Original subtitles

(birds chirping)

(light orchestral music)

(speaking foreign language)

(chanting in foreign language)

(speaking foreign language)

(light orchestral music)

- [Ryan] This is Yasuni, the Man, and Biosphere Reserve,

a vast tract of rainforest in Ecuador's Amazon.

It contains Yasuni National Park,

the Waorani Ethnic Reserve and a buffer zone.

At around 17,000 square kilometres,

it's nearly the size of Jamaica.

Yasuni teems with wildlife.

Scientists have hailed it

as the most biologically diverse place on earth.

But the forest also holds Ecuador's largest

untapped oil reserves, and a violent conflict

now rages over that valuable resource.

At the centre of the conflict are the people known

as the Waorani.

My name is Ryan.

You may be wondering what the hell I'm doing here?

I'm a wildlife biologist and filmmaker,

and since 2005 I've been documenting this area

through film and photography,

advocating for its protection

and promoting its conservation.

Ever since I was a boy, I've been passionate about animals.

But it was frogs that truly mystified me.

Maybe it's their massive eyes, each one like a tiny galaxy.

It was my love of frogs that would first bring me to Yasuni.

Ecuador's frogs are amazingly diverse;

Yasuni alone boasts over 150 species, more than are found

in all of the United States combined.

To me, it is a paradise.

This is Otobo Baihua.

We were introduced by mutual friends in 2009.

He invited me to visit his family and document his home

where his ancestors have lived for generations.

He lives with his wife and children

in a small Waorani community called Boanamo.

Deep in the heart of Yasuni,

it is home to about 20 people,

most of whom are in Otobo's immediate family.

He's concerned about their future

because they are caught between two worlds

where the new world is rapidly consuming the old.

He wanted me to witness the destruction

of the forest and wildlife that have sustained

and defined his people for generations.

We hoped that together we could make a difference

and help save Yasuni.

This is our story.

Some outsiders refer to Waoranis as Aucas,

a derogatory term meaning savages.

They are a hunter-gather community

that has traditionally lived semi-nomadically,

and are one of nine indigenous tribes

inhabiting the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The Waorani have no written history,

and their story has mostly been told by missionaries

seeking to convert them or corporations working

to extract their forest's resources.

To understand the conflict between the Waorani

and the outside world, we need to start at the beginning.

This is the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana.

He is probably the first European to come

in contact the Waorani back in 1541,

as he searched the Amazon for the cinnamon fields.

Hundreds of years later, at the turn of the 20th century,

industrial barons came to the Yasuni region

to harvest rubber.

Many were killed by the Waorani;

those who survived quickly fled.

The resulting fear of the region kept outsiders away

for the next 50 years.

But by 1942, Royal Dutch Shell had come in search of oil.

Over the next seven years, several oil workers died

in violent confrontations with the Waorani.

After that, Shell abandoned their operations

in Ecuador, citing hostile natives

as one of the main reasons for closing shop.

(upbeat jazz music)

In the early 1950s, Nathan Saint, a skilled pilot

and evangelical missionary, bought the abandoned runway

in the town of Shell.

It was here that Nathan founded

a group called Alas de Socorro, "The Wings of Help,"

to spread the word of God to remote indigenous communities

in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

♪ See the loons as they fly by ♪

- [Ryan] But Operation Auca, Nathan Saint's attempt

to make the first peaceful contact with the Waorani,

ended in disaster.

- This is a special news bulletin,

from HCJV Quito, Ecuador, South America.

Today we received confirmation of the death

of five missionaries, Ed McCulley, Roger Ugarian,

Pete Flemming, Jim Elliott,

and Nate Saint on what is known

as Palm Beach along the Cururay River.

Apparently they were killed by primitive Auca Indians

in the jungles of Ecuador.

- [Ryan] On January 8, 1956, Nathan and his four colleagues

were speared to death and cast into the Cururay River.

(light acoustic guitar music)

After Nathan was killed, his sister Rachel

continued his cause.

With support from the Summer Institute of Linguistics,

she would decipher the Waorani language

after finding Dayuma.

Dayuma was the key to making first peaceful contact

in the fall of 1958.

- [Rachael] Eventually, all of Dayuma's

related group made their permanent homes

on the Tigueno River with us.

There were 56 in all.

God was giving us their confidence.

The miracle for which many had prayed

was becoming a reality.

- [Ryan] So began a new era for the Waorani.

(singing in foreign language)

- You can believe if you want to.

(audience applauding)

- [Man] They were exhibited on the television

and as the star attraction of the evangelical rallies

in many parts of the world.

(grand orchestral music)

- [Narrator] "This is Your Life", a programme

for all of America.

(audience applauding)

- Good evening ladies and gentlemen!

