Erich Pröll

As all the world knows, Vienna is a city on the Danube.Day after day, the metropolis and its inhabitants consume roughly 370,000 cubic metres of water – hardly unusual for a city as big.It may come as a surprise that not one drop of this water is abstracted from the Danube.All water drunk, used for cooking, showering and flushing or drawn from wells, all water that enters sewers and treatment plants originates in the Alps.Crystal-clear drinking water adds glamour and brilliance to the city.How this valuable resource travels to Vienna, changing itself and the city in the process before ending up in the river, is the stuff of stories. This is the story of Vienna’s water.

Deep in the Atlantic new islands are forming, very slowly, alongside the ancient peaks of the Azores. Some of these emerging islands now reach to just below the surface. But how did the jungle find its way on to the inhospitable rocks, long before the arrival of humans? The answer is birds. Species from Europe and America arrived here carrying seeds. They are in some ways the founders of the islands. And the most common creatures on the Azores are spiders! Around them, following the currents, the giants of the sea congregate to enjoy the feast of microscopic plankton these islands serve them.

Albania in the southeast of Europe – situated between Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro – hosts an astonishingly diverse landscape. Harmonic coastal areas lead to harsh karst landscapes. Snow-covered mountain regions, wild canyons, waterfalls, deep-blue lakes and untouched rivers are perfect conditions for an immensely rich flora and fauna. Decades of war preserved wide areas of the country from industrial exploitation, so the natural environment is still untouched.

The Upper Austrian nature filmmaker Erich Pröll shows the most beautiful places in the world.

The Upper Austrian nature filmmaker Erich Pröll shows the most beautiful places in the world.

The Upper Austrian nature filmmaker Erich Pröll shows the most beautiful places in the world.

The Upper Austrian nature filmmaker Erich Pröll shows the most beautiful places in the world.