01x01 - Congo

[bunniefuu]

I'm a little bit apprehensive about

the journey ahead, Adams.

- It is natural to fear what you don't

know,

and you're coming from the other side

of the world.

I don't know how you're going to

handle this,

because in fact, some of the fears

that you have worried about

are really true.

- I thought that you were going to

reassure me.

You're not reassuring me at all.

- It means that we will be careful.

- We live on a crowded planet.

More than eight billion of us and

rising.

For 20 years, I've been travelling the

globe

Flippin' 'eck.

Just a couple of decades ago, almost

all of this was just desert.

..seeing how humans have taken over so

much of the world.

Now I'm going in search of the vast

remote areas

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

..where nature still has the upper

hand.

HE WHISPERS: Silence.

It looks like another planet.

The last great wildernesses.

I'll try to cross four of these rugged

landscapes

Oh, my God! ..on my toughest journeys

yet.

I have to be honest, things are not

going brilliantly.

A bit of a medical situation.

Help is a long way away.

- Well done.

- Well done.

- I want to meet the people for whom

the wilderness is home

Testicles for breakfast, lunch and

dinner.

..to see how they live alongside

nature.

Whoa!

I can stay down there for a minute or

so.

He's still down there now, walking

around.

And in this critical time for our

world

Huge carcasses of great trees.

..seek out the rare and majestic

creatures that still survive

My heart is racing.

THUNDER

..in some of the most hostile

environments

Are you OK, Jonathan?

- Yeah, yeah.

- ..and the remotest regions Bloody

hell!

..of our wild planet.

Big cats roaming free.

This surely is the absolute definition

of real wilderness.

I'm travelling through the Congo

Rainforest.

Across Central Africa, hundreds of

rivers feed

this vast green wilderness,

and trees, billions of beautiful

trees,

stretching further than the mind can

imagine.

This is the second largest tropical

rainforest in the world.

The size of the forest, the sheer

scale of it, is breathtaking.

But also humbling.

And, in truth, quite overwhelming as

well.

The thought of travelling through this

forest,

of existing within it, is actually

quite intimidating.

But also very, very exciting.

I'm going to spend three weeks

sweating

and battling my way across the Congo.

Starting in the northwest, I'll travel

more than 500 miles

..trying to reach the largest and most

remote area

of protected forest in Africa.

I'll attempt to trek through thick

jungle to an isolated camp,

where I'll search for one of our

little known animal cousins,

the bonobo, in the wilderness where it

still survives.

But first, I'm trying to find the

people

who know the Congo Rainforest better

than anyone.

We're on our way to try and meet up

with a remote community

deep in the forest. It's a bit of a

risk, to be honest,

because we don't know entirely where

they'll be.

We think we'll find them but it's a

gamble.

I'm going in search of an indigenous

people called the Baka.

Nomads and hunter-gatherers who've

lived in the Congo Rainforest,

shaping and protecting it for

thousands of years.

My guide is Adams Cassinga.

He's a Congolese conservationist,

investigator and forest ranger.

He's a passionate and committed

defender of this wilderness.

Adams is going to try and help me find

the Baka and keep us safe.

We're travelling through a wild part

of the planet.

How affected has it been by humans?

How much of a wilderness is it?

- I can actually reassure you that

there is a place in this forest

where a human has never set foot.

A few years back, they used to talk

about the two lines of humanity,

mentioning the Amazon being the left

and the Congo basin being the right.

But I guess, in current times, I would

say

..this is the last hop.

Compared to the rest of the world,

the Congo basin forest is the last

frontier.

- I think this is it.

It's a remote jungle landing spot.

All right, you ready, Adams?

- Yeah.

- You're always ready.

- Let's go to the jungle.

- High humidity makes the jungle feel

like a steam bath.

OK?

It's a home to scores of poisonous

snakes and insects.

If anything happens to anyone on our

team,

we're days from a hospital.

And we've got a hard slog ahead.

There are still incredibly remote

communities living out here

but they tend not to have mobile

phones,

so communicating with them and finding

them can be tricky.

We're heading to where Adams thinks

we'll find the Baka.

Careful.

But they're nomadic, they don't stay

in one place for long,

and it's tough going.

- We have to be careful here. It's

slippery.

- Woo! Gosh.

It's hard for me and I'm not carrying

a camera.

- Oya.

- Are you OK, Jonathan?

- Yeah, yeah.

- You're in it not quite as deep.

Are you all right?

- Urgh.

Trying to look for solid ground

- Yeah.

- ..but there's none.