I'd like to present to you, two very charming

and interesting ladies, first the lady who

is working among the most primitive

and most savage Indian tribes

in Peru and Ecuador, Miss Rachel Saint.

(audience applauding)

And her travelling companion and good friend,

the very first member of the fierce Auca tribe ever

to leave the jungles of Ecuador, Dayuma!

(audience applauding)

(speaking foreign language)

- [Translator] In the past before we believed in

Christianity, somebody would, for instance, get sick and die.

People would think they were bewitched

and got very angry and go off

and spear the person that thought had caused it.

- [Translator] Every spearing would be revenged,

and they would go back and forth killing.

But Jesus and god in heaven say no,

they say live by only killing meat.

So we heard and thought it was good.

We believe in god and now we live in peace.

- [Ryan] This Christianization was carried out

by removing many Waorani from their ancestral lands

into a region known as The Protectorate.

(light orchestral music)

- [Narrator] On Sunday afternoon we gathered

at the riverbank for a baptismal service.

Assisting me was Kemo, one of the killers.

Before this those who desired baptisms,

and were considered ready for this important step,

were given an opportunity to testify

to their faith in Christ.

There were nine baptised at this time,

including the last of the Palm Beach killers.

- [Ryan] But when the Waorani

came into contact with outsiders,

they were exposed to germs that their bodies

could not fight, leaving many crippled or dead.

- [Ryan] Disease was not the only thing

to follow the missionaries.

In 1960, just two years after first peaceful contact,

oil exploration began again.

Yasuni was officially open for business, big business.

- There is no question that the campaign

by the Summer Institute of Linguistics

to contact and relocate the Waorani

was supported by Texaco and the government of Ecuador.

And Texaco provided planes, pilots because

basically the missionaries cleared the Waorani

out of their concession.

They cleared the Waorani out of the areas

that the company wanted to work,

because the oil workers were afraid of the Waorani.

Texaco, other oil companies and the government of Ecuador,

have basically treated Waorani lands

as if they are empty land, as if they are unoccupied.

"Tierra baldias" is what the Ecuadorian law says,

and I think there was a complicity of interests.

- I don't think there is any validity to it,

especially those original missionaries.

I can't speak for every missionary that has worked

in the Waorani area, but I've read basically everything

there is to read from the missionaries

that were killed during that time.

There is never any mention of the oil company,

there is never mention of any desire

on their part to do anything besides

reaching the Waorani with God's love.

As Christians, we feel that it is our responsibility

to share god's love with them.

We don't force our religion on anyone but we do want

to go in and share a lifestyle

that they can live that doesn't include killing each other.

- [Ryan] The Summer Institute of Linguistics worked

in Waorani territory well into the '70s.

- The history of Christianity in Latin America

has not always been a pleasant story.

The whole idea that the cultures you're going in to contact

are basically and by their very nature

evil or wrong because they are different

is an idea that at one time was very widely accepted.

It would be nice if the Waorani could remain

isolated as they have in the past.

They are not doing that and they are not going to do that,

they are going to change.

As a consequence, I feel it is very important

that they learn how to operate

in the wider cultural context

that they are now finding themselves.

- [Ryan] In 1979, part of Yasuni

was designated a National Park.

And in 1980, the Summer Institute of Linguistics

was expelled by the Ecuadorian government, for

spreading economic dependence and cultural assimilation.

Even though most Waorani have been contacted,

two clans have no communication with the outside world.

They are called the Tagaeri and the Taromanane,

or the people in voluntary isolation.

It's estimated that fewer than 400 of them remain in Yasuni.

(camera shutter clicking)

To this day, they aggressively protect their territory

and way of life from intruders, at the end of a spear.

In 1987, two advocates of indigenous rights,

Spanish Capuchin Priest Alejandro Labaka

and Colombian nun Inez Arango,

set out to warn the people in isolation

that oil companies were advancing into their territory.

- [Ryan] This would be the last photograph ever taken

of Alejandro and Inez.

- [Ryan] This incident brought global attention

to the region.

In 1989, Yasuni was selected to be part of UNESCO's Man

and Biosphere programme

that aims to establish a scientific basis

for the improvement of relationships between people

and their environments.

But the designation has done little

to relieve the pressures upon the Waorani

and their forest from the outside world.

Otobo and his community, Boanamo, are no exception.

A two to three days boat ride

from the nearest road, the community of Boanamo

is isolated and completely surrounded

by pristine primary rainforest.

Otobo and his parents have lived here for over 25 years.

They have survived invasions by missionaries

and the oil industry into their territory,

somehow managing to keep their culture intact.

Otobo's father, Omayuhue, is the chief of the village.

His mother, Dicari, is the matriarch.

