'We are a force for life' How Indigenous skill saved children lost in the Amazon

As they searched the trackless expanse of the Colombian Amazon for four lost Indigenous children, military rescue A teams were well prepared: high resolution satellite technology quickly allowed them to pinpoint the site where the light plane carrying the youngsters had crashed, and years of war with rebel groups meant the soldiers were used to operating in difficult terrain. But technology only gets you so far in the Amazon

- Luke Taylor , Mat Youkee

"We could see the leaves of the trees perfectly, but we did not know what was underneath them," Gen Pedro Sánchez, who oversaw the military operation, told reporters.

"That's why everything that was found was by land. It was step by step - finding different pieces of evidence that were impossible for some to see." To spot the otherwise unspottable, Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, appealed to Indigenous communities to help find the children, aged between one and 13, who were rescued last Friday after 40 days in the jungle.

Ninety-three people from Indigenous communities across the country - including members of the Siona, Nasa, Huitoto, Sikuani, Misak, Murui and Koreguaje peoples were flown into the southern jungles to assist the 120 soldiers in searching for the children, said Luis Acosta, head of Colombia's Indigenous guard.

The volunteers' efforts have since been praised by the military, who say their familiarity with forest conditions was vital in finding the children in time.

"It was the combination of our Indigenous knowledge with western knowhow, that's how we got this result," said Acosta, who coordinated the Indigenous response. "If it weren't for our ancestral understanding of the forestits medicinal properties, its life and its spirits - we would not have found the kids when we did.