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Finding Eden

A Journey into the Heart of Borneo

Robin Hanbury-Tenison author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Publishing:30th Jan '25

£14.99

This title is due to be published on 30th January, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Finding Eden cover

The story of the expedition that launched the global rainforest movement.

'Sometimes it feels as though the whole planet has been so polluted and ravaged that there are no Edens left, but they are there to be found by those who step off the beaten track... So it was with mine.'

Fifty years ago the interior of Borneo was a pristine, virgin rainforest inhabited by uncontacted indigenous tribes and naive, virtually tame, wildlife. It was into this 'Garden of Eden' that Robin Hanbury-Tenison led one of the largest ever Royal Geographical Society expeditions, an extraordinary undertaking which triggered the global rainforest movement and illuminated, for the first time, how vital rainforests are to our planet. For 15 months, Hanbury-Tenison and a team of some of the greatest scientists in the world immersed themselves in a place and a way of life that is on the cusp of extinction.

Much of what was once a wildlife paradise is now a monocultural desert, devastated by logging and the forced settlement of nomadic tribes, where traditional ways of life and unimaginably rich and diverse species are slowly being driven to extinction. This is a story for our time, one that reminds us of the fragility of our planet and of the urgent need to preserve the last untamed places of the world.

his journals [...] give a real and unadorned taste of life in the jungle * Church Times *
Celebrating Borneo’s biodiversity and cautioning against its degradation, Hanbury-Tenison captures some of the beauty before its almost certain disappearance. * Publishers Weekly *
Finding Eden is a record of a pristine world at the moment of its discovery, a loving portrait of a people and a place, a superb primer on leadership, and a call to arms, demanding that we relish and protect what is left of the wild world. I absolutely recommend it. * The Spectator *
This book is an eye-opening and beautifully written and illustrated book. Finding Eden, ells the extraordinary story of Nyapun’s life and what has happened since to the Penan and the Borneo rainforests. It is a story of our time that explores discovery, friendship and reminds us of the fragility of our planet and of the urgent need to preserve the last untamed places of the world. * The Travel Magazine *
Robin Hanbury-Tenison is champion of indigenous populations everywhere. This is an inspiring book, an evocative, enchanting account of his life among the nomadic Penan tribe of Borneo and how he changed our attitudes towards such tribal peoples for ever. -- Redmond O'Hanlon, author of 'Into the Heart of Borneo' and 'Congo Journey'
In this elegant memoire Robin Hanbury-Tenison reveals the world of the Penan for he was there as a naturalist and explorer long before industrial logging ravaged the forests of Sarawak. It is at once an elegy and a testimony to the folly of greed, and a reminder of just what is at stake in the struggle to protect the remaining tropical rainforests of the world... -- Wade Davis, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic
a fascinating book. You will see what a beautiful, magical and scientifically outstanding place Mulu is. And you will see how much was achieved by the scientists of the Royal Geographical Society's expedition. It led directly to the designation of this unique habitat and ecosystem as a protected reserve and World Heritage Site. -- John Hemming, author of 'Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon'

ISBN: 9780755650637

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

288 pages