- [Ryan] The two have been together for decades.

- [Ryan] Today, Dicari is making Chicha.

This nutritious drink is an important part of their diet.

- [Ryan] Omayuhue is a warrior and a skilled hunter,

proficient with a spear.

Sharing hunting stories is part of Waorani oral tradition.

- [Ryan] Blowguns are their weapon of choice

for hunting monkeys high in the canopy.

- [Ryan] Waoranis carve darts for their blowguns

from raw palm shoots.

- [Ryan] As the hunt approaches,

the hunters carve the shoots into darts.

- [Ryan] Hunting is a team effort and involves many risks.

(speaking foreign language)

The forest contains venomous snakes,

and the sharp spines of trees litter the forest floor.

- [Ryan] The failed hunt doesn't dampen their spirits,

for there are many ways to keep the group entertained.

Caiga, Otobo's older brother,

finds a giant earthworm casting.

(blowing)

(laughing)

- [Ryan] When the men fail to feed the family,

the women step in.

- [Ryan] When the barbasco root is submerged,

it releases a chemical compound that suffocates the fish,

making them easy to capture.

- [Ryan] Minewe, at about 75 years old, is still able

to collect ungurahua fruit.

She gathers them for her husband Kemperi

who can no longer climb himself.

When I'm with the Waorani, I can't ignore

how interconnected they are with this forest.

They can find everything they need

to survive from their immediate surroundings.

But the forest doesn't just provide a home

to the Waorani, it does the same

for an astounding diversity of plants and wildlife.

To understand just how biodiverse this place is,

I assembled a team of biologists to perform

a biological inventory in an area never before explored

by scientists, Otobo's backyard of Boanamo.

With full participation from the community, we set up camp.

We conducted our inventory

in an area about 40 square kilometres,

or approximately one quarter of the size of Washington DC.

Over the next 16 days, we catalogued

as many reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals,

fish, trees and fungus as possible.

We conducted research around the clock,

and what we found was incredible.

(light orchestral music)

- This is a call I haven't heard before,

or at least I heard it at one site,

I recoded it but I never managed to track the frog down.

But I've never heard this call where I'm working in Yasuni.

Really nobody has done any collecting

of reptiles and amphibians

down here at least as far as I know.

Oh here it is.

I've worked in Yasuni National Park to the North,

and this site is actually about 40 kilometres south

of the southern most site I have worked at.

And even on my very first night hike I came up

with a possible new species.

- Man, in just three days, we have found

almost 200 different species of mushroom.

Out of those, I would say maybe 80 or 90

are ones that I can put a name on.

Other ones, we would have to take back

to the lab to identify them, we might not.

They are fairly rare.

And the other ones are probably just new.

- [Ryan] Between outings we would fuel up

in our fully outfitted kitchen.

It made a good gathering place to tap the elders' knowledge.

Field guides helped us confirm the presence

of species that we may have otherwise missed.

- [Ryan] From the bottom of rivers to the tops of trees,

the data kept rolling in.

- This morning we saw the Fiery Topaz up in the canopy

and it was snapping up insects,

and then Domingo started making the chicking noise

that the female was making while she

was catching the insects.

And it just came zipping right down

and landed right in front of my face.

- [Ryan] As we endured the heat and biting insects,

we continued to catalogue more and more species.

- Oh look, oh it's our first boa.

This is Crotalus hortulanus.

These are renowned for being very aggressive snakes.

They have long teeth, but they don't have any venom.

There you are.

I've managed to catch it without getting bitten.

So I think I'll take it back to the lab

to get some good photos of it.

Here we are, I can see the head

of a dwarf caiman sticking out of the water.

Here we are, a dwarf caiman.

This is Rhinobothryum lentiginosum,

it's about as rare a snake

as you can expect to find here.

I've never seen one of these.

It does have a reputation of being extremely rare.

I'm very happy to see it.

- [Ryan] In just 16 days, we found as many species

in this little patch of forest as exist

in all of France, which is over 13,000 times larger.

Most noteworthy were the discovery of three new species,

two frogs and a fish.

Surely, Yasuni has many more secrets to reveal to the world.

(speaking foreign language)

- Yasuni is the richest area in the entire

western hemisphere, and possibly the world.

Yasuni is at the core of a small unique zone

where four key groups where amphibians, birds, mammals,

and plants all reach peak diversity together.

- [Ryan] Because of Yasuni's unique location,

where the Equator,

Andes and Amazon all converge, an enormous number

of species are able to co-exist.

- If we look at trees, there's more species

per hectare than in all of the US and Canada combined.

If we look at frogs, there's more species of frogs

in a space a few square kilometres than there are

in the US and Canada combined.

