hello. the warmth of the weekend was replaced by something here, the prime minster boris a little bit fresher johnson has been moved to intensive through the day on monday, care after his coronavirus but many of us were able symptoms worsened. to enjoy a bit of blue sky he was admitted to st thomas‘ and a bit of sunshine from our hospital in london for some tests windows and our gardens too. after doctors said his a bit more of the same symptoms were persisting. on tuesday, things are looking on social media the prime minister said said that he was mostly dry after a chilly in good spirits. and a misty start. but high—pressure very much dominating our weather through the day on tuesday, president trump hasjoined political and into wednesday too. leaders in the uk and around things are going to turn a little bit warmer the world in wishing over the next few days. borisjohnson a speedy recovery. mr trump said the prime minister was "strong, resolute, doesn't quit and doesn't give up." he added that americans because, as you can see, the blue colours, the colder air that‘s been with us gets pushed away, and are "all praying for his recovery." these yellow colours, the warmer air, starts to move in from the south. but for the here and now, australia's high court has upheld cardinal pell‘s appeal tuesday dawns on quite a chilly over his conviction for sexually note, touch of frost, assaulting two choirboys and some mist and fog in the 1990s. patches, particularly across england and wales. cardinal pell was jailed for six years — with a non—parole period lots of dry weather with some of three years and eight months. long spells of sunshine. he will be freed from cloudier towards the far prison later today. northwest, but the odd shower perhaps for the western isles, perhaps northern ireland by the end of the day too. also quite breezy, particularly for the northwest of scotland, but, elsewhere, lighter winds for many people, the lockdown has and the sunshine lasting meant having to rely heavily through the day, but there

on friends and neighbours, will be more cloud just pushing with networks of support into southern counties being created, especially of england as we head on social media sites. on into the afternoon. but temperatures likely but for those in need, to reach about 20 degrees in london. without access to online groups, elsewhere, typically the mid to high teens. there's a rather more traditional platform, so, we‘re looking at a largely that's become a comfort dry night tuesday night and a unifying force, into wednesday, particularly as our correspondent across england and wales. scotland and northern ireland david sillito reports. will have more cloud, and a few outbreaks of patchy rain moving in here. if you‘ve been during some gardening recently, we are not this programme is all about you, expecting a frost overnight tuesday into wednesday, so it won‘t be as cold what's going on in your world, how you are coping with this. as it will be first thing tuesday morning. through the day on wednesday, again, most places, largely dry. plenty of sunshine we're in brighton. across england and wales, and the phones at radio sussex a little bit of cloud drifting around too. thicker cloud for scotland have never been busier. and for northern ireland, with the odd light shower. because of coronavirus, we had across scotland and northern ireland, temperatures to cancel this get together... here around 13—14 degrees, whereas further south, how are you feeling, dan? 1—2 spots could get up very well, very well. to 23—24 degrees. hello, bbc radio sussex and surrey. wednesday probably being make a difference, a national the warmest day of the week. campaign try to bring a bit into thursday, high—pressure still holding on. so, again, quite of help to those in need. a bit of dry weather, we speak every day to so many if you‘re able to open the window, get out people, so many elderly people, so many vulnerable people, in the garden, perhaps go so many lonely people and they come for a walk if you can on thursday. to us for help. temperatures in the warmest spots up to about 21 celsius, always a little bit cooler and i phoned up radio sussex, fresher though further north. and i said, "what happens to people like me..." into good friday, and it‘s people like dave here, all change, as we start now feeling rather trapped to see this weather front in his first floor flat. moving its way in from the west.

when this lockdown started, so some patchy outbreaks of course i found myself of rain heading west to east, in trouble really. and things are turning cooler into the easter weekend. so a bit more unsettled, a drop in temperature, everything happened so quickly. but whatever the weather‘s doing, remember the rules however, after one call, on self isolation, social he had an offer of help at his door distancing, wherever you can, stay home and stay safe. within 15 minutes. bye— bye. so, the local radio stations really helped you in your isolation? they certainly helped me, yeah. we then went to see another caller, ricky. he used to be a performer in variety shows. he was known as ricky cohen or ricky del oro. he's now 89, unwell and alone. but he was rather surprised when he rang up the radio station and within a few minutes, there was a knock at the door. a chap from, you know, edf, the electric people, their meter—reader. but he came and he was ever so good. and then people from a local help thing. he brought me some stuff.

