NATURAL WONDERS FROM THE EAST

Biologist turned photographer Chien C Lee brings our attention to the incredible species found in the rainforests of Borneo and what it takes to be a successful and ethical wildlife photographer

- Elizabeth Soong

Afew years ago, Chien C Lee was invited to showcase some of his photos in a shopping mall in central Sarawak. He met a woman there who spent a long time looking at the images of the plants and animals on exhibit. She came up to Lee and said, “These are absolutely fascinating! Are all these from Africa or the Amazon?” To her surprise, Lee responded, “No, actually, they’re all from Sarawak.” As a Sarawakian herself, she had never realised the extent of the rich biodiversity present in her own surroundings.

Borneo is the world’s third largest island and one of the only places where you can find endangered and threatened species such as the Bornean orangutan, pygmy elephant, clouded leopard, Sunda pangolin, the Bornean gibbon, and many species of hornbill. Its rich tropical forests are home to about 6 per cent of global diversity.

Lee says that there still thousands of unnamed and undocumented species; out of the estimated 10 million species on the planet, only a small fraction have been formally identified, and the majority of these unnamed species are found in the rainforests. Therefore, it’s not uncommon to come across a new species in these areas, and it requires specialists and researchers to identify and verify them.