Birds are really well represented here,

for the Yasuni National Park the number

is really similar to 600 species.

The US and Canada Combined, about 800 species.

And we can say, pretty reliably,

that we have more diversity here than anywhere else

in the world.

- It amazes me how the Waorani have adapted to,

even flourished in such a hostile environment.

No matter how many times I see it, I'm always

in awe when they walk naked in the jungle.

While my team enjoyed our familiar conveniences,

tents, bottled water, propane,

in reality, we couldn't survive without the Waorani.

On a previous excursion, I tried hiking 25 miles

through a virgin patch of forest with a few friends.

Even with all our fancy camping gear,

we got our butts kicked.

It's about 6:30 and I'm already in bed,

so is everybody else.

We are all pretty exhausted and the conditions

are pretty brutal.

If you don't respect this forest, it will devour you.

(speaking foreign language)

It seems like these King Vultures have found a tapir.

You can see all the poop from the vultures on these leaves.

They have just been sitting here slowly

picking this thing apart.

It smells absolutely horrible.

Well that is pretty disgusting,

but it's all part of the process here in the Amazon.

We could smell this from about 200 metres up river.

(laughing)

- I don't know how we could have confirmed Otobo's theory.

Was oil the culprit, or was the tapir bit by a snake?

Or did it grow sick from parasites?

What I do know is any animal has to struggle

to survive here.

I myself got a taste of a different type

as Otobo would say "arroz".

Well, I've been back from the Amazon now

for about three weeks and unfortunately my botflies

haven't left and they have been in my leg

for about 10 weeks now.

It's constantly oozing goop and excrement

out of my open wound in my leg.

So, I'm gonna try to pull out a couple of them

right now if possible.

(cheerful music)

Ahhh, this is what you get

for not having health insurance.

You wind up having to pull this shit out

of yourself on a Tuesday afternoon.

(groaning)

I was able to get all three of them out of my leg

and it was pretty gross,

but those are three large botfly maggots.

From botflies to venomous snakes, the Waorani

are adapted to the dangers of the rainforest.

But the one thing that they cannot adapt

to is our oil-hungry world.

Below Yasuni lie Ecuador's largest untapped oil fields.

With a population around 15 million people,

it is South America's third-largest exporter of oil.

The country is also infamous for oil spills.

Yasuni's landscape has become a series of wells

and refineries, sprouting hundreds

of kilometres of pipeline.

This is a contentious issue in Ecuador,

the scene of one of the largest class-action lawsuits

in the world, between the people of Ecuador

and the American oil giant, Chevron Texaco.

The court battle was fought over devastation

caused by millions of gallons

of crude oil spilled between 1970 and 1990.

Thousands of people were left sick and displaced,

and large parts of the forest became a toxic wasteland.

- The oil industry and the Government are very good

at promising environmental protection in future operations,

and I would love to believe that that's possible,

because the political forces behind oil development

are very very strong.

But, the track record of the industry today shows

that it is not.

Talk is cheap.

People in government, people in the oil industry,

even people in some of the environmental organisations

who say that oil development and conservation

are compatible, my question to them is, where?

- [Ryan] We visited one of Ecuador's contaminated sites.

- [Ryan] We had been at the site for just five minutes

when armed guards arrived,

followed by the Ecuadorian military and the police.

We were detained and threatened with prison for trespassing.

(speaking foreign language)

(light acoustic guitar music)

For decades, the people of Ecuador have suffered

as corruption and political instability

have ravaged their economy.

In Quito, Ecuador's capital city, unrest is common.

Between 1996 and 2007, seven presidents ruled the country.

None of them completing a full term.

President Lucio Gutierrez was the last president driven out

of office in deadly protests in 2005.

(guns firing)

And many Waorani raised their voices

to protest the government for their abuses.

- [Ryan] The Waorani employed new tactics

to get the attention of the government.

They set oil roads ablaze,

disrupting the extraction of crude.

The Ecuadorian constitution protects the rights

of the country's many indigenous communities.

But when indigenous communities live on land

with oil reserves, it often leads to conflict.

- [Ryan] In response to the country's poor track record

on the environment and human rights,

the newly elected President Correa proposed

a revolutionary initiative to protect the Yasuni region

from oil extraction.

- [Ryan] Backed by the United Nations,

the plan asked wealthy countries to compensate Ecuador

for half of the estimated oil revenue,

approximated at 3.6 billion dollars,

for keeping its oil in the ground.

A portion of Yasuni, in turn, would be protected

from future development.

The proposal, and President Correa's placing the rights

of nature in the Ecuadorian Constitution,

made his administration appear environmentally friendly.

- Yasuni has really, become, like a trademark

of what conservation represents to the world.