so i had two genuine people very quickly. it's lanie at bbc radio surrey. often, it's just a few basic supplies or an errand, and the support is out there. they just need someone to bring them together. david sillito, bbc news, brighton. now on bbc news, our world. this is the sound of an environmental catastrophe. it is midnight in the forest in southern senegal, just a few kilometres from the border with gambia. it's a place rich in an extremely valuable timber known as rosewood. welcome to bbc news — i‘m james reynolds our top stories: britain‘s prime minister is moved to intensive care 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus. he‘s been receiving excellent care at st thomas‘s hospital

bbc our world has been investigating and we would like to take this the trade in this trafficked rare opportunity as a government to thank nhs staff up wood worth hundreds and down the country for all of their dedication, of millions of dollars. hard work and commitment in treating everyone who‘s been we are being led by these affected by this awful virus. men, illegal loggers. political leaders in the uk and around the world it's difficult terrain and they have been scouting this ancient send their best wishes and forest for weeks. hopes for a speedy recovery. americans are all praying for his recovery. he‘s been a really good friend. this tree, over 100 years old, he‘s been really something very special. has been marked for felling. strong, resolute, doesn‘t quit — doesn‘t give up. it's approaching 2am in the morning the coronavirus has killed more than 10,000 people in america, deep inside this forest. we have been here for several hours and we have seen so many stumps, some of them are freshly cut rosewood trees. here is one giant one, just about to fall.

it's dangerous work, but it's a risk many across west africa are prepared to take because of the prices this wood commands overseas. each trunk is cut into two metre logs. the loggers know that it will need to fit into a shipping container that will travel nearly halfway around the world to china. these men are among the thousands of senegalese tempted

into breaking the law. it's a trade that is corrupting communities and accelerating the destruction of their forests. our world follows the rosewood trail and turns the spotlight on those involved in this illegal trade. as a rosewood tree dies its unique red sap bleeds out from the cut of the axe.

the forests of senegal are one of the last remaining strongholds of the majestic west african rosewood tree. it is protected by an international conservation agreement and, at least on paper, the senegalese government has gone even further by making it illegal to fell or export it. i'm surrounded by rosewood trees. despite their protected status, the exploitation of these trees continues unabated. there are warnings that unless there is a drastic change, seeing them alive, this could be a thing of the past. casamance, in west africa, is the front—line in the fight against deforestation. its foot soldiers are prepared to risk everything.

this man is part of a group of volunteers who know first—hand the devastation caused by logging. he patrols his local area on his rickety motorbike, he is searching for signs of loggers. he has been attacked, but is determined to continue.

he is one of many local activists recruited by a former senegalese minister of environment. he has dedicated his life to conservation. the northern border lands of casamance and an area he patrols, even though it's a three hour journey.

in what used to be a thick forest, this is all there is left. without enough tree cover, the landscape soon turns to dust. haidar el ali is a former senegalese minister of environment, intelligence sources have told them there are active depots, we are going there to see what it's like. very soon we spot a blue truck in the distance. it's likely to be a buyer picking up logs just outside a local village. clearly activity is going on. i can hear boom, boom as the logs are being loaded on to the truck. for security reasons

we can't go past this post, but we will fly the drone to get a better understanding of what's going on there. there you see a lorry and a group of men loading piles of rosewood. many senegalese villages decide to cash in on the trade. they chop down their own trees and sell them to the smugglers. but it's a poor payday. tens of dollars for logs that will eventually sell for thousands. with that, the deforestation accelerates. the forests of casamance, senegal‘s green zone, are the lungs of the country, but they are as important spiritually as they are environmentally.

for the people of casamance the forest supports them, but hold the shrines and spirits of their ancestors. at a festival for the traditional king the forest is celebrated in combat, rituals and prayers. this woman is the traditional head of the women in this area, the lady of the sacred forest. under a tree in the king's sacred

forest we showed him our footage of the deforestation. it's the first sign he's seen, such convincing evidence ofjust how much has been lost to illegal logging. we have made four trips over the last year to bear witness to the scale of timber trafficking. the plunder of the senegalese forests are now going on night and day and attracting loggers from all over west africa. rosewood is now one of the most

trafficked wildlife commodities on earth. the worldwide trade in its timber now supports the largest criminal wildlife market on the planet. although the journey begins in senegal on humble donkey carts down forest tracks, it is heading for the neighbouring gambia — a place that has decimated its own forest so much that rosewood trees have all but disappeared. in the jigsaw of countries

on the african continent's west coast, senegal and gambia are locked together in an awkward embrace. other than its border with the ocean, gambia is surrounded on all sides by senegal, and the gambia border runs deep into senegal‘s forest interior. we filmed the rosewood crisis along a 170 kilometres section of the border and we identified at least 12 depots full of rosewood and other timber using local informants, drones and satellite imagery. all of these depots fall within gambian territory. more stumps. in 2017, the west african rosewood tree was given international protection. it was listed under the convention on the international trade

in endangered species, known as cites. its code of conduct — to protect the living environment that both senegal and gambia have adopted. both the gambian and senegalese presidents adam barrow and macky sall have made public declarations about working together to stop the trade in rosewood. but the reality on the ground is a world away from those good intentions.

