Reefs & Rain Forest; The Natural Heritage of Malaysia Borneo

THE NATURAL HERITAGE OF MALAYSIAN BORNEO is Murray S. Kaufman’s graceful essay about the two most important, primal, and endangered ecosytems on Earth (reefs and rainforests). Kaufman decribes them as “the last living Eden” and has, for more than seven years, photographed the beauty and fragility “of a part world little known and rarely visited by Westerners”. He shows us the powerful contrasts and similarities of these two unique environments in an intimate,cohesive,and unprecedented way. And through his photographs,which depict graphically the vital and essential concept of biodiversity, Kaufman opens the way for a new understanding and a new commitment to conservation of these rain forest and coral reefs. The book’s three chapters combine Kaufman’s images with texts by leading experts in the field, to depict a phenomenal array of flora and founa, including some newly discovered species. “Reefs” illustrates the astounding beauty and diverse life of an ecostem surpassing all other marine ecosytems of the world. “Rain forests” revels the intense richness of plant and animal life in one of the world’s largest rain forests,where average rainfall exceeds 200 inches (5000mm) per year. “Regarding conservation” explores the diverse and wide-ranging efforts to protect, conserve,and restore the beauty and biodiversity of the rain forests and coral reefs of Malaysian Borneo.The book also gives an insight into the deleterous effects of rapid development and habitat destruction threatening reefs and rain forests. Yet, it opens up the way into our hearts. “For discovering and appreciating nature represents among the finest aspects of human learning,” according to Datuk Seri Dr.Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia. In these photographs, Murray Kaufman gives a vision and a feel for what he describes as, “One of the most exuberanty alive, and essential, places on Earth.” They are an invitation for all of us visit and explore nature in all its mystery and splendor.