this is "nightline." tonight, a secret war. the amazon rain forest under attack. fires and illegal logging destroying one of the earth's most vital resources. and now, an indigenous tribe is fighting back. on a dangerous and deadly mission to protect their land. with rare access, we follow them to the front lines. >> we have no idea what we're getting into. >> in a fight that has global consequences. how the sacrifices of a few may be protecting the future of

millions living on this planet. this special edition of "nightline," gar "nightline," guardians of the amazon, will be right back.

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tipping point, threatened by climate change, wildfires and illegal logging. and one group is bent on protecting it for all of us, by any means necessary. they are on a mission that might change the world forever. here's abc's dan harris. >> reporter: we're on the ir eastern edge of the amazon and visiting a tribe who say they're under assault by illegal loggers. about 20 miles ahead we're going to have our first meeting with a group called the guardians of the forest. as night falls we meet the leader of what is essentially an indigenous paramilitary he's agreed to let us embed with his troops as they launch an extended patrol through

toll tra jungle. this is a dangerous trek. over the past two decades, more 80 of his people have been killed defending their it is a rare, inside view of a story the world has been watching since the amazon began burning last summer. >> thousands of fires raging across brazil. >> the amazon rainforest is taking a beat being. deforestation rates have nearly doubled. >> one report claims that the equivalent of three soccer fields are being destroyed. >> indigenous of people are on the front lines to save their

land. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: you guys have a lot of weapons, but these men may be heavily armed, too. do you get nervous before you do this? [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: scientists say the amazon may be at a crucial tipping point, where insettead mitigating climate change it begins to exacerbate it. brazilian law has special protections for indigenous territories giving them the legal right to patrol their land.

we've just pulled up on a village where the guardians have been told that two outsiders were recently hired to guard an illegal logging operation. he is wearing a body camera. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: these two young men who they found outside this building are delivering shifting stories, at first saying they had nothing to do with the logging operation here, then saying they were forced to work by the boss. you got a little rough with these young men over here. what was your thinking there? [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> reporter: one of the men admits he is lying and hands over his phone to the guardians. on it, they find this. videos and pictures that provide clear evidence of illegal logging. 80% of the deforestation in the amazon is the result of the cattle industry. after loggers have cut down the most valuable trees, the land is burned and turned into cattle pasture, and the people say the incursions onto their land have escalated since the election of the far-right president known at "trump of the tropics" who has openly called for the development of the amazon. the guardians say they're not

just fighting to protect their own home. on their land lives another small tribe. they've had no contact with the outside world other than this reported sighting captured last year by a member of this tribe. last night they busted the lower-level folks involved with this illegal logging operation. now they're going up this path, where the actual illegal loggers will be at work, and they're fully expecting these men to be armed. among the people leading the charge, paulo, his number two. they get close to what they believe are multiple logger camps, so the guardians fan out. paulo leads the larger group of while lauricio runs point in a

smaller unit. he sees something through the trees. [ speak issing ing in foreign l] >> reporter: they're marching this prisoner deeper into the forest. they're making the prisoner call out to his [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> reporter: through the woods, paulo's search party sees something. [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> reporter: all told, the guardians capture seven loggers, proof of the men's activities are scattered across the campsite. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: even notes on how much they cut down and profits made. this wood goes to local cattle ranchers who build fences around their area, and they're selling the stakes for those fences, and it even shows here how much money they're making. why did you agree to do this work? [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> reporter: these are low-level people you're dealing with here. how do you go after the boss? [ is speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: as an added deterrent to stop the loggers from coming back, lauricio burns the timber they cut down. normally, the guardians' next move would simply be to expel the loggers from their land, but he tells us they're going to do something they've never done before, bring the suspects to federal authorities seven hours

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through the town of arame, a notorious base for illegal loggers, just outside their territory. in 2018, a tribal leader, critical of illegal logging, was found dead here. so the guardians wait for the cover of darkness before heading out. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: the next morning, they arrive at federal police

headquarters. [ spoo [ is spe [ speak in foreign language ] >> reporter: lauricio's prediction seems to have been accurate. the next day, the prisoners are released after having been charged with illegally entering indigenous territory, a crime that legal experts tell us is rarely, if ever, prosecuted. the guardians vow to go right back to work. meanwhile, we head back to new york city just as the united nations climate change summit is taking place, with protesters in the streets decrying brazil's environmental policies,

president bolsonaro fires back. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: not long after, the battle over one of the world's most precious ecological resources takes a tragic and violent turn when lauricio and his deputy, paulo, are ambushed during a hunting trip. [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> reporter: paulo is dead, leaving lauricio alone to walk for miles through the forest, badly wounded, until he can find help.

>> reporter: despite his serious wounds, lauricio only briefly stays in the hospital out of

fear of being hunted down in the city. he's moved to a safe house somewhere on indigenous land. law enforbesmecement visited in sief sign of solidarity and promised to bring those responsible to justice.

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[ fast-paced drumming ]

the full documentary "guardians of the amazon", starts stream tomorrow on hulu. that that's slien that's "nightline," thanks for the company. good snooit.

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