0:00:07 > 0:00:11When he was seven, Charlie was obsessed with kingfishers.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17When he was 13, just looking at animals wasn't enough,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20and he was compelled to take pictures of them.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27So it's hardly surprising
0:00:27 > 0:00:30that Charlie became a wildlife photographer,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34and his job has taken him to the most remote corners of the planet.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39He often says that the world
0:00:39 > 0:00:43is easier to understand through the lens of a camera,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47but if you've been to the places Charlie's been,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50you can't escape one simple fact.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Time is running out for our world.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I didn't want to sit around and spend my life being
0:00:57 > 0:01:00depressed about the environment, not doing anything about it.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03So I thought, right, if I can do my bit,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06at least I know in my life I've done my bit, however small that is.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Charlie wanted to make a difference
0:01:10 > 0:01:14so he did something that sounds crazy.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19He went to Peru to buy a rainforest.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23It makes you realise how important this place is.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26To know that there's still people in there that have got
0:01:26 > 0:01:29no contact with the outside world.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39To protect the forest, Charlie needed to stop the illegal loggers,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42ranchers and gold miners from cutting it down.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54But the more time he spent with local people,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58the deeper and deeper he got drawn into their lives.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01You forget all the problems, all the environmental stuff,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05and you just get fixed on getting some gold out of it.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23There are those that say it's already too late,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26that human beings have wrecked the planet,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28but if we're all going down,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Charlie's going down fighting.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50It's estimated that the Amazon is home to a quarter
0:02:50 > 0:02:55of every land-based species on the planet.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00And yet we've studied less than 1% of this ancient rainforest.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07It's stood for more than 20 million years,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10but if we continue to destroy it at the current rate,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14it will all be gone in less than 200.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19But the most staggering fact about the Amazon is that we've been
0:03:19 > 0:03:24hearing for so long that it needs protection that we just don't care.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Or at least we don't care enough to do anything about it.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48I got a phone call one day from my mate in Peru,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51and he just said to me, out of the blue,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54"Do you want to buy some rainforest?"
0:03:54 > 0:03:58And really, without even thinking about it, I just said, "Yeah."
0:04:01 > 0:04:04So I've gone and bought 100 acres of forest.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Well, me and your mum have bought it.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Why did you just buy it when you've never seen it?
0:04:11 > 0:04:14That's a good question. It's a perfect question.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20I didn't really tell Philippa immediately, I just went ahead
0:04:20 > 0:04:25and did it and subsequently, she has gone to great lengths
0:04:25 > 0:04:30to point out all the gaping holes in my knowledge of the place
0:04:30 > 0:04:32and my trust with people.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35I knew what he was going to do from the moment he started even mumbling
0:04:35 > 0:04:40about it, I knew where it was headed and I knew why he needed to do it.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47We all just need him to go there, see it, and then just come home.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00Charlie has flown to Cusco,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04the last big city in Peru before the Western Amazon basin.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10His land is still a day's drive away but before he gets to see it,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Charlie has to pay £6,000 for his 100 acres of rainforest.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32I've done it!
0:05:32 > 0:05:35I just bought a piece of Amazon.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49This road is hilarious.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53We haven't stopped going up now for about two hours.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57It's just on the other side of this hill.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59The problem is this hill is the Andes
0:05:59 > 0:06:01and it seems to be going on forever.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05And the thing is, I'll get there
0:06:05 > 0:06:09and it'll just look like all the other forest, but it'll be my bit!
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Of course, you have to be pretty well off to entertain
0:06:26 > 0:06:29the idea of trying to save a rainforest.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Conservation is a luxury mainly enjoyed by the rich.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36And let's not forget that in Britain we've never been
0:06:36 > 0:06:38shy of using our resources.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41After all, we've cut down most of our trees,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45killed half of the wildlife and poisoned the sea.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49But sometimes we have to draw a line.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53And for Charlie that line is Manu National Park.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00The thing about Manu is that, of all the rainforests in the world,
0:07:00 > 0:07:05it is the best one, and it's the most biodiverse place on Earth.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Some of the stats about it are just mind-blowing.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09To think that in one National Park
0:07:09 > 0:07:11that's about half the size of Switzerland,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15you can have 10% of all the bird species in the world.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17That's what we're dealing with here.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Although it's a protected area,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Manu is under attack from illegal loggers.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27But to get into the park, they have to go through Charlie's land
0:07:27 > 0:07:30which is strategically placed
0:07:30 > 0:07:33at the end of the only road for miles around,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37and one of the reasons he bought it was to find a way to stop people
0:07:37 > 0:07:40smuggling valuable hardwoods out of the forest.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48Blimey, that's it! It's a shame it's pitch black, isn't it?
