ABC News Live is venturing deep into the Amazon to shed light on tribe’s dangerous fight to protect their ancestral homeland with a documentary set to debut on Friday, February 14th, Guardians of the Amazon.
What’s Happening:
- The largest and most important rainforest on earth has increasingly been under assault by intentionally set fires, illegal logging operations, and a Brazilian government that has slashed environmental protections. This week ABC News Live will present an hour-long primetime documentary on one Amazon tribe’s dangerous fight to protect their ancestral homeland. The original documentary, Guardians of the Amazon, premieres on Friday, February 14 at 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET on streaming news channel ABC News Live.
- Within the Arariboia Indigenous Reserve members of the Guajajara tribe— armed with simple hunting rifles, bows and arrows, machetes and chains— have formed a paramilitary operation called the Guardians of the Forest, which tracks down and apprehends illegal loggers. An ABC News team, led by Correspondent Dan Harris, gained extraordinary access to the Guardians, embedding with the group during a multi-day mission deep into the jungle.
- Harris and his team followed the Guardians and their leader, Laercio Guajajara, as they trekked day and night through the Amazon, stopping at numerous villages, hunting for fresh clues and intelligence. The ABC News team captured it firsthand when the Guardians successfully apprehended several men they accuse of illegally logging and brought them to the federal police. The documentary also covers the deadly backlash that came in the aftermath of the mission.
- The documentary will re-air on ABC News Live at 11:00 p.m. ET on Friday, February 14 and at various times over the weekend.
- Guardians of the Amazon joins a growing slate of original documentaries produced by the Nightline team, including 48 Hours with Kygo, The Bomber, A Killer on Floor 32, and Modern Baby, which are available to watch on demand on ABCNews.com, the ABC News mobile and OTT apps and on Hulu. Documentary film After Parkland directed by Jake Lefferman and Taguchi has its theatrical release on Wednesday, February 12 and premieres on Hulu on Wednesday, February 19.