What we want to create in Ecuador is an awareness

of the importance that we give to the environment

and to change this dependency on oil

into a different economic development

that is not just dependent on oil.

- [Ryan] Negotiations began and interest grew.

Countries such as Germany and Spain applauded

the proposal and were among the first to pledge

to Yasuni's protection.

But then, the initiative stalled completely.

- The initiative has gotten very tepid support

from the international community.

It's really unfortunate because it is

an important initiative to force the question

of what are we going to ultimately do to protect

our planet from the ravages of climate change

and how will be wean ourselves off a carbon energy diet?

- [Ryan] I wondered, how serious was President Correa

about protecting Yasuni?

I filmed him in New York City,

where he came with his entourage to promote the initiative.

I was left disturbed by what he said.

- [Ryan] That's right.

He mistook the only indigenous Ecuadorian in the audience

as a Cofan, a completely different tribe

that doesn't even live in Yasuni.

This may seem like a harmless error to some, but to me,

it showed Correa's ignorance

of the issues surrounding Yasuni.

The Waorani are the only people native to Yasuni,

and they are the only ones who have a direct stake

in the preservation initiative.

As I travelled in Yasuni, two questions stuck in my mind.

First, how has petroleum production

harmed the forest's bio-diversity and people?

And second, if this continues, what can be expected

for the future and fate of Yasuni?

To find out, Otobo and I organised an expedition.

Together, we travelled 1500 kilometres

along seven rivers

inside Yasuni to get a better understanding

of the richness of wildlife in proximity to oil roads.

We saw with our own eyes

how the petroleum industry directly

affects the people and wildlife.

With the dry season upon us, it was the perfect time

to spot animals.

Water levels in the rivers were low and many species

would come to the riverside to drink water

or bask in the sun.

They would also leave behind footprints in the soft mud

allowing us to identify animals that we didn't see.

We began in the city of Coca and loaded our boat

beside the massive new bridge that crosses the Napo River,

essentially a road to nowhere.

The creation of this $50 million dollar monolith

suggests the scope of the government's

future plans for Yasuni.

- This brand new bridge here in Coca

crossing the Napo River has come to be a symbol

for progress here in Amazonian Ecuador.

Basically this represents a way of gaining access

right across Amazonia, and we expect this to end up

implying the development of major highways just south

of the Napo here, leading out toward Peru,

Colombia and Brazil.

- For the first half of our journey, Otobo brought

his wife and kids, his brother Bartolo,

and his good friend Iteca.

We set out on the Napo River,

Ecuador's most heavily travelled waterway,

and Yasuni's northern border.

Once it shone brilliantly, but the Napo is now choked

with colonial communities, sprawling with oil development,

and nearly devoid of wildlife.

After a full day of travel, we reached the Yasuni River.

Navigating its waters,

we finally left the oil activity behind

and saw the forest come alive.

Just in this past 20 kilometres on the river

we have seen river dolphins three times,

three different groups,

we've seen capybara,

we've seen signs of tapir.

The other interesting thing is,

North of the Yasuni is the ITT oil block.

So, whatever happens at the ITT,

this is the area that's gonna be heavily impacted,

and we are seeing such amazing wildlife at it.

We made our way to Lake Tambococha,

an oxbow lake in the heart of the ITT oil block.

These bodies of water are a crucial part

of this Amazonian ecosystem.

From these lakes spread a network

of backwater drainages providing habitat

to hundreds of species.

Black caiman silently patrol its dark waters,

and endangered giant river otters shriek

as they hunt for fish.

Both are keystone species.

It appears things are healthy here,

but not far away we began to see signs of human impact.

We saw charapas river turtles killed by boat propellers,

and fishing nets are trapping indiscriminately.

(Ryan exclaiming)

- After navigating these winding rivers

for several hours,

we would stop to stretch our legs.

Otobo's kids would play about, and his daughter Guima,

a budding naturalist,

found dozens of giant river otter tracks in the sand.

Every time we stopped, we saw it as an opportunity.

We found some really large Jaguar tracks,

only about 100 metres from our camp.

You can see right here how fresh they are,

and how perfect they are.

We eventually saw a jaguar,

but barely caught a glimpse of this elusive predator.

Okay, here they are.

(speaking foreign language)

So, there are the jaguar tracks.

Because many of Yasuni's wildlife species

are both elusive and nocturnal, camera traps

are an invaluable tool

for detecting the forest's inhabitants.

We set up camera traps in several locations

and would return in a few weeks to collect them.

(speaking foreign language)

Making our way to Kawymeno, we stayed the night

with Otobo's aunt, whom he had not seen in nearly 20 years.

Walking through the community,

I was struck by the difference between Kawymeno

and Otobo's village of Boanamo.

