hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: coronavirus has now claimed

the lives of 200,000 people around the world. the number of deaths in uk hospitals passes 20,000. for the nation in particular, this is a deeply tragic and moving moment. all our thoughts and sympathies are with those individuals that have lost family members through this horrendous and absolutely appalling virus. coronavirus tests for uk key workers through the government website were booked up within an hour of it reopening today. the governor of new york, the us state worst hit by the coronovirus outbreak, authorises independent pharmacies to carry out tests for the disease. the world health organisation warns that people who have recovered from coronavirus may not be protected from reinfection. the last time i actually saw gremlin, she came right up to me and looked into my eyes. and the world—renowned primatologist jane goodall calls on governments around the world to learn the lessons of covid—19 and respect the animal kingdom.

as we destroy the natural world, we increase the likelihood of viruses leaping from animals to people. now on bbc news, deforestation has skyrocketed in colombia since the peace deal of 2016. our world joins a team of scientists from the royal botanic gardens. in the forests of colombia, nature is under attack. since the civil war ended in 2016, deforestation has skyrocketed. i'm frank gardner, and i'm heading into what remains of virgin tropical rainforest. i traded in my wheelchair for a packhorse and am tested to my limits. i think this is too dangerous.

i am 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. i'm going to bear witness on the front line of rainforest conservation. this is where the journey begins — not in colombia, but in the royal botanic gardens, kew, london. kew is the world leader

in developing plant science. the botanists are preparing for their mission to discover new species. and it's from here that this expedition will be launched. i've come here to see the expedition leader, dr mauricio de bernardos. he works in a library for lab specimens. que tal? como estas? this is where we identify new plants. we believe we have more than 200,000 different species here. you're a botanist and a biologist. what are you expecting to get from this mission? the most remote areas are the best preserved, and this is going to be our most important expedition.

we're going to try to get into the heart of this area. we don't know what we expect to find. what is at stake with this whole trip that we're doing? why is this so important? we are in a race against time to protect this biodiversity from disappearing. we have rampant deforestation. we see how we are losing this forest very quickly, and ourjob is to get an understanding about the diversity of these resources as well as their importance. in 2016, the colombian government signed a peace deal with the farc rebels. for more than half a century, civil war slowed the pace of deforestation. but now, remote tracts of land have opened up. farmers, loggers and miners are scrambling for resources.

of forest every year. we're travelling to an area famous for its emerald mines, western boyaca. this is bittersweet because this may be the last time that i could see this forest. if i come back in ten years, this forest could be gone. colombia is still an eden. it's still the second most biodiverse country in the world, after brazil. i may be the bbc‘s security correspondent, but my passion is for nature. you know, just look around you. there's incredible scenery. it is such a privilege to be here. i love being surrounded by the sounds and smells of nature.

nature's always been something of an antidote to myjob as a security correspondent. in 2004, i was shot and partly paralysed while on the job. i won't deny, i have a certain trepidation about the trip itself because everybody else is walking. i will need to do this on horseback, otherwise i will not make it. the team assemble at the edge of the rainforest in las quinchas. this is going to be a beautiful day. this is the first time this area will be explored by scientists.

for so many years, conflict and criminality made this area to outsiders. if you see a snake, everybody please freeze, don't move. we're going to carry radios at all times. you, actually, frank, will have a radio. so, this is going to be your radio. i'm going to be quite busy trying to control the horse. well, yes, maybe we can put this on the horse so you can have something that you can... the horse can do the radio. there is a bit of a risk here. my legs are like honeycombs. i can't afford to fall off and break things. the beginning of the trek is a steep descent. the botanists hope 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 going to fall off. i think this is just too dangerous. i mean, it breaks my heart, ijust... i think you'll have to carry on without me. but the local guides come up with an idea. well done. 0k. i'm so thrilled that despite my injuries, thanks to the endurance and kindness of these guys, i'm able to see this amazing scenery. primary forests are the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems anywhere on the planet.

forests are not only vital in mitigating climate change, the botanists hope to find plants with untold potential. they get to work collecting specimens. we don't know what it is. it could be a philodendron. beautiful. one of the local guides believes he's chanced upon something extraordinary. wow! perfecto! listo. yo lo recojo.

this, we actually don't know exactly what it is. it could be something new. we are the first botanists collecting in this area. so, basically every single collection is a new report to science for this area. the scientists will take the cuttings to the laboratory for further examination in kew. it is scientifically interesting, but what does it mean to find a new species like this in a remote forest? in a country like this, hugely biodiverse, we still don't know many species out there. we are estimating in colombia we have about 30,000 species, but still probably 6000 new species to be discovered. so, you think that there are new species out here in these forests that could actually vanish

before they're even discovered? yes, absolutely. and we still don't know the uses of many, many species. some of the species could have the properties to cure important diseases for humans. so, as biologists, as botanists, we have to understand as much as possible as quick as possible all this amazing biodiversity. this is like a supermarket, or else a pharmacy, and we don't know it, we don't appreciate the value of this forest. 0ur quality of life relies on the preservation of these forests. in the fight to save the forests, the colombian government has extended its protection to millions of acres of land. the army launched 0peracion artemisa in 2019 to combat illegal logging.

colonel hermida has 1000 troops deployed in the area. what effect has this had on deforestation here? but this can't really apply to the whole of colombia because deforestation is continuing throughout the country. even here, they're still doing it.

this region, colonel, seems very secure, very peaceful, but of course in the past, it wasn't like that. do you worry that if they don't find proper alternatives for people to make a living that this region will go back to conflict? under colombian law, illegal deforestation carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.

but in remote places, the law is hard to enforce. illegal loggers are still at work in these forests.

the loggers say they have bills to pay.

