It was a sensation! When photos of free-ranging beavers appeared in England in 2014, the topic dominated the British press for days. After all, the shy rodents had been considered extinct in the wild for 500 years.

Their mysterious return polarised the public: conservationists celebrated the animal's new arrival as an enrichment for nature. Opponents demanded that the rodents be recaptured because they could damage agriculture.

In order to allow the beavers to continue living in the wild, the regional environmental protection organisation Devon Wildlife Trust tried to prove conclusively the positive effects of the beavers on the environment in a five-year research programme.

Their findings are clear: the comeback of the "eco-engineer" beaver increases biodiversity, cleans water and prevents flooding. But will the scientists be listened to despite the fears and lobby of the farmers?

Around the megacities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, stretching all the way to Argentina, is one of the most species-rich forests on earth: the Atlantic Rainforest. But today only 12 percent of it remains. A wake-up call for environmentalists, farmers and researchers! More than 300 private initiatives want to break the negative trend and are planting trees en masse to restore tropical forests and turn them into species-rich biotopes. With initial success: The return of the imposing tapir and rare monkey species give hope.

Costa Rica is famous for its national parks, tropical forests and rare animals. For centuries, though, the forests had to make way more and more – above all, for agriculture. Since the early 1980s, the land has set a new course. Huge areas have been reforested; plant and animal species are recovering. The film shows how something that was long thought impossible has been brought about: the return of the tropical forests and their inhabitants.

Agriculture, urbanisation and industry have taken a heavy toll on Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes on the northern edge of the US. Today, more and more people are working to bring nature back around the lake. Rivers are recovering, wetlands are being restored, and eradicated animal and plant species are returning. The wounds inflicted on nature by man are beginning to heal.

The end of open-cast lignite mining in the Lausitz region of eastern Germany left behind vast areas of wasteland – in which habitats teeming with rare plant and animal species have come into being. Wolves, cranes and sea eagles, as well as insects, amphibians and birds, have taken over the former pits and spoil heaps. Wetlands, heath and forests have become fascinating objects of study for conservationists and biologists.