00:04The Amazon rainforest is often called the lungs of the earth, but beneath its vast canopy lies
00:11something that is attracting thousands of miners, criminal networks, and fortune seekers. Gold.
00:19And as gold prices soar across the world, a new rush is unfolding deep inside the Amazon. From
00:27the air, the destruction is impossible to miss. Rivers are being torn apart. Forest floors
00:34are being ripped open. Protected lands are being transformed into industrial wastelands.
00:42Yet according to environmental groups, this isn't just a story about illegal mining. It's
00:49also about how illegally extracted gold can be cleaned, sold, and eventually enter global
00:56markets. And now, indigenous communities say they are being forced onto the front lines
01:03of a growing battle.
01:09And the garimpo only advances because it has the conditions of washing the gold illegally.
01:15There is a mechanism of washing. So, as soon as it is possible to wash the gold illegally,
01:22the garimpo will continue to advance in the Amazon and in the indigenous lands.
01:26Investigators say illegal mining survives because the gold rarely stays illegal for long. Environmental
01:35groups accuse criminal operators of exploiting loopholes and fraudulent permits to disguise
01:42the true origin of gold. Once the gold enters supply chains, tracing where it came from becomes
01:49increasingly difficult. The result? A multi-billion dollar industry that continues pushing deeper
01:57into one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. But for those living inside the forest,
02:05the threat is far more personal.
02:07A multi-billion dollar industry.
02:08A multi-billion dollar industry.
02:12Hundreds of kilometers from the mining camps lies the indigenous village of Pekani. Here,
02:18community leaders say the fight to protect the forest has become a fight for survival.
02:25Among them is Kayapo chief, Benjo Mekragnodire. He says defending the territory has come with risks,
02:34threats and confrontations.
02:36Tirei 193 garimpeiros. Muito. Com o nosso guerreiro era 20 pessoas.
02:49Então a gente sofremos ameaças no indígena, não indígena também, mas eu fiquei firme para conseguir a floresta em pé.
03:05But the consequences of mining, he says, go far beyond deforestation.
03:12O garimpe, ele traz doença. Ele traz marara, água contaminada, ele vai contaminar o peixe, ele vai contaminar a nossa
03:27alimentação.
03:32The pressure isn't only coming from outside the community. Many indigenous territories are also facing internal struggles.
03:41As gold prices climb, miners often arrive with promises of wealth, jobs, vehicles and business opportunities.
03:50For younger generations, those promises can be difficult to ignore.
03:56Muitas vezes os garimpeiros próprios vêm falar com a gente.
04:00Oferecendo dinheiro, você vai ter carro, você vai ter mulheres, você vai ter uma empresa.
04:06Então é uma tentação que o jovem, o jovem que não pensa, o jovem que não pensa, ele vai querer
04:13esse dinheiro, essas coisas.
04:15But others believe the future lies not in mining, but in defending their rights.
04:22Somos o futuro, nós jovens somos o futuro do nosso território.
04:27Então a gente não vai lutar só boca a boca, a gente vai lutar com caneta, com documento.
04:32Porque a geração que era, aquela geração que ia com facão na cara do homem branco, que ia com borduna,
04:43com flecha.
04:48Hoje, nós jovens, nós temos estudo, a gente estuda, a gente sabe a nossa lei, os nossos direitos.
04:54Então a gente estuda com papel e caneta.
04:58Across the Amazon, a younger generation of indigenous leaders is emerging.
05:03Armed, not with weapons, but with education, legal knowledge, satellite technology and social media.
05:11The goal is simple, to prove that protecting the forest is not just about preserving trees.
05:18It's about protecting entire ways of life.
05:26I think that the government, everyone, had to respect this.
05:36We have the right to occupy our land that we always occupied.
05:41Always before the arrival of European people.
05:44I've never told them that I will continue to support our struggle, the struggle of our father,
05:53to preserve not only the land, the forest, but the preservation of our health,
06:00our culture, our language.
06:10For generations, indigenous communities have acted as some of the Amazon's strongest guardians.
06:17Today, they find themselves confronting a new gold rush, driven by global demand and record prices.
06:23The outcome of that struggle may determine far more than the future of a single forest.
06:30It could shape the future of biodiversity, indigenous cultures and one of Earth's most important climate systems.
06:39As miners search for gold beneath the trees, another question remains.
06:43How much of the Amazon will be left standing when the rush is over?
06:48Whoop.
06:50Whoop.
07:04Thewriting of progress.
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