After Decades of War, This Jungle Is Now Open for Exploration - 2

Carolina Velez, an entomologist on the expedition, examines a brilliant blue morpho butterfly known as 'Morpho helenor peleides'.

Scientists use traps like these to catch the butterflies for study.

A 'Machaeropterus regulus' or striped manakin (left), and a 'Ceratopipra erythrocephala', also known as golden headed manakin, rest upon a researcher's hand.

Ornithologist Maria Isabel Castaño works at a makeshift bird station in the middle of the forest.

The scientists hope the region can be studied, and ultimately protected, before threats like mining and logging encroach.