0:07:51 > 0:07:54But before he gets to grips with the issues facing this corner
0:07:54 > 0:07:58of Manu, Charlie wants to see exactly what he's bought.
0:08:11 > 0:08:12Oh, this is beautiful.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18When you think of the Amazon, South America, all of that,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21that's what I'm thinking of - a place like this.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Camp is just there and there's a little trail coming down.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30I need to get the machete on it, walk down to here.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Look at that, there's the bath! This is my bathroom, then.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37It's got to be.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Beautiful.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Someone's cut this trail within the last couple of months.
0:08:58 > 0:09:04This looks nice but it's not. This is knackered forest.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11This is all just crappy grass, bamboo.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15All these things that grow fast once the forest has been cut down.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20But the diversity here's unbelievable.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23I'm probably being stalked by about three or four different
0:09:23 > 0:09:27species of mosquito at the moment.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30And there's cracking birdlife here, insect life's unbelievable.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36It's still important stuff, secondary forest, it's still packed with life.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40And you know, now I'm here to protect it,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43it's only going to get better, isn't it?
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Who knows what we could end up with?
0:09:48 > 0:09:52At the end of the first day, Charlie's only explored
0:09:52 > 0:09:56a third of his land, but it's clear that the big trees were taken
0:09:56 > 0:10:01long ago, which is why the loggers have moved into Manu.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05But the park authorities are so underfunded
0:10:05 > 0:10:08that there's little they can do about it.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13There are only 26 guards to patrol 17,000 square kilometres.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17So Charlie's taking matters into his own hands.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21I bought the land because I wanted to do some good.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24So the idea now is,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28I stop illegal loggers getting into the National Park and logging it.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32There has to be rules, there has to be regulation,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35there has to be decent protection for Manu National Park.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39It is so important, not just in Peru, but to the world.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46I know it's only a sign with some words written on it
0:10:46 > 0:10:49but it kind of makes it official now.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57It says, "Don't mess around with my bit of forest, not on my watch."
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Charlie is going to stay in the Amazon for the next few months
0:11:06 > 0:11:09to explore all the threats facing the rainforest,
0:11:09 > 0:11:14and to try to find ways to protect his land and the National Park.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18I'm already covered in bites,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22probably cos I've got a tent full of biting flies.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Charlie's job often takes him to remote places,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38but he rarely contacts his family.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43If you get homesick in the middle of the rainforest,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46you'd soon go mad with the bugs and the heat.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57The experience of walking into a rainforest is bizarre.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01It's claustrophobic, it's hot, it's deeply uncomfortable.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04And you can't escape it,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06there's no way of escaping the feeling you get from it.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10And then you're basically a walking salt cellar,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12there's very little salt in the Amazon.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14So the moment you walk in and start sweating,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17everything wants a piece of the action.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21So you get covered with insects all trying to get salt off you.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24And then also adding to that, you've got all these other insects,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27the biting ones that are trying to get blood out of you.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31So you very quickly become a valuable part of the ecosystem,
0:12:31 > 0:12:32part of the organism.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Green hell, they call it. That's what it is.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44For anyone used to western comforts, living in the rainforest
0:12:44 > 0:12:46is like living in a kettle.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48A kettle full of mosquitoes,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51but because it's so rammed with life,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54the Amazon is Charlie's favourite place on Earth.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Where's it gone? Where's it gone?
0:13:00 > 0:13:01Stay there. Stay there.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Stay there. No.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08That's the problem with this.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12You think, "Oh, yeah, I'll just document all the insects I find,"
0:13:12 > 0:13:14but they reckon there could be half a million.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17I could be doing this for the next 500 years.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20I got you. I got him, I got him.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34So far, Charlie's seen little more than grass and bamboo
0:13:34 > 0:13:38in his patch of forest, but over the border in Manu,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41it's estimated that every acre contains
0:13:41 > 0:13:47nearly three times more native trees than the whole of Great Britain.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50so it's not just of interest to the people wanting to cut it down,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54it also attracts the occasional scientist.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Thanks, Rob, don't mind me!
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Rob Williams is a conservation biologist, and Charlie's nabbed him
0:14:03 > 0:14:07to explore the area of his land closest to the National Park.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16There's a hut there, look.
0:14:18 > 0:14:19Hola!
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Hola!
