enormous success.
53:10It shows that this is a viable colony
53:13and they know where they're from.
53:15But, you know, eventually
53:16they'll start dispersing
53:17across the whole southeast of England.
53:19You know, let's have them nesting
53:21in the middle of London.
53:22Wouldn't it be amazing?
53:25It's been such a huge success.
53:27There must be so much excitement locally.
53:29It's amazing.
53:30The people of Storrington
53:31have really come behind this project.
53:33And jointly NEP and Storrington
53:36are going to be named
53:38European Stork Village.
53:40So that is amazing.
53:41We're now part of this huge network
53:43of stork projects
53:45and stork kind of celebration
53:47across Europe.
53:48Really, really important for us.
53:50And it's fantastic to have
53:51kind of the whole local support
53:53behind us.
53:55In nearby Storrington,
53:57it's almost time
53:58for the crowning achievement
53:59of the project,
54:00recognising the incredible revival
54:02of the white stork
54:03after six centuries.
54:06And there's a festival mood.
54:09It's going to be a great day
54:10and a real celebration.
54:12Storrington in partnership with NEP
54:14will become a European stork village.
54:16And now we can declare
54:18the first ever stork festival
54:20in the UK
54:21The first ever stork festival
54:23in the UK
54:24well and truly open.
54:28Justine Van Tingle
54:30has travelled on behalf
54:31of the European Natural Heritage Foundation
54:34who have awarded Storrington
54:35with this special distinction.
54:38Today has been really amazing
54:39and so far everybody that I spoke to
54:41has been very enthusiastic
54:43in receiving the title.
54:45There have been 15 other villages
54:47been named before
54:48and now Storrington and NEP
54:50are the newest addition to the network
54:52because they have been doing
54:53extraordinary work
54:54for stork conservation and protection.
54:57So the reintroduction of storks
54:59has been extremely fast
55:01and extremely successful
55:02which is very impressive
55:05how fast it has been going.
55:08The display of stork supports
55:10on show at the festival
55:11is equally impressive
55:13including from Reverend Jonathan Swindells
55:15of Storrington Parish Church.
55:17We came up with the idea
55:18of making these fantastic stork crowns
55:21just to celebrate the joy
55:23of being a village
55:25that's got this great blessing
55:27of storks so nearby.
55:29I mean getting the whole village together
55:32through the stork celebration
55:34there's a real buzz
55:35I mean you can see it in the stalls
55:37in the silly hats
55:38but yeah people coming together
55:39having a good time
55:41which is a great thing
55:42and all thanks to our storks.
55:45The day is a chance
55:47to swap stories of sightings.
55:49We were all gobsmacked
55:50by the size of it weren't we?
55:51It was massive yeah.
55:52For a split second I thought
55:53hang on that's not a heron
55:54you know that's much bigger
55:56and at full wingspan
55:57I couldn't believe it was a stork
55:58it was incredible.
56:00Did you see storks?
56:02You said they were fluffy?
56:04They were fluffy.
56:07Signs of white stork inspiration
56:10are everywhere
56:12and it's only minutes away
56:14from becoming official.
56:15The moment everyone's been waiting for
56:18including Isabella.
56:20This is something that is
56:21completely beyond our wildest dreams.
56:24Here we are in Storrington
56:25whose name Estorcton
56:27in old English means
56:28abode of storks
56:30to become European Stork Village.
56:33I mean who would have imagined it
56:34it's incredible what's happened.
56:39Thank you so much
56:40for all the amazing work
56:41you and the whole team
56:42have been doing
56:43thank you so much
56:44and a warm welcome
56:45to the European Stork Village Network.
57:01Vic how's it going?
57:02Oh Joe those storks
57:03were just magnificent
57:05and also seeing a community
57:06so proud of its wildlife
57:08was just fantastic.
57:09It is a very special place
57:10and not forgetting the piglets
57:11how cute are they?
57:12That's all we've got time for this week.
57:14Next week join Sean and Anita
57:16as they're in and around Bradford
57:18celebrating the city's rural heritage
57:20as it's crowned
57:21UK City of Culture.
57:28We thought let's celebrate
57:29all the brilliant good stuff
57:30about being in the north.
57:33Yes come on!
57:36This is fun.
57:38Look how quickly you did your...
57:40Gone full of your blood
57:41right through.
57:42That's a good feeling
57:43when you get right in like that.
57:44Wow.
57:45Is that your first ever shave?
57:46Yeah that was hard work.
57:47Just another thousand
57:48you might get the hang of it.
57:50That's next Sunday at 5.25.
57:54It looks fabulous.
57:55Also tomorrow on Woman's Hour
57:57Anita heads to a dairy farm in Devon
57:59to find out what life is like
58:00for women in farming right now.
58:02She'll also find out
58:03about a groundbreaking new study
58:05focused on female farmers'
58:06health and wellbeing.
58:08That's tomorrow at 10am on Radio 4.
58:10Hasn't she been busy?
58:11But look that is it
58:12from the two of us
58:13from the stalk up there
58:14and all the wildlife at NET.
58:16Goodbye.
58:17Bye.
58:23Huskies, reindeer
58:24and dramatic landscapes.
58:25Press red to join Simon Reeve
58:27in Scandinavia on iPlayer.
58:29And if it's wombats you're after
58:31head to Radio 1's Big Weekend.
58:33Highlights of the whole shebang
58:34are also on iPlayer.
58:38Music