Rain Forests

Dwight Holing and Scott Forbes

Discovery Insight Guide, 2001. (Faradawn Distributors, Saxonwold, SA)
Price R169-95
ISBN: 1-56331-933-0
170x240mm, paperback, 224 pages

Another in the series of superbly illustrated 'Discovery Travel Adventures', this is both an inspiration to visit the featured localities, and a hugely valuable source of information.

Rain forests are the most alive places on Earth. In some, there are more animal and plant species in a single hectare than in entire states or provinces of certain countries. And many of the species - especially invertebrates and smaller plants - have not even been identified or named. Rain forests sustain jaguars, tapirs, gorillas, quetzals, toucans and birds-of-paradise. They are filled with monkeys, pythons, orchids, ants and toadstools. The calls of bellbirds, cicadas, lemurs and frogs ring out. Giant trees with buttressed trunks reach skyward to form a continuous canopy - an ocean of leaves in every hue and shade of green. Lianas, bromeliads, ferns, palms and mosses compete for light and nutrients. And people too live in rain forests, clinging on to their traditions in the face of innumerable threats.

The first part of this book provides a background to the world's rain forests, making the clear and interesting distinction between tropical and temperate rainforests. While the popular image of 'jungle' will spring to mind for most when rain forest is mentioned, the wet, conifer-dominated forests of Alaska, Chile and New Zealand are also rain forests, in every sense of the word. A chapter is devoted to the people living in the Amazon, Congo and Papua New Guinea forests, and how their existence is threatened.

The bulk of the book is then occupied by detailed accounts of seventeen of the world's most exuberant and enticing rain forests, each with an excellent map, outstanding photographs and travel tips (best time to visit, where to stay, tour operators and nearby excursions). On mainland Africa, Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest has been selected for inclusion among the elite 17, and this will come as no surprise to anyone who has visited this remarkable haven for primates, birds and butterflies. In sequence, the featured localities are: Tongass Forest in Alaska; Olympic National Park in Washington; Kauai in Hawaii (the wettest place on Earth!); El Yunque in Puerto Rico; Cockscomb Basin in Belize; Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica; Manu in Peru and the Atlantic forest of Brazil (both part of the Amazon); Chile's Lake District; Northern Vietnam; Khai Yai in Thailand; Borneo, Malaysia and Indonesia; Papua New Guinea; the Wet Tropics of Australia; Fiordland in New Zealand; Madagascar; and Uganda's Bwindi.

Despite their astonishingly rich biodiversity and value to mankind, rain forests are the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. The more people who know about them, and visit them in a sensitive way, the better the chances of their long-term survival. This inspirational and practical book has made a major contribution in this regard and will strongly appeal to anyone planning a trip, whether real or in their armchair.

- Duncan Butchart -

Posted: Plants by CC Africa, Date: 22 November 2006