0:14:26 > 0:14:29They've got some chain saw blades.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33What's all this, Rob?
0:14:36 > 0:14:38That's coca.
0:14:38 > 0:14:39What, cocaine?
0:14:39 > 0:14:43This is the coca leaf that, yeah, that cocaine's made from.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Blimey.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Someone's got a habit, haven't they?
0:14:56 > 0:14:58- Shall we go in? - Yeah.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Hmm. That's not good.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13That's really weird. That's spooky.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20I'm wandering around someone's house.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Well, there's some forest that's been cut down.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57I think this explains the coca leaves in the house.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Why?
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Looks like coca plants to me. Shall we go and have a look?
0:16:06 > 0:16:10If that's coca plants, do we really want to be walking up here?
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Shouldn't we be a bit...scared?
0:16:23 > 0:16:25You've got quite a production here, Charlie.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Bloody hell, look at it.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Someone's been here recently pruning and harvesting...
0:16:37 > 0:16:39- How recently? - I mean, within days.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45I mean, he's eaten his pineapple and then lain down on this
0:16:45 > 0:16:49sheet of plastic on nice, soft, cut vegetation.
0:16:54 > 0:17:01That's just blown a massive hole in the rainforest bubble.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Coca leaves have been a sacred part of South American culture
0:17:14 > 0:17:17for thousands of years.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20But Peru is now the largest exporter of cocaine in the world,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24and Charlie's ragged patch of land is the reality
0:17:24 > 0:17:27of what's happening to the rainforest.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34According to the park guards, Charlie doesn't just have
0:17:34 > 0:17:36a field of coca to worry about.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Somebody has written a reply to his sign on the border of his land.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Do you think it's a genuine threat?
0:18:29 > 0:18:32What a massive cock-up.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39It looks like Charlie has been terribly naive.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43It's rumoured that the guy who owned the land before him is a local crook
0:18:43 > 0:18:48called Tito, who did time for processing cocaine.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53The guards suspect that Tito and his son Elias
0:18:53 > 0:18:56are one of the families logging the National Park,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00and that they are still using the hut on Charlie's land as a base.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16It's not somewhere that I feel particularly safe any more,
0:19:16 > 0:19:21and it worries me that at any moment a load of guys on motorbikes
0:19:21 > 0:19:25could turn up with guns and do me over and rob me,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29and that's not really what I had in mind when I bought it.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38I thought, "Jesus, probably the best purchase I ever made."
0:19:38 > 0:19:42I don't know what to do with it, I'm a bit down on it, but, you know,
0:19:42 > 0:19:47it's better than a load of crap sitting around my house doing nothing.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Oh, I've bitten off way more than I can chew.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I'm useless at doing anything but taking photos.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09After two weeks, Charlie has had enough,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13and decides he needs to get away from the problems on his land.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19He's not the first Westerner with deep pockets to try
0:20:19 > 0:20:23and save a rainforest, but fortunately for Charlie,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26not all of them have been scared off by the local people.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33A day's boat journey east is the Creese Foundation,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37a research centre that specialises in trying to understand
0:20:37 > 0:20:41how to restore damaged rainforest just like Charlie's.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46He couldn't have come to a better place for advice,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49but Charlie's more interested in photographing the animals
0:20:49 > 0:20:52being studied by head biologist, Andy Whitworth.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55Ah, look at his little face.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Have you got the anti-venom?
0:20:59 > 0:21:01I'd rather have it quickly.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06A poisonous one, Andy?
0:21:06 > 0:21:10An arboreal pit viper. One of the most dangerous ones out here.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13This is enough maybe for the first couple of hours
0:21:13 > 0:21:16until you would get somebody to a hospital.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18When you say "couple of hours to get someone to a hospital,"
0:21:18 > 0:21:22do you mean the hospital that's 12 hours away in Cusco?
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Yeah, but we can stop at a small medical facility on the way.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29All right, let's go.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Do you get nervous when you're doing this?
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Yeah, most definitely.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40I never get complacent, every time I handle a snake, I'm switched on.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Oh, he's beautiful.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Isn't he just?
0:21:44 > 0:21:48He's quite a mean little guy, he's going to be angry,
0:21:48 > 0:21:49he's going to want to strike.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53OK. So you see how he's S-ing now?
0:21:53 > 0:21:55He's ready like a spring... he wants to go.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Can he reach me from here?
0:21:57 > 0:22:02He's full body length, so... 70 centimetres, 80 centimetres.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04This guy's heavily haemotoxic,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07so if you take a bite from him, you're going to bleed
0:22:07 > 0:22:10from your gums, from your nose, from your eyes.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Sides are toxic as well so it will start to eat away at the flesh.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15So your skin falls off?