Here in Kawymeno, only one traditional home remains

and the rest of the village is made of concrete.

And more changes are inevitable.

We were told a new road was being built

in the adjacent forest, in oil block 31.

According to the chief of Kawymeno,

they were compensated $20,000 US dollars for access.

For this community of 160 people, that breaks down

to just $125 per person.

Imagine, trading your future for two weeks' wages.

- [Ryan] Finding the new road wasn't difficult.

The Ecuadorian government calls it an ecological trail,

but I've never seen a trail that you can drive

an excavator down.

I asked myself, how can the Ecuadorian government attempt

to raise funds to protect the ITT oil block

from development, while simultaneously

building a new road in the neighbouring oil block 31?

- It was quite a shock because it

had not been announced that Petro Amazonas

was actually moving into block 31,

presenting essentially a fait accompli.

They had gone into the Yasuni Park.

It was quite chilling realising that another vast portion

of Yasuni virgin forest,

was about to be altered forever.

Industrialised.

- [Ryan] The new road will be the fourth major

road built in Yasuni.

Its impact will be enormous.

Moving west up the Tiputini, we were soon reminded

of what is in store for this vast tract

of virgin rainforest,

as we ran into the new road's predecessors.

The Auca road was built in the early '80s.

It extends 100 kilometres South from Coca

to the Cururay river.

Spurring off of it is the Armadillo Road.

The Maxus Road came about a decade later.

It runs from the Napo River 120 kilometres south

into the core of Yasuni.

Otobo and his family have heard about an expansion plan,

to connect all of the roads, with tremendous implications

to the future development of Yasuni.

- It is very well documented that building

a new unprecedented access route

into primary rainforest just triggers

degradation and deforestation.

We were able to demonstrate that

in very concrete terms using satellite imagery

and remote sensing.

Two of the more invisible problems from the sky

are Illegal logging and unsustainable hunting.

And both of these problems are greatly exacerbated

by these oil access roads.

- [Ryan] These roads act like hypodermic needles,

allowing colonisation and subsequent deforestation.

Recent censuses estimate that nearly 50% of the Waorani

have left the forest and flocked to the oil roads.

Combined with the influx of Quechuan colonists,

the toll on wildlife is immense.

Hunters fill the forest armed with guns.

Dozens of species of monkeys, birds and other wildlife

are poached en masse, turning Yasuni

into a bush meat factory.

In Pompeya North, one of the region's most prominent bush

meat markets, people living off the road reportedly

get free transportation by the oil companies

along Yasuni's Maxus Road and across the Napo River

to a poorly regulated market.

People pour off the boats with bags of live

and dead animals for sale.

- [Ryan] With the bags, come crates of empty beer bottles.

Most of the money earned by selling wildlife goes right

into buying alcohol to bring back to the communities.

- [Ryan] Alcoholism is a growing problem, and the disease

is alive and well here in Yasuni.

After travelling eight days on four rivers,

we arrived to Pindo,

made our way to the Auca Road and followed it South

to the Shiripuno River, the halfway point of our journey.

In the morning we entered the Intangible Zone.

This area, created in 1999, is meant to protect

the people in isolation from extractive industries.

Almost half of Yasuni falls under its protection,

but it does little to protect anyone living

in the conflict zone.

- [Ryan] Most people who live in Amazonia travel by boat.

Rivers, like roads, are another way for opportunists

to pour into the region.

Logging is illegal in Yasuni,

but many logging camps have popped up along the waterways.

Loggers harvest rare and valuable hard wood trees

such as mahogany.

Most of the trees that were once accessible by road

are now gone, and the larger,

more desirable ones that remain

are hidden deep within the forest.

As loggers flood into Yasuni, violent confrontations

have broken out with the people living in isolation.

In 2003, a group of assimilated Waorani from Tiguino

went on a rampage, murdering around 20 people

from the isolated Taromanane clan.

The dead were mostly women and children.

The raiders brought back the Taromenane chief's head

in a sack.

Accusations were flung about that illegal loggers paid

for the group to be wiped out

to make their logging plots more secure.

In August 2005, a logger that went by the nickname Rambo

was speared 33 times in the heart of the intangible zone.

In April 2006, in the same spot more loggers were ambushed.

- [Ryan] Andres survived being speared.

William died from his wounds.

- [Ryan] As logging, colonisation, and petroleum

activities have expanded deeper and deeper into Yasuni,

the people in isolation are being cornered.

As their space gets smaller and smaller,

confrontations are inevitably becoming more common.

In 2010, a colonist family was ambushed.

There was only one survivor.

The Taromenane reached international headlines

in 2013 when they killed two Waorani elders

from the village of Yarentaro near the Maxus oil road.