over the last year, the pace of destruction in these forests has remained unchecked. entire forests of senegalese timber then make a second lorryjourney down the road to the gambian capital banjul and its atlantic port. it's shocking and surprising in almost equal measure that one can find logs virtually everywhere in the gambia these days. i've been coming here for well over ten years and i've never seen so many logs in so many places.

exports of illegal rosewood are estimated to be worth about 10% of gambia's gdp and half of its total exports. gambia is now in the top five largest global exporters of rosewood — a strange accolade for a country that depleted its own supply of home—grown rosewood years ago. this man, the former gambian president yahya jammeh, is accused of amassing huge wealth from this trade. and it hasn't slowed up. under the current government, over 300,000 tonnes of rosewood have been shipped from gambia to china. on the road to banjul is a farm estate that was once owned by former president jammeh. it's now in the hands of the government of his successor, president adama barrow, who came to power three years ago. behind this wall is what used to be called the kanilai farm, owned by the former

president yahya jammeh. it has now been transformed into a massive depot of logs. there are soldiers manning the entrance. they refuse us permission to film. the gambian government, like senegal, does not permit the export of rosewood. there is an outright ban and numerous public declarations condemning the trade, coming directly from the ministry of environment. but from time to time, this changes. that same ministry were very keen to show us they have been clamping down on the illegal trade by seizing containers of rosewood at the port of banjul. can you tell us whether they are from the gambia or where they are from? you know, it's hard to see a place within this country, within the gambia, where such a log of such size can come from. i mean, the gambian forests are very depleted.

we don't have big enough logs or trees that can really match this. so, as a result, i would assume that they come from outside the gambia. lamin dibba is gambia's current gambian environment minister. he is the man responsible for impounding the containers we were shown. i, lamin b dibba, do swear that i will execute the functions of the office of the minister of forestry, environment, climate change and natural resources of... but we have obtained undercoverfootage, shot by the washington—based environmental investigation agency, which points to high—level gambian government complicity in the illegal timber trade. the footage shows a meeting with rosewood smugglers who speak of a very different relationship with gambia's environment minister.

the export deal these traders want to make is completely outlawed under the cites environmental rules. our world cannot independently verify the trader's claims, but in a statement,

gambia's environment minister said the allegations regarding his conduct were false and clearly unsubstantiated. he said the current export ban would continue to be extended and enforced vigorously. he denied that gambia was being used as an export corridor and a clearing house for the illegal rosewood trade. gambia works with senegal, he said, to block illegal trading routes. those arrested have been diligently prosecuted and forced to pay hefty fines. rosewood that leaves gambia is overwhelmingly going to a single buyer, china, whose insatiable appetite is driving this trade. according to chinese import data, in 2019, the gambia exported over 100,000 tonnes of rosewood — a fourfold increase on the year before. and this is where all the rosewood ends up — in the high—class furniture

emporiums of china. in january this year, we returned to gambia hoping to challenge those involved in the trade. but on the first day there, just hours after we made the first contact, this happened. we crossed the border into gambia last night, very late last night, around midnight, after a very long delay there. and now this morning, the immigration officials have called us to report back to the border. whilst we have been trying to sort it out to go there, three of them have just

arrived at the hotel, waiting for us outside. it soon became clear we were going to be escorted out of the country. a port official has gone past our vehicle, telling his colleagues that the immigration officers are here and have asked them to take us on the ferry across to leave the country. we are still on the ferry, making it across to the other side. our driver has just been told by the two senior—ranking immigration officers they are under orders to take us across and then they will hand us over to the other gambian immigration officers to make sure we go across the border into senegal. although we had a call from the minister of information saying we were free to return to the gambia, we were only given our passports back after we had been stamped out of the country.

in the past six years, the gambia has exported over the equivalent of1 million rosewood trees to china. the total value of this trade is estimated to be almost us$300 million. by value and by volume, rosewood is the most trafficked wild product in the world. in gambia, the international protection of this endangered species has proved meaningless. this truckload of rosewood logs was filmed snaking through banjul traffic in february. the timber traders call rosewood the ‘ivory of the forest‘ and the stockpiling of its wood continues remorselessly. 00:25:47,883 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 soon, it may all be gone.