Spain’s Dehesa looks like a wild savannah, but this landscape was built over centuries by people, livestock, and oak trees. Across southwest Spain, holly oaks and cork oaks shape the soil, feed Iberian pigs, support cork harvesting, and create habitat for species such as monk vultures and the Iberian lynx.
This documentary explores how Europe’s largest agroforestry system became a rare alliance between farming and biodiversity, and why that balance is now under pressure from drought, declining water, and climate change. From acorn-fed pigs and ancient cork oaks to lynx conservation, carbon monitoring, transhumance, and new water management systems, the Dehesa reveals how a human made ecosystem can keep life moving in one of Europe’s driest frontiers.
Documentary: A Wilder Europe - Episode 2: The Dehesa, The Nurturing Savannah
Director: Stéphane Jacques
Production: ARTE France, Roche Productions & Mediatika (2024)
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