I have no other option but to go

- All right, so that's my goal now.

Is there a lot of boggy Urgh!

..boggy, peaty swamp?

- It's just everywhere in the forest.

- Oh, my goodness, it's like glue.

Bloody hell!

Argh.

SIMON LAUGHS

ADAMS LAUGHS

Oh, my good lord.

- Welcome to the Congo jungle.

- Thank you, mate.

- Yeah.

Let's crack on.

- All right, mate.

Scientists now believe the peat bogs

here

cover an area the size of England.

Clearly, the Congo still holds many

secrets.

- We should look for a spot where we

can sleep tonight.

It's not a brilliant idea to travel in

the forest at night.

- OK.

- Remember, we're not alone.

- There's loads of ants.

I don't want them crawling into my

hammock.

- That's enough already to make a

fire.

- I genuinely do love the jungle.

I like the unpredictability of it.

I'm out of my comfort zone, but

that's good, right?

The absolutely crucial insect net.

Tarpaulin over the top. I'll stretch

that out.

Make it all nice and cosy.

Ooh!

Absolutely vital

on goes half a squash ball.

And any water running down, or

insects,

should drip down then as a result and

not soak me,

fingers crossed.

Is this going to help keep some

critters away?

- It is also a means of security.

Any other thing which is not human in

this forest is scared of fire.

- I think we've done pretty well here,

haven't we?

- Sure.

- Food, water, shelter.

- What more do we need?

- I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

- You know, erm, a lot of people don't

know about the Congo basin forest,

but there is a certain people which

has been living in here

for thousands of years and, you know,

you and I

are just surviving in here, but they

thrive in here.

You'll need every rest that you can.

The journey is still too long.

- It's already taken us days of hard

travel

to reach this part of the Congo,

and after trekking for hours, we've

only covered a few miles.

This area is extremely remote

and the Baka community we're looking

for could be anywhere.

You got it?

Endlessly, we trek, chop and wade.

Our top speed is no more than a mile

an hour.

This is bloody mad.

I don't know if we're going to make

it.

It's completely, utterly exhausting.

But with another day drawing to an

end,

we finally find signs that can only

mean humans are nearby.

It's a trap. A snare.

I do find it amazing that people live

out here.

The remoteness is staggering.

DISTANT VOICES

I can hear a village.

- We arrive.

- I can't quite believe it.

Oh, my God.

SINGING

Oh, my good lord.

It looks like the Baka have heard us

coming

as we crash through the forest.

SINGING

GREETINGS IN BAKA

Oh, my goodness.

Loma Aromo speaks for this small Baka

community.

Introducing their children.

- He's got four children.

- Four children.

- Yes, and that's the last one.

- It's always risky to try the local

language,

but Loma persuades me to have a go.

CHEERING AND LAUGHTER

Oh, OK!

How long have you been here?

So you've only just arrived here.

So, if we have a look around,

how many people are living in the

community?

The Baka are some of the original

first people of the Congo basin.

They'd been here for tens of thousands

of years

before European colonists arrived in

the 1800s and called them Pygmies.

Under Belgian and French rule,

indigenous communities were

persecuted, exploited and k*lled.

Many retreated deeper into the forest.

Today, they have clothes and tools

that are traded along the river.

They hold on to their skills in their

forest.

It's their life, their way.

Their footprint is quite small and

discreet, isn't it?

- It is.

You know, in the modern world, it's

about how big you have,

how much you have.

For them it's not the case.

They have a very close relationship

with this forest

to the extent that they do not take

what they want,

they just take what they need.

- I think they might be making this

one of these for us.

I'm not entirely sure whether it's the

right thing

for me to get involved.

I was definitely signalled and

indicated

that I should sit on my behind like

the rest of the guys.

Many Baka survive off whatever the

jungle provides.

They hunt, gather, craft and build.

DRUMMING AND SINGING

Like anywhere, the arrival of

outsiders

can be a good excuse for a party.

SINGING

If anyone wants to speak, I was told

they just have to shout, "Listen."

HE SHOUTS "LISTEN" IN BAKA

I just want to say a huge thank you to

you, ladies,

to the women who built this incredible

structure.

Look at this, guys.

It's an amazing structure, outside and

in.

I love that they're giving a round of

applause.

Look at it, inside

..it's like a work of art in here, it

really is.

All right, I'll make my bed, get the

bugs out.

SINGING

I'm absolutely shattered.

The jungle is already sapping the

energy out of me.

I'm going to get to sleep. Even the

noise of my neighbours

is not going to keep me awake.

