peru south america a country rich with natural treasures. tucked away in the country southeast lies my new national park it's considered one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. exists. just the simplest it's like the world's super treasure chest and that of course is a huge motivation to protect this park he's empowered to chanson. but even this largely inaccessible region is at risk in maneuvering protected from dangers like walking. or the lost for cold.

it's morning in southeastern peru beyond the n.d.s. in the amazonian lovins. during the dry season macaws and smaller parrots from the area gather on these claybanks. they come in search of salts and minerals which are scarce in the rainforest. spectacles like the indicate where nature is still intact. but conservation is about so much more than exotic beauty. worldwide intact ecosystems are vital for the survival of humankind. a team from frankfurt's to a logical society is visiting them on. national park. the nature conservation

organization operates across the globe and has a major program in peru. dr christoph shank one study jain authors here today he has the organization but over the past 30 years he's always found time to come back. over but these are i'm here to gauge the state the park is in and the size of the threat to the surrounding area and of course i want to see how the otters are do and he's not a hero and. the men travel by boat and there aren't any roads they keep a sharp lookout for fallen trees or any other obstacles they want to make sure to avoid any accidents not least because the waters are teeming with caymans and promise. to cover hundreds of kilometers this way and keep making astonishing encounters along the way. to take. this

prehistoric looking creature is rarely spotted around here. south america is rich in pristine habitats and peru is particularly diverse the manu national park in the southeast of the country covers a good 17000 square kilometers. it stretches from the eastern foothills of the andes to the amazonian lola. that's an altitude difference of 4000 meters running through the heart of the region is the river which gave it its name the manu river. the abundance of different habitats this creates is one of the reasons peru boasts such an enormous biodiversity. in fact the my new national park is home to the greatest variety of animal and plant species known to science. 1030 different species of birds inhabit manu for exam.

that makes up 10 percent of all the bird species on earth. 228 different mammals have been identified here roughly 4 percent of all mammals worldwide. the park is also home to a number of different invertebrates and fabians and reptiles. one hector of rain forest here contains more than 200 different types of trees and other plants some of them can reach astounding heights. the jaguars the largest hunter in the rain forest. while huge black caymans rule the lakes and rivers amongst other things they hunt copy barra's the world's biggest rodents. but even this paradise is under attack.

nearby the rain forest is being felt legally and illegally for roads construction sites for timber. when the forest disappears so does its biodiversity. rangers from peru specialized body for conservation have been working with environmentalists for years to stem this tide. in the manu national park they've been successful for the most part but elsewhere profit interests mostly overturn their efforts. once the forest to spanish roads appear and pave the way for further destruction. land that. been cleared will be turned into pastures for the meat industry. here

the rich abundance of species is a bygone memory. another threat to local biodiversity only becomes clear at a 2nd glance the farming of coca leaves. the eastern end in slopes or where the bushes usually grow. local inhabitants enjoy the stimulating effect of tea made from coca leaves but it can also be used to produce cocaine. in the legal and illegal boats on the side until it was gone the saw in full in peru it's not that easy to distinguish between legal and illegal coca cultivation it's not against the law to grow coca plants but it is illegal to extract the alkaloid from the leaves to produce cocaine yields perfect there are high so it's very hard to convince farmers to use it for other purposes or to grow something else it's a toy. that looks harmless but the plant invites

criminal activity. the drug mafia is ruthless and well organized after all it's not easy to get drugs out of the country by the time. as a reason to take you for stock to we've noticed increased aircraft movements in the area and that points to the drug cartels and the coca mafia are creating illegal airfields and obviously they prefer to do that somewhere remote that's why large and isolated nature reserves are particularly at risk if you know. one of the illegal landing strips is located in the manu region. the police blew up one corridor aircraft a dangerous operation. the cocaine mafia is known for being. violent so far the

authorities have been unable to stop the cartels new leader coca fields new airways and new airplanes keep appearing peru is moving up in the narcotics business. in the past colombia played a leading role but today peru is one of the world's biggest suppliers of cocaine especially to the western world that's why the business is growing to such huge dimensions here in the rainforest and playing a massive role in its destruction. up to now cocaine production has mostly taken place in the area around the national park the heart of the region is wild and almost inaccessible. it is still inhabited by indigenous peoples. the ministry of culture has a stablished a checkpoint to protect them as far as possible. christophe schenk and its peruvian colleague paul scott who. are taking the opportunity to assess the situation. a