they've chosen their target — an 80—year—old rosewood tree. chainsaw revs.

this fallen giant will make the loggers $300. these valleys are populated by miners and loggers. in the town of 0tanche, members of the community have been invited to a workshop organised by the authorities. they hope ecotourism will be

the silver bullet, providing an income for the community while saving the forest. the botanists from kew have been invited to make their case. the fact that there's such a good turnout here shows there is a lot of interest in alternatives to cutting down the forest. but the question is, is it going to give people enough of a livelihood, and that's a big question. the colonel has turned up. sitting next to him is edemildo, who's been a logger all his life. now, though, he's looking for new opportunities.

lidia is one of the pioneers of ecotourism. she set up a butterfly sanctuary to try and entice tourists into the region. it's a natural destination

for ecotourism, but there is no infrastructure for it at all. it's going to take years, isn't it, and by then, the forest will be almost gone? are you optimistic or pessimistic? are you going to win this fight to save colombia's natural heritage? for future generations and the environment, time is running out. the need for a solution is urgent. i'm back on the horse on another field trip with the botanists. this time on rather more even ground. oh, my god.

it's like... this is incredible. of all the wild, remote places i've been to in the world, i think this has got to be right up there near the top and as a disabled person, as somebody who can't walk, who has to use of wheelchair, it's amazingly liberating that here amongst all this rare flora and fauna, these beautiful butterflies and rare plants, it's this amazing biodiversity. the scientists from kew remain hopeful of finding hidden treasures before it's too late. there are things i've never seen before. i have no idea what genus it belongs to. the thing about plants,

there are no labels that say i'm be rare and special. they all look the same, but it's when you go back and start comparing them with others. mauricio, do you think you can persuade people to stop cutting down the forest soon enough before the forest is gone? that's very hard to say. that's our hope and that's our mission. that's why we are here. i believe that we can make a change. we just have to do our best to protect the best of this biodiversity. jenifer is a local botanist. she's exploring new areas of her country for the first time. how optimistic or pessimistic are you that you and others like you, who care about nature, who care about biodiversity, that you can save this forest?

it's great that you're optimistic, but the reality is the area of forest is getting smaller every year. colombia 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.

hello there. for the past 3—4 weeks, we've seen a lot of dry and settled weather. indeed, april has been exceptionally dry and very warm for many of us. last week, we saw temperatures reach highs around 23—24 degrees. next week, things are looking very different. temperatures a good ten degrees down on where they have been,

around 1a or 15 degrees, which is closer, in fact, to the seasonal average. now, the reason for it, low pressure will be dominating the scene. and we'll see the first of these series of low pressure systems pushing into the north of the uk for part two of the weekend. that'll bring some cooler air to scotland and northern ireland, also a cluster of showers, some of which could be heavy through the afternoon. we'll also see some showers developing further south through wales, the midlands, into eastern england. that'll be in response to cooler air from further north mixing with some warmer air again across the south, where we could see 21 or 22 degrees here, but coolerfor the north. so, into next week, it's going to feel very different to what we've been used to thanks to low pressure. it'll be cooler, more unsettled and we should see showers or longer spells of rain. and the reason for it, the jet stream will be invigorating, something we haven't seen for a while, steering weather systems towards our shores, generally firing towards the south of the uk. now for monday, it looks like low pressure will still be with us. a fairly weak affair, though, bringing further showers to the north of scotland, and then we'll see another area

of low pressure pushing into the south—west to bring outbreaks over here later on. variable cloud for much of the country, a few sunny spells and we could see a high of 20 degrees again across the south—east, but generally it'll feel cooler. for tuesday, themn, this next area of low pressure pushes northwards into england and wales, and this could bring some significant rainfall, in fact. certainly the most significant rainfall of the month so far. so, that'll move northwards through the day, some of it quite heavy at times. the skies could brighten up across the south through tuesday afternoon, but what that will do is set off some heavy april showers. in the south, we could see temperatures reach the mid—teens celsius, but cooler across scotland and northern ireland, which will tend to stay dry. as we move out of tuesday into wednesday, the next area of low pressure moves in from the jet stream, which i showed you steering them in from the west there, and this one's going to bring stronger winds and outbreaks of rain, we think, initially to wales and the south west of england, and then will spread northwards and eastwards throughout wednesday. and it could be that this rain becomes quite widespread across the uk through the day away

from the north of scotland, which will stay dry, bright and cool. further south, we see those temperatures reach highs of the low to mid—teens celsius. deepened further, in fact, as we move on into thursday, when could see a swathe of fairly strong winds through the channel and across southern england for a while through thursday. heavy rain clears away to be followed by sunshine and heavy showers. we could even see an area of rain affecting the north and north—east of scotland. again, those temperatures around orjust below the seasonal average. as we end the week, for friday into the weekend, it looks like low pressure is still with us, bringing further showers and longer spells of rain, but also what it will do, we think it will bring some warmer air back towards our shores from the south. you can see here on the air mass charts, the yellows and the oranges moving back in. that's how it goes for beyond the following weekend, too. so, for the week ahead, it's looking very different to what we've been used to. unsettled thanks to low pressure systems, spells

of heavy rain at times, some showers, some strong winds, too, and then signs of it warming up later in the week.

have now died in uk hospitals with coronavirus. the government calls it a tragic and terrible milestone as it reinforces its message to social distance. we've made a great deal of progress but, actually, we're not out of the woods yet. we really are not. and there's a lot more that we can all do as responsible individuals in the way in which we follow these measures. in the last few minutes downing street has announced the prime minister will return to work on monday. also tonight... south africa prepares to ease tough lockdown restrictions as the country records less than 100 deaths from coronavirus. a glimmer of hope for sports fans as officials meet next week