Livets träd 2008

Native lowland forests still flourish in Malaysia’s Danum Valley Conservation Area, where skyward-snaking lianas twine around dipterocarp trees that stand more than 200 feet tall.

An astounding example of the critical necessity to preserve biodiversity can be demonstrated by the discovery of Calophyllum lanigerum inside a small tree in Sarawak, Borneo.

This substance was found to successfully slow down the AIDS virus by stopping the disease in its tracks.

When biologists returned to Borneo to collect more samples, the tree was gone. It took several days of searching before they found another tree of the same species. It is a rare tree now bordering on extinction.