0:22:15 > 0:22:16Yeah, pretty much.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20You wouldn't think something so small would be so deadly.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Ah, come on, little fella, back on the hook.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30See, he's rattling his tail, he's getting really angry now.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35This is the tricky bit, you've just got to watch your fingers.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Oh, that's not good. Don't come up there!
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Hey.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Ah, OK.
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Well done, sir.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Cheers.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Oh, it was lovely. What a beautiful animal.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get
0:22:52 > 0:22:55to use my anti-venom for the first time.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04The foundation own an area 20 times larger than Charlie's
0:23:04 > 0:23:06that was once little more than a wasteland,
0:23:06 > 0:23:11but now it's grown back to create a healthy secondary rainforest.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Look, he's right here, he's right here.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15He's just jumped onto that stem.
0:23:18 > 0:23:19This would have all been logged,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23there would have been agriculture here, coffee.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29So you can see it can regenerate given time.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31So there is hope.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39To see what wildlife might return to his land if given the chance,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Charlie has asked Andy to take him to an animal hotspot.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50- Andy, how far to go? - An hour?
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Oh, only another hour and we've only been going 25 minutes.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56- Yeah.- Yeah.- We'll start getting to the hill soon.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Oh, good, we've got a hill. Fantastic.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03There's very little salt in the Amazon,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07so mineral-rich areas are the forest equivalent of an oasis
0:24:07 > 0:24:11and attract animals from miles around.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13You know we're getting close now.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15You can start seeing trails all over the place.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18This is getting a bit heavy.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22So this is where the salts must be coming from,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25out of these rocks, and as the water's running off,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27it's gathering here in this pool.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30So you see the animals, they come in from all different directions,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32and you see them shoving their head right in here.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35- Are they eating this? - Yeah.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I think they're one of the most important things in the Western Amazon basin.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Without them, the animals wouldn't exist.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42They need the salt so badly, and without these clay-licks,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44they just wouldn't have it in their diet at all.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47The plants pretty much take everything up,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50so all the nutrients, everything in the forest is stored in the canopy,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53so the soil and everything down here is really poor,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55and then you suddenly get these little pockets of salt
0:24:55 > 0:24:57and it's like gold to the animals.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59It's what they need.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Camera traps automatically take photos of anything
0:25:05 > 0:25:07that passes in front of the lens.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10But it's often more luck than judgment guessing where
0:25:10 > 0:25:13the animals are going to be.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Pretend you're a tapir.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Lovely. You do a good tapir there.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Many large mammals also use human trails,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28as they are the easiest way through the tangled undergrowth.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Yeah, beautiful. There, I reckon.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35I think there are eight species of wildcats in Manu,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39so could get any of them, but they're really hard to see,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41and to get shots of.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43I've done this for months in the past
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and only ever got one shot of them.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47OK, cat man.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50You even snarled!
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Andy's great. He's just a young, very enthusiastic,
0:25:53 > 0:25:59incredibly knowledgeable bloke, who's just deeply in love with the forest.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Wandering around it with him is an education.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Nice tree there.
0:26:05 > 0:26:06Yeah.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08This is a cedar, Charlie.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11So, if you planted a few of these on your land at the moment,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14these cedars, this forest here is pretty much what your area
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- should look like in sort of 30 years' time.- Really?
0:26:17 > 0:26:18- Yeah.- This is beautiful.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24The real problem you'll have now, Charlie,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27is when you start getting the trees like this and they start
0:26:27 > 0:26:30getting to a decent size, you're going to get people coming in.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32They're going to want these trees then.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34So, it's a sort of vicious circle, isn't it?
0:26:34 > 0:26:37You make it better, create a nice forest,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41everyone's going to want to kill it and chop it down again.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45You've got to be nuts to do something like that.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51I think I'm stupid, is what I am.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Yeah, it's true.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I'm still reeling about the fact that I bought the worst bit
0:26:56 > 0:27:01in the most dangerous place in the area and everyone is laughing at me.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05And I don't really want people knowing I'm there
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and knowing what I'm doing cos I don't want to get shot or robbed,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11or any of that stuff. And I'm vulnerable out there.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13I'm vulnerable camping in that place.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15It'll be a tough job.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Charlie's not going to enjoy everything that he's got
0:27:24 > 0:27:29ahead of him, because he's going to have to change.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31It's the local people that are going to protect it,
0:27:31 > 0:27:33not Charlie in 30 years' time.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36He's not still going to want to stand on that land
0:27:36 > 0:27:38and live in a tent and look after things, so...