Night-night.

DRUMMING AND SINGING

DRUMMING AND SINGING

Well, it's 6:30 in the morning.

I'm very impressed with their stamina,

I have to say.

You're not saying you're clearing up

because I'm here, are you?

Women here seem to do almost

everything in the village.

The men go hunting. It can be

difficult and dangerous.

Searching for food,

hunting forest animals with spears,

bows and traps.

Quick pit stops are for fruit and

nuts,

grabbed on the go as they search for

one of their favourite foods, honey,

made by aggressive jungle bees.

To live off the forest requires

extraordinary skills and knowledge.

- They will climb that tree. They

suspect there is something up there.

- They're checking some of the trees

for beehives

..in their pretty eternal quest for

honey.

The speed of them.

They're already 20 metres off the

ground

and they're still going.

So one of the guys has kindly agreed

to wear a camera on a chest harness

so that we can see what's going on up

there,

because strange as it may sound, I

can't climb this tree.

BUZZING

It's coming down. Look.

Whoa!

Oh, my goodness.

That is an incredible colour.

And the smell.

Look at that smile. That's a happy

honey hunter.

That's very kind. Thank you.

Wild honey is completely packed with

taste and goodness.

That's astonishing.

I'd been told that in Baka

communities,

everything is shared among the

families.

What would happen in a situation where

a hunter

who had spent several days pursuing a

small antelope

comes back to the community with that

creature?

Thank you for sharing that with us.

THEY CHUCKLE

SINGING

Many Baka believe in a creator and

guardian of the world

who made the planet for all creatures

to share

..and that no person or species has

more of a right than any other

to the rainforest and its treasures.

But not everyone shares the Baka's

mindset.

Loggers are chopping into the

rainforest

to harvest valuable timbers.

As the wilderness slowly shrinks, the

Baka have more contact

with outside villages, which puts them

at greater risk

from diseases like malaria, carried by

the deadly mosquito.

- Mosquito thrives in an area where

there is stagnant water

and there is heat.

- Mm.

- So the forest becomes like a natural

canopy that protects them.

It's like, you and I have been here,

have you seen any single mosquito?

- No, I don't think I've seen a single

one.

- So now, with deforestation, with

them having the need

to get out of the forest, to go out

there, that's where they get malaria

and bringing it back to the community.

- Right.

- Even when you've got money,

it could take you about three or four

days before you can have access

to the least effective drug against

malaria.

So you'll be dead.

- Yeah.

- So, the challenge

- Three or four days from here to

medical care?

- To medical care.

- Wow.

- So the child mortality is quite

high.

- Yeah, that's sobering, isn't it?

When you think of all the children

here.

The Baka have lived in the forest for

generations,

but that doesn't mean life here is

easy.

What are the greatest challenges you

face in the forest?

The Baka use the word Bantu to

describe

the majority ethnic groups in Central

Africa.

They mostly live in permanent villages

and towns.

I mean, I'm amazed to hear you say

this,

because I thought you would identify

the greatest challenges you face

as being natural, as being something

in the forest.

Across the Congo Rainforest,

hundreds of Baka have been attacked

and k*lled by other ethnic groups.

When you hear him say this, how do you

feel?

You're a Bantu, aren't you? You're a

Bantu?

- Yeah, I would say I am a Bantu, erm,

to them.

I feel ashamed and at the same time I

feel shocked and surprised.

I think we are talking racism, we are

talking discrimination.

- I don't want to sugar-coat their

existence.

Life in the forest for the Baka can be

harsh.

But their close community in the heart

of the wilderness

and time spent with family and friends

is something many of us might still

envy.

It's time to go.

I'm heading on.

I want to travel further across the

Congo Rainforest.

Well, I don't know about you, but I

think it's surprising

that people still live like this in

the 21st century

but also rather reassuring as well.

Chief, farewell to you.

I'm deeply honoured. Thank you very

much indeed.

So many of us try to tame nature or

separate ourselves from it.

The Baka have a very different

approach.

I really hope they can maintain their

special culture

and this critical rainforest can

survive the pressures

of the 21st century.

So, we've got a bit of a journey on

this boat

and then hopefully we're going to

arrive at a village

just on the edge of a really wild area

of the forest here

and, fingers crossed,

there should be a four-wheel drive

vehicle waiting for us there.

It's another long journey in a small

boat.

This must be the village.

And there's a vehicle. It's got to be

ours.

OK.

- All right?

- Yeah. Bags off.

Oh!

