Page 226 - The Guide To Sarawak

224 NATURE - FOREWORD
Imagine yourself surrounded by lush rainforest, listening to the harmony of music created by some of the most exotic creatures on the planet.....well, imagine no more! You can find this in Sarawak. Sarawak is blessed with an ideal climate for life to flourish, endowing it with the highest biodiversity per unit area in the world. It is home to countless species - 185 mammals, 530 birds, 166 snakes, 104 lizards and 133 amphibians. Many are endemic, found only on Borneo; the Proboscis Monkey and the Borneo Bristle-head can easily be seen in Bako National Park and Kubah National Park respectively.
Sarawak’s extensive network of totally protected areas - 25 national parks, five nature reserves and four wildlife sanctuaries - make Sarawak a heaven for ecotourists and nature lovers. The world’s largest underground cave chamber and the world’s largest cave passage are found in Gunung Mulu National Park. At Niah Caves, archaeological excavations revealed the earliest modern human remains in Southeast Asia. Gunung Gading National Park is home to the largest flower on earth - the Rafflesia. A population of Green Turtles returns annually to lay their eggs on the beaches of Talang-Satang National Park. There are even schools for semi-wild Orangutan at Semenggoh and Matang Wildlife Centres. The Miri- Sibuti Coral Reef National Park offers a mysterious experience in the underwater world.
The world recognizes the outstanding significance of Sarawak’s biodiversity by inscribing Gunung Mulu National Park as a World Heritage Site, Kuching Wetlands National Park as a Ramsar Site and Bako-Buntal Bay as an East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership Network Site.
We invite you to explore the wonders of Sarawak’s natural heritage, some of which are showcased in this book, and join us in protecting and conserving them for posterity.
‘To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour... ‘ William Blake’’
Y Bhg Datu Haji Ali Yusop
Director of Forest Department Sarawak and CEO of Sarawak Forestry Corporation