i'm frank gardnerand i am heading into what remains of the virgin tropical rainforest. traded in my wheelchair for a packhorse and am tested to my limits. i think this is too dangerous. i don't think i can do this. i am joining a crack team of scientists from the royal botanic gardens, kew. they are on a mission to discover and save unique plant species before they vanish forever. i am going to bear witness on the frontline 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 is from here that this expedition will be launched. i have come here to see the expedition leader, doctor mauricio de bernardos. he works in a library for lab specimens. this is where we identify new plants. we believe we have more than 200,000 different species here. you are a botanist and a biologist. and a scientist and an explorer in some sense. what are you expecting to get from this mission?