in the forests of Colombia nature is
under attack since the Civil War ended
in 2016 deforestation has skyrocketed
I'm Frank Gardner I'm heading into what
remains of the virgin tropical
rainforests I've traded in my wheelchair
for a pack horse and I'm tested to my
limits I can do this I think this is
just too dangerous I'm joining a crack
team of plant scientists from the Royal
Botanic Gardens Kew they're on a mission
to discover and save unique plant
species before they vanish forever
[Music]
in 2016 the Colombian government signed
a peace deal with the FARC rebels
[Applause]
for more than half a century civil war
actually slowed the pace of
deforestation but now remote tracts of
land have opened up farmers loggers and
miners are scrambling for resources
Columbia is now reportedly losing three
thousand square kilometers of forest
every year
[Music]
nature's always beam something of an
antidote to my job as a security
correspondent in 2004 I was shot and
partly paralyzed while on the job I went
and I got a set amount of trepidation
about the trip itself because everybody
else is walking I'm gonna have to do
this on horseback otherwise I'm not
gonna be able to make it ten least
honest koalas mr. novian yes this is the
first time this area is going to be
explored by botanist or scientists for
so many years conflicting criminality
made this area inaccessible to outsiders
there is a bit of a risk here you know
I'm
my legs are osteoporotic they're like
honeycomb the bones so I really can't
afford to fall off and break things the
beginning of the trek is a steep descent
the botanist hoped to find new species
deep inside the forest but I'm able to
hold on with my legs guys I don't think
I can do this I'm gonna fall off I think
this is just too dangerous I mean it
breaks my heart I just
I think you're gonna have to carry on
without me he got no head at me hot well
done oK we've managed to find a solution
to get moved on the slope because
getting done by mule was just too tricky
too dangerous
the botanist hoped to find plants with
untold potential ethical one of the
local guides believes he's chanced upon
something extraordinary this actually we
don't know exactly what it is and it
could be continued is that we are the
first botanists collecting on this area
what does it lead to part of potentially
new species like this in a remote forest
some of these species could have the
properties to cure important disease for
human
so as biologists as botanist we have to
try to understand us as soon as possible
as quick as possible all this amazing
biodiversity
in the fight to save the forests the
Colombian government has extended its
protection to millions of acres of land
the Army launched Operation Artemisa in
2019 to combat illegal logging
but in remote places the law is hard to
enforce illegal loggers are still at
work in these forests but one sec I know
so leave our severe loss in this fallen
giant will make the loggers $300
the scientists from Kew remain hopeful
of finding hidden treasures before it's
too late
[Music]
Columbia today is a post-conflict nation
but it faces a new battle to protect its
natural resources the biodiversity
contained in these forests could prove
to be its most precious commodity of all