0:27:39 > 0:27:44The imperialistic idea of buying up rainforest in a developing country
0:27:44 > 0:27:46from the West isn't the solution.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Charlie can't save that land,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54until he convinces local people why it's important to do it.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57And that's the challenge.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Andy.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19What have you seen there, Charlie?
0:28:20 > 0:28:21Fresh jag?
0:28:21 > 0:28:24- Ah, yeah, that's jag. - That's fresh?
0:28:24 > 0:28:25Yeah, you can see how wide that is.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Have we got a camera trap up here?
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Yep, we got a camera trap not very far,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32but that's definitely a jaguar pug.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35It could be watching us now, couldn't it?
0:28:35 > 0:28:38And if it is watching us now, what are the chances of us seeing it?
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Should you expect to see snakes in the path?
0:28:48 > 0:28:50One of the biggest ones I ever found was
0:28:50 > 0:28:53just down the trail down here, about another 300 metres on.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56It was a big female bushmaster, stretched
0:28:56 > 0:28:59right across the trail about two and a half metres.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01And a bushmaster would kill you, would it?
0:29:01 > 0:29:02Oh, God, yeah.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06We'll swap round and you can go at the front in a bit.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Ah! Oh, my God!
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Oh!
0:29:16 > 0:29:18- There's my camera trap.- Look at how wide that is.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20How nervous am I?
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Nothing. Nothing.
0:29:30 > 0:29:31Ah! It's a puma!
0:29:34 > 0:29:36You got it!
0:29:38 > 0:29:42- Look at the size...big male.- Let me see, let me see.- Check him out.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Ohhh... You're kidding.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58The camera traps reveal far more wildlife than Charlie
0:29:58 > 0:30:01expected to see in just a few days.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05But only ten years ago, this area was hunted out
0:30:05 > 0:30:07and there were practically no animals at all.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14The thing that's hit me more than anything else
0:30:14 > 0:30:17is the speed at which this forest has recovered.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19- Whoa!- He's staring at it.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27And that made me realise actually that really in a fairly short
0:30:27 > 0:30:30period of time I could get my bit of forest back up to
0:30:30 > 0:30:35being, you know, decent, good land, full of wildlife, full of diversity.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39So that's the main chunk of inspiration I've taken out of this place.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48Charlie's like a child in a way,
0:30:48 > 0:30:52like, he has this inner passion for nature,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55and he wants to photograph it.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00That's his way of telling the world about why something's so special.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04But for him to buy a rainforest is completely off the cuff.
0:31:04 > 0:31:09Who knows what he was thinking when he did it but...er...
0:31:11 > 0:31:14..yeah, he's going to learn a few things.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20The idea that we should create buffer zones
0:31:20 > 0:31:23around national parks to protect the most precious
0:31:23 > 0:31:25forests in the Amazon
0:31:25 > 0:31:28was first suggested in the 1970s.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31But conservationists now agree that it can't work
0:31:31 > 0:31:34unless the local communities are in charge.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38Unfortunately, Charlie's too scared
0:31:38 > 0:31:42to go back to his land and face the people he thinks are logging Manu.
0:31:44 > 0:31:49And yet wherever he goes, he sees more reasons to protect the park.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51Slow down, slow down.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Just keep the boat at that speed.
0:31:58 > 0:31:59This is unbelievable.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04Just there are four uncontacted Indian women.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08My heart is going completely crazy.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Everyone keep dead still.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15They're shouting at us,
0:32:15 > 0:32:17I've got no idea what they're saying, obviously.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20WOMEN CALL
0:32:26 > 0:32:29I never expected to...to see them.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33You hear about them but you just never expect to see them.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43As far as anyone knows, there are seven indigenous tribes
0:32:43 > 0:32:47living in voluntary isolation throughout Manu, but combined
0:32:47 > 0:32:50they would number less than a few thousand individuals.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Though they are rarely seen and often aggressively defend
0:33:01 > 0:33:03their decision to be left alone,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07our world is not totally alien to the tribes.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Missionaries and illegal loggers have been known to
0:33:10 > 0:33:13lure them from the forest with gifts of cooking pots and machetes.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17But any contact risks spreading disease
0:33:17 > 0:33:19and could wipe them out forever.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34It's just absolutely unbelievable... what I've just seen.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43You know what, we are... 30 miles from my land,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46and there's uncontacted women on the beach.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50That's incredible, isn't it?
