I Bought a Rainforest

Elias with his wife Innes and His daughter Heiydi

How and why?

I Bought a Rainforest followed my misadventures after I bought a chunk of rainforest in Peru over the phone from the UK. The idea was to protect the land and Manu National Park from illegals loggers; the reality was very different - I had actually bought an illegal coca plantation.

The series tracked my hopes, dreams and failures as I first tried to realise what I had done, then tried to figure out what a mess I and the greater Amazon was in. Key to everything was Elias, an illegal logger who lived on the land and who was father to a disabled daughter called Heydi. I couldnt kick Elias off the land; so what was I going to do?

To find the answer I went on a journey of discovery across the Amazon. I worked in gold mines, illegal slash and burn cattle ranches in Brazil, I lived with illegal loggers, I worked as a Shaman's assistant and took mind altering brews and I lived with the Machiguenga.

The TV series made by Keo Films was a powerful and honest look at the complexities and interlinking of conservation and poverty.

It was broadcast on BBC 2 in the UK and other channels across the world.