Nat Geo WILD -Paradise Islands

The Week UK teamed up with Nat Geo Wild UK to discuss and explore the astonishing wildlife found on the tropical islands between Asia and Australia. Paradise Islands is a three-part series exploring the fascinating diversity of life that has developed over millions of years on these islands.

These islands that lie between Asia and Australia can claim to be the biologically richest on earth. The fascinating diversity of life is due to the many millions of years that these islands have remained in the tropics and the power of the earth, the sun and the moon.

The first episode Born of Fire ; The islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and New Guinea are the biologically richest on earth. There are tigers and elephants, rhinos and birds of paradise. But why this profusion of life? This film follows the story of the islands from their violent and fiery birth to reveal how the forces of the earth have shaped these Paradise Islands and their wildlife.

The second episode ; Creatures of the Moon – The reefs and coastal forests, beaches, reefs and shallow waters of the Paradise Islands are amongst the richest on earth. This is a world under the sway of the moon. Creatures as diverse and fascinating as proboscis monkeys, fiddler crabs and whale sharks move to the rhythm of the moon. This little-known world is full of surprises and is covered in this second episode

The third episodic ; Sun Kings – The Paradise Islands stretch along the equator. It is the tropical sun that drives life on these islands. They are home to the oldest, richest rain forests on earth. There are trees that stretch 100 metres to reach the life giving sun. The sunlit canopy is home to gibbons and hornbills, whilst tigers and rhinos roam the shadows of the forest floor.

The first of these short films I was invited to take part in by Nat Geo Wild and The Week is now live. The aim of this filmed discussion, promoted via the official website, and the magazine was; “Which island paradise would you save?”.  

I chose the beautiful Indonesian island of Sumatra to save. Its home to four of the worlds rarest animals; Sumatran Tiger, Sumatran Rhino, Sumatran Elephant and Sumatran Orangutan. They live in one of the worlds must beautiful and diverse rainforest regions on the planet that is sadly being razed to the ground at an alarming rate for palm oil.

The second filmed discussion I did covering the topic; “Why Does mass extinctions matter?” will be going live shortly and I will share the film once it goes live on my blog. To read the full story about these filmed discussions in London and what was behind them please click here to see my previous blog which will reveal all. Thank you to all the team that looked after us all on the day and for producing this wonderful short film.