0:33:57 > 0:34:00The uncontacted tribes have good reason to stay hidden.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07Between 1850 and 1930, entire populations were
0:34:07 > 0:34:11enslaved by American and European rubber barons.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19A quarter of a million indigenous people died throughout the Amazon
0:34:19 > 0:34:22so that we could have tyres and condoms.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31But many of the tribes did not return to the forest,
0:34:31 > 0:34:38and two days from Charlie's land is the indigenous community of Belgica.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Over the past hundred years,
0:34:41 > 0:34:46the Yine have embraced many aspects of the industrialised world,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49but they still see the rainforest as their home.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26To support the community, the Yine have a licence to harvest
0:35:26 > 0:35:29a limited number of trees from their tribal homeland,
0:35:29 > 0:35:33a 500-square-kilometre primary rainforest.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52The Yine manage their forest sustainably
0:35:52 > 0:35:55and allow each logged area to recover
0:35:55 > 0:35:57but, controversially, their quota
0:35:57 > 0:36:01permits them to cut down 90% of their big-leaf mahogany,
0:36:01 > 0:36:03a threatened species
0:36:03 > 0:36:06that is protected in some South American countries.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30The mahogany is a rare beast now and I've never seen one before.
0:36:31 > 0:36:36The sad and depressing thing is that that particular mahogany tree
0:36:36 > 0:36:41is marked, and it's getting cut down in 24 hours' time.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Last year, the Yine cut down nine of the 150
0:36:50 > 0:36:52mahogany trees on their land.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56But this forest is their only resource
0:36:56 > 0:36:59and big-leaf mahogany their most valuable asset.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04Each tree is worth £3,500 to the Yine.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08And by the time it's sold as luxury furniture in Britain and America,
0:37:08 > 0:37:10it could be worth 20 times as much.
0:37:12 > 0:37:13But Charlie wants to know
0:37:13 > 0:37:18what the environmental cost is of cutting down one of these giants.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23And he's asked Andy to gather a group of biologists to catalogue
0:37:23 > 0:37:27every species that depend on this single tree for their survival.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32A bio-blast is sort of a funky name for...
0:37:32 > 0:37:33HE LAUGHS
0:37:33 > 0:37:35..some scientists looking at stuff!
0:37:37 > 0:37:40You take something like the mahogany tree
0:37:40 > 0:37:44and you very quickly assess how many different species there are.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47So they can then have a picture of how much life
0:37:47 > 0:37:49this thing's sustaining.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57I'm going to photograph everything that we can get,
0:37:57 > 0:37:59so that we've got a picture record of it,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02not just a written record of a Latin name.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05The thing about the rainforest is,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08it's very rare to actually see anything in it.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11You get buzzed around by a load of insects
0:38:11 > 0:38:13but to take insects from it,
0:38:13 > 0:38:15and stick them on white,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18you get a really good chance to really have a look at them,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22completely removed from the massive tangle of confusing greenery.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25And it's then that you start to see
0:38:25 > 0:38:27the incredible complexity of all the life here.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33There are actual little characters in this. Little lives.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35The place is just buzzing.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39You know, there's probably three or four species of bee
0:38:39 > 0:38:41just flying around me now.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44But until you actually get one of those, stick it on white
0:38:44 > 0:38:48and have a decent look at it, you can't really relate to it.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Just taking it off that wing and then this one should just come off.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01You can see almost all of these birds look the same.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03But they'll all have a slightly different niche,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06different things that they feed on.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09A tree like the mahogany that we've got here provides all these
0:39:09 > 0:39:12different levels, these different homes, all the different food,
0:39:12 > 0:39:16and when you remove those trees you remove the complexity of the forest.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18It completely disappears.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21And so you end up with only the very common species, the generalists,
0:39:21 > 0:39:24and you lose the guys like this one that's more uncommon,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27and probably a real specialist,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30and probably relies on the tree that we're working on.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56It's not comfortable, is it?
0:40:06 > 0:40:08There's an absolutely stunning butterfly
0:40:08 > 0:40:10that I've never seen before.
0:40:13 > 0:40:14Don't you move.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- Yes! I've got it! - You got it?
0:40:18 > 0:40:19I've got it.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22Now what are you going to do?
0:40:24 > 0:40:25- No!- You've lost it!
0:40:27 > 0:40:28No...
