Focus on Arts and Ecology

The limestone landscapes of Southeast Asia might not have the reputation of South America's rainforests or Africa's savannah, but what they lack in notability they make up for in brilliance.

More than make up for.

Geographically, the area is peppered with caves, springs and underground rivers - many of which have been kept separate from the rest of the world for millennia.

As a result, animals have adapted and specialised to live in just one tiny area - in some cases entire species found in only one cave, and nowhere else on Earth.

And each of these species is magnificent. Truly - if weirdly - magnificent.

They are unlike anything else on the planet - hairy earwigs, bat-eating snakes, ghost snails, long-legged centipedes and scaleless fish, to name just a few - all beasts found solely in remarkably small pockets of habitat.

The area is overflowing with extraordinary creatures, yet so unexplored that we are still finding new species with astonishing frequency - only recently we found 15 new gecko species, each restricted solely to individual limestone blocks.

But that’s a problem. A huge problem. These species live in tiny, fragile areas, with nobody aware they even exist. And this includes mining companies.

You can see where this is going.

If the research isn’t done, the effect on these species can be horrendous - cataclysmic, in fact. One single misjudged blast from a quarrying operation can wipe an entire species from the planet. Forever.

We can’t let that happen.

The quarrying companies themselves have no desire to harm these species, but they can’t avoid what they don’t know exists.

So, through your donations, we’re carrying out critical habitat assessments to warn mining companies where they need to avoid - finding these species and putting protection in place.

That way we can avoid a tide of unnoticed extinctions. Through your support we can keep this marvellous landscape - and the magnificent creatures within it - thriving for generations to come.

The quarries are currently operational, and we must find these species before it's too late - so please, if everyone reading this donates just $3, you could help us carry out the critical habitat assessments required to avert needless extinctions. Thank you.

DONATE $3

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