It feels strange to be in a vehicle

again.

Roads represent one of the main

threats to the Congo forest.

Roads like these are often created by

logging companies

and inevitably they result in more

people coming into the jungle

and that leads to more poaching, more

mining

and more ill*gal logging.

Look at these logs.

SIMON GASPS

Huge carcasses of great trees.

As well as being a forest ranger,

Adams has set up a network of

investigators across the Congo

dedicated to tackling environmental

crimes

like ill*gal logging and wildlife

poaching.

His organisation has had hundreds of

people arrested.

He wants to see if these trees have

been cut down illegally.

Look at the size of these, with

numbers on.

- Can you see any name of the company?

- Erm

- It should start with a C.

- No, I can't see

Those are hundreds of years old.

- That is redwood.

- Redwood?

- Yeah.

- So, valuable trees?

- Yes.

Yeah

- There's a number on that.

So, G, 3, 4

..2, 1, 5.

- With this number we can always

double check

if this is legit or it is ill*gal.

- Well, it's trying to come past us.

African redwood is a highly prized

hardwood timber

used in homes in Europe, America and

Asia.

There is logging here that claims to

be sustainable.

Still, giant old trees are being cut

to make parquet flooring

and window blinds.

Right now, Adams is on the phone to

one of his contacts

to check whether the logs we saw have

been chopped down legally.

What did they say?

- The story has checked out. Erm, it's

all legitimate.

- Legal Legal logging?

- It's legal. It's legal logging.

- Even those enormous trees?

- So, just because it is legal,

it doesn't mean it is morally and

environmentally right.

- Yeah.

It's a bit rudimentary, but it looks

like it does the job.

Some scientists think the Congo

Rainforest

is now the most important forest in

the world.

It's second in size only to the great

Amazon,

but here, there's actually been much

less clearing of the trees.

Logging, mining and cattle ranching

companies have been slower

to exploit and clear the Congo, but

that's starting to change.

- The rivers which crisscross the

land,

these are the highways of the Congo

basin,

and they are very important because

they facilitate the movement

not only of the people but also of

goods.

It is also a highway that takes out

dead trees from the forest

to the nearby urban centres,

unfortunately.

- I'm heading onwards to one of the

most remote

and unspoilt regions of the Congo.

The downside is I have to say goodbye

to Adams.

But I wish you good luck with all your

amazing work, OK?

- Thank you very much.

- Good luck, big guy.

- Take care.

- It's also time for me to leave the

Republic of the Congo

and head into its giant neighbouring

country,

the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

a nation the size of Western Europe.

I want to reach an area known as

Salonga-Lukenie-Sankuru,

home to the largest tract of protected

forest

in the whole of Africa, where there's

no real roads.

I'm beginning a tricky search for one

of the most elusive

and iconic creatures in the whole of

Africa.

A local boatman is taking me as far as

possible into the forest.

So, from here, the boat goes back and

we trek into the jungle.

- Au revoir.

- So, we are heading to what we think

is a small abandoned village,

where some scientists and researchers

have made a base

in the last couple of decades for

studying

..primates who are among our closest

relatives

..and they are called bonobos.

This is a creature about which still

not that much is known

compared to our other cousins like

chimpanzees and gorillas.

Bonobos still have a fair bit of

mystery around them.

I would love to see them in the wild.

I'm hopeful, maybe a bit optimistic

..but whether that actually happens, I

just don't know.

People have said to us, "You've got to

be joking," but we'll see.

Crossing fingers.

My guide on this part of my journey is

Lambert Booto.

He works for an international

conservation project.

He's an expert on bonobos.

If anyone can find them, it's Lambert.

Lambert grew up in a village nearby,

on the edge of the wilderness.

Life for his family was a struggle.

With few jobs around to earn money, he

turned to poaching,

helping to hunt forest elephants for

their ivory.

Lambert returned from university a man

transformed.

He left as a poacher and came back as

a conservationist

determined to protect the forest and

its wildlife.

LAMBERT IMITATES MANGABEY CALL

The black crested mangabey is only

found in the Congo Rainforest.

They spend most of their time high in

the jungle canopy

living off nuts and seeds.

But that doesn't protect them from

poaching.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo,

the DRC,

is one of the poorest countries in the

world.

Tens of millions of people here live

on the equivalent

of less than £2 a day.

They'll often trap or sh**t animals in

the forest for food.

Days of travel from a proper road is

the village of Lompole.

Here we'll be able to rest, get some

supplies

and prepare for a final trek into the

depths of the rainforest.

