Probably the strangest form of life in the forest is the giant strangler fig.
As enormous as a cathedral, in order for it to exist, another tree must die.
It's a stealthy murder that goes unobserved because it happens over decades.
Our aim here is to disclose the deed.
[birds chirping] [water flowing] Water is the elixir of life in the rainforest.
Mist wafts in shreds through the mountain forests and rain falls incessantly for days at a time.
The image of a dry continent with endless deserts and dusty plains is a truism.
Northeastern Australia overflows with water.
[birds chirping] The rain's stopped.
At last, we can start filming again.
We only have one third of the footage in the can, and the executive producer told us yesterday we're due to go on air soon.
But the fascinating elemental force of the waterfalls banishes my problems.
[water flowing] Less than 1% of the fifth continent is covered by rainforest, an area totaling half the size of Switzerland, yet it is home to a phenomenal number of Australian species.
Almost half its plants, one fifth of its birds, one quarter of its reptiles, one third of its marsupials, and two thirds of its bats.
The rainforests were not always limited to such sparse patches.
Long ago, they spanned large stretches of the continent.
The rainforest in Eastern Australia is a remnant, a relic of prehistoric times.
150 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there was a single cohesive continent in the Southern Hemisphere, Gondwana.
While the other continents collided with the northern land masses, Australia remained isolated from the rest of the world for 80 million years, a Noah's Ark of primeval flora and fauna.
As the millions of years passed, the climate in Australia grew increasingly dry and the rainforest shrank.
Only in the northwest of the continent, small isolated patches of rainforest remained, treasure houses of nature.
Moisture-laden clouds chasing the Passat winds eastward from the Pacific supplied the vital rain showers to this mountainous region.
Among the huge variety, one species stands out in particular, the mighty strangler fig.
I feel small, insignificant.
Probably the strangest form of life in the forest is the giant strangler fig.
As enormous as a cathedral, in order for it to exist, another tree must die.
It's a stealthy murder that goes unobserved because it happens over decades.
Our aim here is to disclose the deed.
[birds chirping] [water flowing] Water is the elixir of life in the rainforest.
Mist wafts in shreds through the mountain forests and rain falls incessantly for days at a time.
The image of a dry continent with endless deserts and dusty plains is a truism.
Northeastern Australia overflows with water.
[birds chirping] The rain's stopped.
At last, we can start filming again.
We only have one third of the footage in the can, and the executive producer told us yesterday we're due to go on air soon.
But the fascinating elemental force of the waterfalls banishes my problems.
[water flowing] Less than 1% of the fifth continent is covered by rainforest, an area totaling half the size of Switzerland, yet it is home to a phenomenal number of Australian species.
Almost half its plants, one fifth of its birds, one quarter of its reptiles, one third of its marsupials, and two thirds of its bats.
The rainforests were not always limited to such sparse patches.
Long ago, they spanned large stretches of the continent.
The rainforest in Eastern Australia is a remnant, a relic of prehistoric times.
150 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there was a single cohesive continent in the Southern Hemisphere, Gondwana.
While the other continents collided with the northern land masses, Australia remained isolated from the rest of the world for 80 million years, a Noah's Ark of primeval flora and fauna.
As the millions of years passed, the climate in Australia grew increasingly dry and the rainforest shrank.
Only in the northwest of the continent, small isolated patches of rainforest remained, treasure houses of nature.
Moisture-laden clouds chasing the Passat winds eastward from the Pacific supplied the vital rain showers to this mountainous region.
Among the huge variety, one species stands out in particular, the mighty strangler fig.
I feel small, insignificant.
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