In retaliation, Yarentaro sent out a war party.

Armed with guns, they massacred more than 25 people

in isolation and kidnapped two of their children.

Over the past 70 years, over a hundred people have died

in this conflict.

More than half of them are the people in isolation.

This number may seem relatively small from the perspective

of a modern, mass society, but when you live

in a village of two dozen, it's genocide.

- In one article that is very very important

in the constitution mandates the government,

any government at any point, to do everything needed

to protect the survival of the people in isolation.

The violation of this, not doing not protecting

the people in isolation would amount

to the charge of ethnocide.

- [Ryan] However, the danger of violent confrontations

has done little to deter opportunists.

As the infamy of the people in isolation grew,

so did a black market for their exploitation.

Safari tours offered trips into Yasuni to track them down.

I myself received a shocking email

from an official member of NAWE,

one of the governing bodies of the Waorani people.

- [Man] "Hello, friend.

I have the only book for the taigari

found at the massacre.

You can buy it for $1200.

Also, I have tagairi corpse

that I found in the forest by

the Rio Cuchiyaku

It is for sale for like $30,000."

- [Ryan] Yep.

He is offering to sell me the corpse

of a person in isolation.

These are the lengths people will go

to make a living where jobs are scarce.

- [Ryan] For the inhabitants of Amazonia, and the Waorani

in particular, venturing into the Intangible Zone

to exploit the forest is one of their few options

for making a living.

Most are only qualified for unskilled jobs

in the extractive industries.

Otobo himself was once a logger

and I have seen his work with a chainsaw.

Otobo no longer takes jobs in the oil and timber industries.

Now, he promotes Boanamo as a tourist destination.

- I think ecotourism is something that he believes in,

and that we definitely believe in.

It's a way he can support his family.

If his community doesn't do well,

they will make compromises with oil companies

and illegal loggers, and right now

that are united against all that

and are into the conservation part.

- [Ryan] Unfortunately, tourism is not a perfect solution.

Taking people into such remote areas consumes

a lot of resources, especially gas and motor oil,

both major polluters.

But compared to their alternatives,

tourism seems to be their best option.

Floating down the Cononaco River,

we catalogued all 10 species of monkeys native

to the region. including the rare Monk Saki

and the smallest monkey in the world, the pygmy marmoset.

We saw capybara, coatis,

spectacled caiman and more anacondas.

- [Ryan] Approaching the confluence of the Cononaco

and Cururay Rivers, we passed small hunting camps

and navigated through military posts and checkpoints

and were reminded of the war between Peru and Ecuador.

The conflict militarised the region

and divided the territories of indigenous peoples.

After three weeks travelling Yasuni's waterways,

we ended our expedition after spotting another dead tapir.

The one we'd seen earlier had died of unknown causes.

This one was clearly a victim of human impact.

- [Ryan] Otobo figures we might as well at least give it

to somebody in the community because they will eat it

rather than it just go to waste.

You can see it's been shot several times.

- [Ryan] It's too bad

because they are such beautiful animals.

(grunting)

- [Ryan] Back from our trip, we analysed

all the wildlife observations I collected in my GPS unit.

The data suggests a decrease in wildlife diversity,

density and abundance in proximity to roads.

We retrieved our camera traps and discovered a world

that we would have otherwise missed.

We detected herbivores like the agouchi, agouti,

paca, prehensile-tailed porcupine, red brocket deer

and tapir, both adults and their striped babies.

There were omnivores like the crab-eating raccoon,

red howler monkeys, collared peccaries

and white-lipped peccaries.

And predators like the ocelot.

In just 48 hours, one of our traps captured a puma,

a jaguar and one of the rarest species in all of the Amazon,

The Short-eared dog.

Bearing witness to all that I have seen here,

it is clear that the ongoing destruction of Yasuni lies

in our global dependence on fossil fuel.

By the beginning of 2013, President Correa

terminated the ITT Initiative,

blaming a lack of international Involvement.

In his defence, many of the world's wealthiest nations,

and the biggest contributors to climate change,

sat out the negotiations,

including my own country, the USA.

This didn't surprise me, for the USA was

one of the first and biggest players

in sculpting the Yasuni region as we know it today.

- All countries that depend on oil

they have a curse because they don't develop anything else.

They depend on it because it is easier,

its easy money that comes easy,

but if the price of oil changes, then they are in a problem.

We have had that in Ecuador, it's a dependency

that you don't develop other sources of income.

- [Ryan] The oil below Yasuni

is only enough to supply 25 days

of global demand, and their reserves

will eventually run dry.

- [Ryan] In our chasing after economic progress and profits,

are we really so short-sighted as to wipe out a unique

and ancient people and one

of the most vital forests on Earth?