ministry employee tells them that every now and then indigenous residents appear on the opposite bank. and the one with. the. ministry employees stand back and observe letting the natives decide for themselves whether they wish to make contact here. is. as far as we are concerned they should live the way they want. we respect that for them and make sure that no one tries to establish contact with us but it's on us let us think this we try to shield them from any negative influence as for those. with them we want them to preserve their culture. and we respect their territorial claims. the fact that people here can still pursue their original way of life is another positive distinction of the region so it may be that some say that they live like people in the stone age. that sounds so negative it's true that they

don't seem to be acquainted with metal or don't produce it at least they might have managed to get a machete or an axe somewhere but for the most part metal is foreign to them and i think that that's actually quite a good thing because these people are an integral part of the rainforests ecosystem it's a. good . move. christophe schenk and his team are looking for giant authors they're typical to the region. they live mainly in cut off meanders not on the manu river itself. the team needs a portable dinghy in order to move around here. the head of

them lies lush rain forest. some of the jungle giants along the way are more than 50 metres high. in the undergrowth tarantulas like waiting for their prey. while cup which in monkeys are out about in the trees. they're curious animals. giant authors often colonize cut off meanders former bends that have become separated from the main river. 30 years ago christophe shank was 1st able to observe giant otters here for just 60 seconds. he encountered changed his whole life. there's

a wall i just began to study the animal scientifically and wrote his doctoral thesis on it. so naturally he's interested to see how they're fairing. you can please an order today giant autres can only be found in the best rainforests of the amazon and the most pristine habitats of giant autres live off the fish they catch along the riverbanks that's where humans have the strongest impact overfishing animal husbandry illegal gold panning and logging they all take place along the river banks. so finding giant orders anywhere is a sure sign of a very good region despite. the remote wilderness of the manu national park is an important retreat for them. yet the giant author still remains one of the rarest predators in the world. when the 1st otters appear to keep their distance during his 3 years of field research christophe schenk had to work hard together

any knowledge of them. and in touch it's amazing how little was known about the giant author after all they're active during the day and live in groups. at daybreak the biologists are out in their dinghy again. this is a good time because the authors rest at night and wake up hungry. christophe shake began observing giant orders here. today his work is continued by peruvian biologists. otters have singular throat markings which enable each animal to be identified. with the comparison with the datasheet reveals whether an otter has already been documented. this helps researchers collect a lot of useful information. to. confirm a comes from a higher frontier and these individual throat markings have enabled us to trace the

lives of a whole number of these animals. and we've been able to watch them grow and then leave the group as young animals to find a new home and establish families of their own. being able to do that is wonderful and it's the dream of every field biologist. the giant author can grow to a length of 2 meters. to meet their energy requirements the animals need about 4 kilograms of fish a day. this means that the average family group will require about 30 kilograms every day. so the species can only exist in extremely productive habitats once the giant author was hunted almost to extinction for its fur worldwide perhaps $5000.00 creatures have survived. black caymans exist in the same habitat but they usually avoid the self-confident giant autres.

not far away other hunters roam the rainforest. the monkey dingo still hunt with traditional methods. and that is no easy task. from their perspective life in the forest has many advantages. they figured if you're in town you have to pay for everything. but here we don't pay for anything the forest provides us with all our food or we grow it on our fields. and. if they have no luck hunting they collect plans like the brazil not. the much again go live on the threshold between 2 worlds they have long been using machetes and other

tools. they were. the core of their village community is the family unit think of it which the much a gang often start while still teenagers group and his wife already have 6 children . several generations live under one roof. while ruben carbs wouldn't hunting weapons his wife natalia makes necklaces and bracelets from plant seeds. with their homemade jewelry that run a modest business even though few travelers venture into this remote part of the

world. support programs are a further source of income. going to. them goes mostly it's because with the money they're getting now they're able to buy goods that they couldn't buy before my outboard motors and other things. in the past everyone had access to all the resources of the rainforest now it's possible to accumulate valuables decide he has changed completely. differently from in that they can switch off the. light for reuben metallica and their family has already undergone considerable change. the monkeys and gather nuts in the forest but they also run a small lodge in the jungle together with several other families. that alia takes care of the rooms out here there are very few opportunities for earning money. then

