Wetlands across Europe are disappearing, and this DW Documentary follows two conservation efforts trying to bring them back. Biologists Kathrin Theissinger and Jean-Yves Georges work to reintroduce the European pond turtle to the Upper Rhine, betting that a charismatic species can win public support for restoring an entire habitat type long dismissed as smelly, mosquito-ridden, and useless for farming. Wildlife biologist Gerhard Schwab offers the messier counterpoint: since beavers were reintroduced to Bavaria last century after going extinct in Europe, they have rebuilt wetlands on their own, but also flooded fields and angered landowners, leaving him to manage 'problem' beavers, sometimes by trapping and relocating them to countries like England. The film intercuts fieldwork, trapping operations, and habitat surveys with both scientists explaining why wetlands matter for carbon storage and flood control. It does not treat rewilding as a simple success story, instead using the beaver's return to argue that species conservation is a long-term, society-wide commitment rather than a one-time fix.