As we arrive, Lambert spots something

he wants to show me.

Bonjour, monsieur.

- Bonjour.

- What is this?

What are the animals?

Can we ask where where has all this

come from?

I was amazed to hear this.

Just like Lambert years before,

this lad was out hunting to pay school

fees.

Across the Congo, it's estimated

six million tonnes of wild animal meat

is eaten every year.

But that includes endangered wildlife.

Living in such a remote location,

villagers here survive by hunting,

clearing the forest to grow crops and

cutting trees for firewood.

Individually, their environmental

footprint is tiny

compared to a European or an American,

but with tens of thousands of villages

scattered across the Congo,

the sheer scale of the population here

inevitably has an impact on the

wilderness.

Just walking through this community,

and we are surrounded by tiny, tiny

children.

SIMON CHUCKLES

The population of this country, the

DRC, has doubled this century

and it's expected to grow much

further.

Much, much further.

c*ck CROWS

We've got a long journey today into

the middle of nowhere.

To have any chance of finding the

bonobos,

I need to trek deeper into the

rainforest.

Our filming equipment is weighed

and Lambert pays local villagers to

help carry our kit,

food and water for the filming team

and our expedition medic.

Lambert, what's the journey going to

be like?

OK. After you, mate. You lead.

Well, here is very clearly where we

leave the village

and head into the forest.

I'm setting off on the toughest part

of my journey -

a long trek with a heavy pack through

jungle, across rivers

and a vast open savannah in the

ferocious heat of the midday sun.

We're aiming to reach a remote jungle

camp before dark,

from where we can begin our search for

the bonobos.

The bonobo is an icon of the Congo

Rainforest.

They're now officially classified as

endangered - at risk of extinction.

Where they live is so remote, nobody

really knows how many there are.

There could be as few as 10,000 left.

Here they have at least some

protection.

Lambert and his team have worked with

villages,

persuading locals to avoid hunting

them.

So we've just emerged into this huge

natural savannah.

We've got to get across it.

It's now approaching the middle of the

day

and the sun is really beating down, so

it's scorching out here.

In this heat, I'm sweating so much,

I'm needing maybe half a litre of

water an hour.

Maybe as much as that.

No time for wilting. Lambert just

keeps going.

Back in the jungle, the canopy

provides shade,

but the humidity is draining and we're

running out of water.

This one?

I'm a bit shattered, to be honest.

Erm, nothing quite prepares you for

the reality of the of the jungle.

So it's now getting a little bit later

in the day

..and we do not want to be out in the

jungle at night.

Eyes down, avoiding roots, we walk and

trot along animal tracks.

It's wet and sweaty.

The hours pass slowly.

Oh, my goodness.

SIMON LAUGHS

We've made it!

We've arrived. This is where we're

going to stay tonight -

this remote, very remote camp,

and hopefully we'll get a good night's

sleep and then tomorrow

we'll be up, we'll be out, and we'll

be looking for an animal

that I am absolutely hoping to see in

the rainforest here.

The magnificent, the incredible

bonobo.

Well done, mate. You got us here.

Well done.

We set off at dawn in search of

bonobos.

What I hate about being in the jungle

is putting

wet boots on in the morning.

Bonobo family groups can travel up to

ten miles in a single day,

foraging for food.

They could be anywhere.

But day after day, we trek through

swamps and thick jungle

and don't see even a glimpse of a

bonobo.

It's punishing for the whole team.

I'm being bitten to shreds here.

To give you an idea of how many

insects we're dealing with,

take a look at Jonathan's hat.

Ouch! Ah!

At times, the insect attacks make it

hard for us to carry on.

Urgh!

The end of another day and not a sight

of a bonobo.

THUNDER

But we have got up close and personal

with the wildlife.

We've all been bitten and stung,

and something's taken up residence on

cameraman Jonathan.

Back at camp, expedition medic Simon

sets up his clinic.

A bit of a medical situation. Not me.

I've just got some blisters.

But Jonathan, here

..has got an issue on his

Is it on the ankle?

- Yeah.

- Take your shoe off, then.

It's a jigger flea. They live in the

sand

and they bury themselves into the skin

and lay eggs,

so in there we've got a a little

flea in there,

which has laid its laid its eggs

there,

which will at some point pop out and

spread, but

if we don't take it out,

it will spread to other parts of his

foot, unfortunately.

- So, basically, I'm a nest for a

family of fleas.

- Yes, you are. You are a flea nest.

- I'm a host.

- You're a host.

There's two bits you want to get out.