0:40:30 > 0:40:33The dirt and bees is just so painful.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Time passes slowly for the big trees
0:40:42 > 0:40:48and this mahogany could be anywhere between 100 and 400 years old.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51When it's cut down, fast-growing plants will rush in
0:40:51 > 0:40:54and scramble toward the light,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58and as the forest loses some of its oldest inhabitants,
0:40:58 > 0:41:03it's inevitable that it also loses the specialist plants and animals
0:41:03 > 0:41:07that rely on the extra sunlight that the upper branches provide.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Up on these top branches on the far part
0:41:14 > 0:41:17there's some beautiful pink flowers.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20I see them. Yeah, I can just see them up there.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Really nice orchid.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31Every time I open my eyes, I get bees in there.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33Ahhh, God!
0:41:33 > 0:41:35HE SPLUTTERS AND LAUGHS
0:41:35 > 0:41:39It's just crazy! It's crazy! Oh, my God!
0:41:41 > 0:41:46How can something so incredible just be so awful at the same time?!
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Ever get the feeling the tree is trying to say something?
0:41:49 > 0:41:51- Yeah, "Leave me alone."- Yeah.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10God knows how many creatures I actually catalogued today
0:42:10 > 0:42:12and how many I sat and photographed.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23It's depressing not just cos the thing's coming down,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26but all these little lives that I looked at today,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28everything's changing for them as well.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32So, you're not just cutting down a tree,
0:42:32 > 0:42:36you're destroying a whole ecosystem, a whole world.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42It's totally bizarre to me
0:42:42 > 0:42:46there should be a demand for this
0:42:46 > 0:42:49because people think it looks nice.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54There's no reason on Earth
0:42:54 > 0:42:59anyone in Britain needs anything made from mahogany.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03Yet, we're still importing
0:43:03 > 0:43:06more mahogany than most other countries in the world.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20- Oh, he's nice.- Yeah, found this... - Nice, mate.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23- Grab him.- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Amazing.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51This thing that we've got in the box is not something to mess about with.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53It's a wandering spider.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57It's the one spider in South America that you could potentially die from.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06SIGHING AND CHUCKLING
0:44:09 > 0:44:11Oi... That was on my finger.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18- It's on the ground?- Yeah.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22All right, let's try again.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36- Did we get any in the high traps? - Yeah.
0:44:36 > 0:44:41Jenny just told me that there's 36 butterfly species that we've found.
0:44:41 > 0:44:42We don't have, we have similar.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44- We don't have it?- No.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47So it's a new species... Excellent.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56In the whole of Britain, there are seven native species of amphibian.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02Around one tree in the Amazon, the team found 21.
0:45:09 > 0:45:15In total, they found 204 different species in just 24 hours.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20Some are potentially new to science
0:45:20 > 0:45:23and may not exist anywhere else on Earth.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31But there's one species that depends on this tree
0:45:31 > 0:45:34that Charlie didn't think to photograph.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56I suppose the thing that gets me is, I've watched since I was a kid
0:45:56 > 0:45:59and been taught at school all about the Amazon
0:45:59 > 0:46:02and rainforest destruction and logging
0:46:02 > 0:46:04and all these environmental problems.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07You know, I'm 40 now and those problems haven't gone away,
0:46:07 > 0:46:09it's all still happening.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19We had awareness in the '70s of what was happening to the Amazon.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24Bugger all's changed, has it?
0:47:12 > 0:47:14HAMMER STRIKES NAIL
0:47:27 > 0:47:30An hour. Over 100 years gone in an hour.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33That's all I can think.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55People can have nice tables...
0:47:58 > 0:48:00..coffins.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Lucky them, eh?
0:48:34 > 0:48:39Nothing at all...says to me this is the fault of the community.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44It's not their fault, they've got to survive. This is their land.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53I can't...I cannot understand why people...
0:48:53 > 0:48:55HIS VOICE CRACKS
0:48:55 > 0:48:57..why people need to buy mahogany in the first place.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04But it's not really about blame, is it?