- The Waorani are fierce and fearless warriors,

but they are people, and there is a lot more

to their culture than what a lot of people know.

If Yasuni is destroyed, the Waorani will be destroyed.

Waorani culture and rainforest conservation are inseparable.

- In some way you know, the case of the people

in isolation in Ecuador is symbolic

of the fate of the world.

It's symbolic.

Because that is a small place,

a very small place compared to the rest of the planet,

but it is a small place in which this dilemma is at play.

This dilemma of people's rights living

in their own environment, in balance with their environment,

or those people perishing

because we allowed that profits come

over the rights of people.

(speaking foreign language)

(dramatic orchestral music)

- [Ryan] On January 25th, 2016, everything changed

for Otobo and his family.

I flew out to Boanamo as soon as I could.

(sobbing)

- [Ryan] Otobo's brother Caiga and his wife Onenka

were travelling down the Shiripuno River.

They were returning from a supply run in Coca

when their boat's passage was blocked by a fallen tree.

- [Ryan] Caiga was speared nine times.

Onenka was impaled twice and passed out.

- [Ryan] Onenka managed to steer the boat back to Boanamo.

After an eight-hour journey, she arrived in the evening.

It wasn't until the following morning that she was airlifted

by military helicopter to the capital city of Quito.

After several surgeries, she miraculously survived.

- [Ryan] Caiga's resting place is across

from his parent's house marked by artificial flowers

and the spears that took his life.

- [Ryan] Caiga was my friend

and he always put a smile on my face.

He was one of the most beloved Waorani in Yasuni

and his death will have far reaching impacts

across the biosphere.

I'm fearful that Boanamo will seek revenge.

For Waorani law is...

Now, things seem to hold a different meaning.

We spent a day catching hundreds of fish.

While they were being dried, I wondered

if they were preparing rations for war.

Seeing Omyegue sharpening several new spears

worried me even more.

My optimism is wavering,

because this situation seems impossible to resolve.

Any retaliation would lead to the deaths

of more innocent people.

Otobo tried to ease my concern.

- [Ryan] Just four days after I left Boanamo,

Obobo, his father Omegieve and his brother Bartolo

were arrested in Coca on charges of possession of firearms.

They were caught with two guns and 125 rounds of ammunition.

Be it for revenge or their own protection,

I can only try to empathise with their grief.

(speaking foreign language)

(dramatic orchestral music)

After spending years of my life in Ecuador,

Yasuni means much more to me than it did

when I first came here in search of frogs.

Yasuni embodies my memories of all of the animals

I have seen, the rivers I have travelled,

the forests I have walked, and the people that I have met.

It is a place that has brought me enormous joy

and an equal share of sadness.

As I try to remain hopeful that Yasuni

and everything that it embodies can still be saved,

I'm not sure where the forest

and its people will be in 10 years from now.

For our future remains in the hands

of three kinds of people.

Those that are committed to protecting it,

those that are actively destroying it,

and those who idly sit by as it disappears.

♪ Like thousands of lanterns ♪

♪ Glowing with grace ♪

♪ In glorious silence ♪

♪ Descending through space ♪

♪ To a friend A sister in need ♪

♪ Who is not alone ♪

♪ And they are surrounding her ♪

♪ And they will enfold her outstretched hand ♪

♪ Into the light ♪

♪ It's hard to leave ♪

♪ It's always been ours to give ♪

♪ And to receive ♪

♪ I want to be shameless like the sun ♪

♪ Moving into you ♪

♪ Entering light ♪

♪ Welcome ♪

♪ Inch'Allah, Inch'Allah ♪

♪ Amazing grace is pouring down ♪

♪ Fear not this light ♪

♪ We are on this light divine ♪

♪ Oh come, we move as one ♪

♪ Amazing grace is pouring down ♪

♪ Fear not this light ♪

♪ We are of this light divine ♪

♪ Welcome, enter one ♪

♪ After a storm ♪

♪ I wanna let go ♪

♪ Of the things I've done ♪

♪ Without any worry ♪

♪ I wanna come home ♪

♪ Into the light ♪

♪ Into the unknown ♪

♪ I wanna be shameless ♪

♪ Like the sun ♪

♪ Moving into you ♪

♪ Enter light ♪

♪ Welcome ♪

♪ Inch'Allah, Inch'Allah ♪

♪ Enter one ♪

♪ Amazing grace is pouring down ♪

♪ Fear not this light ♪

♪ We are on this light divine ♪

♪ So come, we move as one ♪

♪ Amazing grace is pouring down ♪

♪ Fear not this light ♪

♪ We are on this light divine ♪

♪ Welcome, enter one ♪

- [Ryan] Please take action now at YasuniMan.com.