There's actually the flea in there and

there's also the eggs,

so we just need to make sure that we

get the eggs and the sac.

Ready?

- Yeah.

- Ooh, look, look, look.

That is properly gross.

Urgh! Urgh!

- Did you get it all?

- It pretty much came out all in one

go.

Excuse me a sec.

- I know you're a former Royal Marine,

but have you ever seen

such extraordinary heroism?

- He's done well.

- He's even lighting the scene

himself.

- We'll put an iodine dressing on

there just to keep it

nice and sterile.

So if anyone didn't realise, the

jungle is full of nasties.

If we did need to get Jonathan out of

the jungle,

it would take us about

three-and-a-half days,

so that's why we've got to be nice and

tidy

and make sure it's all nice and

sterile.

- THUNDER

HEAVY RAIN

Last night was very stormy, thundery

and wet

..and the forest is still dripping,

which makes finding the bonobos even

more challenging.

Lambert thinks the bonobos we're

looking for

have retreated into a huge swamp.

Oh, bloody hell.

How are we going to get across there?

I think I'm about to get pretty wet.

We've got a rock here to clamber over.

Ugh.

Insects are crawling up inside our

clothing.

Bloody hell.

We're coming under attack from some

angry bees,

so everything is just getting quite a

bit trickier.

Again, probably attacked now by

Argh,

- BLEEP!

- You all right?

- BLEEP.

BLEEP.

- I think this is just about the

toughest jungle I've been in.

Jungles in Colombia, in Burma, in

Borneo

..they're not as bad, they're not as

uncomfortable,

they're not as sticky and bitey as

this is. This is tough.

This is really tough. I think this is

going to be

We are going to be very, very lucky to

see bonobos here.

I hate to say it.

But then, suddenly, we do get lucky.

- Here, here, here.

- Noises ahead.

BONOBOS CALL

HE WHISPERS: We think we might have

heard some bonobos up here.

And then, just in front of me,

I can see shapes moving in the trees.

We all need to be wearing these masks,

not just for Covid,

but for the transmission of any other

virus or disease.

The bonobos are just about 15, 20

metres through the trees, there.

But the foliage is so thick, they

might as well be a mile.

We need to get a bit closer, slowly,

carefully.

I've got it, I've got it.

There are bonobos just above us in the

trees. Right here.

I can't believe this. I never thought

we would get so close.

I never thought we would really see

them, to be honest.

We just ploughed on. And now look.

My heart is racing.

My skin is tingling.

To see these creatures here, in this

pristine environment,

is breathtaking.

These are some of our closest living

relatives.

Perhaps our closest.

Closer even, some think, than

chimpanzees.

Our cousins, our kin.

Bonobos are only found in the Congo

and there's still much to learn about

them.

We do know they live in extended

family groups

which the females tend to dominate,

even though they're smaller than the

males.

I just love their relaxed, gentle

nature,

which is probably because they don't

have much competition for food.

Lambert is keen to impress on me that

what larger animals

like bonobos eat is crucial to the

whole forest ecosystem.

This is a really crucial point.

A forest isn't just the trees, it's

everything that lives there.

Protecting a forest isn't just about

stopping ill*gal logging,

it's protecting all the life within.

Look at these babies.

I can see one, two, three, four

There's one just up the trunk of the

tree above us.

On our busy planet, wildlife and wild

areas are taking a hammering.

Countless extraordinary creatures are

being pushed towards extinction.

But this wilderness in the Congo and

these awe-inspiring animals

are a reminder beauty and wonder still

exists.

Compared to other great rainforests

around the world,

the Congo is still relatively

untouched.

There is still time to save and

protect this unique ecosystem.

HE WHISPERS: I can see a dark shape

just through here, on the ground,

looking directly at me.

Look at him there, so relaxed.

He is so like us.

And we, of course, are so like him.

He looks as though he's just getting

some final rays of sun

on a lounger in Benidorm.

This is one of the most important

places I have been to

on any of my journeys.

I am in awe of this forest, this

wilderness

and the life it still contains.

This is one of the last great

strongholds for wild nature

on Planet Earth.

BONOBOS CALLING

Next time, I'm crossing the wilds of

Patagonia.

The gauchos, the landscape, the

wilderness.

I'll travel through the foothills of

the Andes

- Right there. It's the king, man.

It's the king of Patagonia.

- ..and I'll try to reach a vast ice

field

in one of the least-explored mountain

regions on Earth.

Bloody hell.

The wind is really going for it now.

It's a little bit scary, to be honest.