0:49:04 > 0:49:08It's about...trying to sort it out so that it doesn't have to happen.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16But they've got to survive,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18but I don't believe this is the way.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37When I embarked on this project, I thought it would be much more simple
0:49:37 > 0:49:39and I knew the answers, and actually,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42the more I understand it, the less I understand it.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50Because it's a very complex situation,
0:49:50 > 0:49:54but...I feel like at least I'm doing something.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02Three square kilometres of rainforest are destroyed
0:50:02 > 0:50:03every day in Peru
0:50:03 > 0:50:08and up to 80% of the trees felled are cut down illegally.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14The system is so corrupt that by the time timber leaves the sawmills,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18it's almost impossible to know where it came from.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26But Charlie didn't come to Peru to solve all of the problems facing
0:50:26 > 0:50:30the Amazon - he wanted to protect one corner of Manu National Park.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36For the last three weeks, he's avoided returning to his land,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39but if he doesn't face up to the illegal loggers now,
0:50:39 > 0:50:41he may as well go home.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Yeah, they must have been... What they do is they bring it all out
0:50:47 > 0:50:49and they pile it up and load it onto a truck.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54It's almost certain that the previous landowner, Tito,
0:50:54 > 0:50:58and his son Elias have been moving wood through Charlie's land
0:50:58 > 0:51:03and the tyre tracks lead to a field that he hasn't been to before.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09This massive area was burnt to the ground years ago
0:51:09 > 0:51:12and now it's being used to grow crops.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19Look, and there, that rim of trees is national park.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24That's been logged. That should be primary forest, there.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32If Tito and Elias have been here recently,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35then it's possible they're still in the area.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42It's actually the worst situation we could be in.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46Elias is illegally logging the park and the whole reason
0:51:46 > 0:51:49I bought that land was to stop the national park getting logged.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56So I'm a bit... I suppose I'm a bit annoyed.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Actually, I think the thing to do is go and meet him.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Fresh footprints, there.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26That can't be more than half an hour old.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29In this heat, it would have dried out by now.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31It's weird, isn't it? Tracking a human.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Chain saw.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42I think I hear a chain saw.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49We've got to measure this one up.
0:52:49 > 0:52:54I don't really want to...bust Elias,
0:52:54 > 0:52:56illegally logging in the middle of nowhere.
0:52:58 > 0:52:59Er...
0:53:00 > 0:53:04It could actually be quite dangerous.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07MECHANICAL WHINE IN DISTANCE
0:53:07 > 0:53:09That a chain saw?
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Yeah, a chain saw, and we're in the middle of nowhere
0:53:11 > 0:53:17and we just walked half an hour up a small forest creek.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20WHINING INTENSIFIES
0:53:29 > 0:53:30Elias!
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Elias!
0:53:35 > 0:53:36Hola!
0:53:39 > 0:53:41Hola!
0:53:48 > 0:53:51- Hola.- Hola. - Como estas?
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Hola, Elias.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58Elias...hola.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Elias. Hola, Elias.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09Elias. Como estas?
0:54:09 > 0:54:10Hi.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14You are a hard man to find.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22We need to... We need to talk about the land.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26You have somewhere to sit and chew your coca while we talk about it?
0:54:26 > 0:54:27Si.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34MAN SPEAKS SPANISH Tito?
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Because the thing I don't want, Tito,
0:54:59 > 0:55:02is I gave you lots of money for the land and then...
0:55:02 > 0:55:04you have all the money
0:55:04 > 0:55:07and then things just carry on the way they were when you owned it.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11Now is the time I want to protect it so that it can get better.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16But I'm not some rich gringo who's come here to throw people off land.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18That's why we need to talk.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55Don't know what to say to that.
0:55:57 > 0:56:02Not 100% sure I believe it, but...anyway.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11I need to think about it, Tito.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27It's balancing...what...
0:56:27 > 0:56:31I suppose, ultimately what I value more.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35Do I value protecting Manu
0:56:35 > 0:56:41more than I...value...a family?
0:56:43 > 0:56:45And that's what is complex for me because...
0:56:47 > 0:56:51..I probably value Manu more.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56So I've really got to...
0:56:56 > 0:57:00I've got to put my pity and sorrow for them aside
0:57:00 > 0:57:03and get on with the job that needs doing.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06That's my thought at the moment, and that means booting them out.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13They need to leave the land.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21Next time, Charlie's wife comes to Peru
0:57:21 > 0:57:25and sees straightaway that he's making a terrible mistake.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27I knew it wouldn't be easy.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31I knew conservation isn't just about putting a fence round something
0:57:31 > 0:57:35and leaving it, and Charlie won't be told anything.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41Charlie is more determined than ever when he sees the devastation
0:57:41 > 0:57:44caused by gold mining.
0:57:48 > 0:57:52But it's not as easy as he'd hoped to get Elias off the land.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04- You know, what sort of- BLEEP - would I be if did?
0:58:08 > 0:58:11Go on an interactive journey with the Open University
0:58:11 > 0:58:14to explore the challenges facing the rainforest.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18Go to...
0:58:20 > 0:58:23..and follow the links to the Open University.