Islands in Time: A Wildlife Odyssey

A land forged by colliding continents and ruled by volcanoes, where change is the only certainty. Southeast Asia has more active volcanoes than any other region on the planet. Many of its islands were born by this most destructive of forces. Volcanoes rule all life on Southeast Asia’s islands of fire. For millions of years land has been built up, torn apart and destroyed. And that process is still taking place today.

Southeast Asia was born of fire and is powered by the sun. But there is another world; a parallel world where the moon holds sway. It’s a world rarely seen and little understood. The influence of the moon is strongest on the many islands of Southeast Asia. Here, amongst the mangroves, and shallow seas, the moon reigns over her shadowy subjects. As the departing moon pulls on the water, the tide retreats, and Proboscis monkeys enter the coastal forest.

There is one more force that has shaped Southeast Asia, one that today has the greatest influence over all life here. It makes snakes fly and apes sing. It turns plants into killers and jellyfish into farmers. It is the power of the tropical sun. Creatures as diverse as gibbons, great argus pheasants and draco lizards — they all live under the spell of the sun.