. i want my children to study hard. to cheat more than i have i don't have a real profession i want them to have a better life than mine so. it is a rapid development that other cultures needed centuries for here though to change from the traditional to a modern lifestyle sometimes takes place within one generation and meeting growing demands means the forest also has to be utilized more intensely. a considerable distance downstream the manu river flows into the modern that yours . this is where the small town of book a man who is located. it has a boarding school run by the frankfurt school logical society. most of the indigenous pupils who come from the surrounding area could not travel back and forth and one day. the distances are too great and the routes to arduous. it's

hoped more education will give the children better personal prospects and indeed so far there have been no teenage pregnancies. matter how warm and friendly the atmosphere might be in this remote region even with a good education opportunities are limited. but there is one activity where riches beckon the search for gold. the precious metal is found here in the sediment and rivers. hundreds of contraptions like this one can be seen in rivers like the moderated yours and that. a diesel pump sucks the sediment onto a large sieve. gold prospecting puts a huge strain on the environment. that's why this method has been declared illegal

. large stones are extracted gold particles are retained and i met with a fine mesh. although gold prospecting is banned thousands of adventurers here do nothing else. unfortunately jobs are scarce in this region so we have to take certain risks gold panning hasn't yet been legalized so we're caught between 2 chairs there's no other way for us to earn money. to buy the gold dust went away and his friends use mercury a highly toxic heavy metal which turns liquid at room temperature. it is not only the gold panners on the river who profit from this illegal practice. so to those behind the scenes. local politicians like to turn a blind eye when it is worth their while. true repeated to

canting in painting the metallic mixtures compacted. the surplus ends up in rivers which were transported thousands of kilometers. amongst other things mercury poisoning can cause nerve damage unborn babies can often sustain serious disability. areas are contaminated in the end what is left is a small piece of metal. which because of the mercury doesn't have its golden color yet. there is no indication of its toxic history. it's nothing here is contaminated that's a lie how many people have died because of mercury and there's no proof they say everything here is contaminated but the. it's not true the mercury is heavy and in

water it sinks so it's impossible for wildlife to be contaminated by it or see to get where i want i mean nothing. but mercury does poison slowly. the nugget is heated up to separate the gold from the heavy metal. this releases toxic substances into the atmosphere. these are then spread the next time the rain falls. when the mercury is vaporized the color of the gold can be seen for the 1st time. i'm well i'm just once it's been melted down which often happened straight away of course it's no longer possible to tell whether the gold came from a legal mine or was panned illegally from river sediment since it even can diffuse a good russian body. prospectors saw their gold in the nearby town of but it's all my little noddle in the mud they did the austrian. dealers check to make sure it is really pure gold.

and they have no intention of paying for mercury residues hence the fire test. critics here a month of the o's which i hear in mind that i had to deal with illegal and legal gold are already mixed and from here there are direct transport routes to europe because customers in the western world and to an increasing extent these days in asia 2 are of decisive importance the thing is no one investing in gold today is aware of or thinks for a 2nd about the incredible environmental destruction caused by gold mining and how the people here will suffer long term as a result. the extent of the destruction is enormous the water is polluted and the contaminated areas are uninhabitable. the transoceanic of the highway running across south america from the atlantic to the pacific made exploitation possible in the 1st place.

around 60000 people work in southeastern peru it was illegal gold prospectors and there is no wed in sight to the boom. was the cargo ship and these are of course it's understandable that every family would like to have a good source of income but the tragedy with the search for gold is that the destruction is large scale and above all long term for guns guns longview in. the jungles of manu national park in the amazon lawless are part of the largest tropical rainforest on earth. this forest is not only of regional but also global importance to the climate. the consequences of climate breakdown are incalculable.

the disappearance of endangered species like the giant otter might not affect us in europe but there are signs that systems are no longer functioning belief systems which work as a global network and on which we depend. for the air we breathe. for healthy food for clean water. conservation is no luxury. the basis of our very existence is at stake.

the fun. things. like summer fun home ball. our series on tomorrow or today. we want to see what he saw to experience what drove him. the journey through latin america following the footsteps of the great scientist. the next stage of our journey takes us deep into the amazon region to meet the vision of our show our people to morrow to do it next october. isolated.

dirt poor. and a nuclear power. north korea. but who supplies the country with its expensive nuclear technology and who's behind kim jong un's shadowy financial system the system is setup like this the dictator's men tell all. of you 45 minutes on t w. the hour starts rising people fight for survival on each side of it when there's a flood the water comes up to your waist when you close faster everyone but. the lack of water is an equally dangerous. place and keep people not self

so they can plant crops and find too late says sam floods and droughts with climate change become the main driver of mass migration you could write any of our going to if not if you want the problem or the bible. for climate exodus start september 5th on d w. c h into tomorrow today the science show on d w coming up. we continue our journey in the footsteps of alexander from home but this week we visit members of the art show up people in the amazon rain forest. the rain forest is a fast source of many.