The second in line to the British throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge flew across the lush Bornean forests to land in Danum Valley in Sabah in a helicopter back in 2012. Dressed in full adventure outfit, they strolled inside the 130-million-year-old thick virgin forests, straddling the 300-meter long suspension bridge flanked by gigantic 60-90 meter tall trees and occasionally greeted by an orangutan or two, along with a multitude of rare animals and birds eager to meet the visiting royal couple in person!

Indeed, the royal couple, who had just been married for barely a year then, opted to escape the world’s limelight by travelling to one of the planet’s remaining untouched lowland tropical rainforests for a memorable green experience!

Since the colonial days until the 21st century today, many world renowned celebrities, scholars, wealthy businessmen, kings and queens have descended upon the green paradise called Danum Valley in North Borneo. This shows that it must be not just another swathe of tropical forest, but a veritable treasure trove of some of the world’s most unique and rare flora and fauna!

In 2019, veteran British actress Judi Dench visited Danum, and spent a couple of nights in a wooden chalet there. She uttered in jubilation: After staying here for some time, I’ve slowly learned to live with the leeches and nature, an experience that will live with me for life. In the Wild Borneo Adventure documentary series she filmed there, she said: There, it’s still here!

Indeed, there’s still this pristine natural haven teeming with such a diverse spectrum of tropical plants and wild animals somewhere on this planet!

As a matter of fact, Danum Valley is the world’s oldest lowland Dipterocarpaceae tropical rainforest. The meranti tree reaching a staggering height of 100.8 meters has been gazetted as the world’s tallest rain tree. As if that’s not enough, the thousands of plant and flower species here provide an excellent habitat for countless of mammals, including the Borneo pygmy elephants, macaques, clouded leopards and orangutans, not to mention over 300 bird species, making Danum the ultimate destination for avid international birdwatchers.

In fact, Danum is also the only swathe of untouched virgin rainforest over 100 million years old in Borneo and even the whole world! Such a perfect environment makes it a benchmark habitat for the many wild animal and plant species there!

As Malaysians born and raised in this country, many of us may have to ask ourselves in embarrassment where on earth Danum Valley is, and is it really that great at all? Thanks to the pandemic which has confined us to this country, we have found the opportunity to rediscover the unparalleled beauty of this wonderful land!

Unlike the national parks in the country, the area 80 km radius from Danum Valley is out of bounds to human activities. Even the nearest town Lahad Datu is 85 km away, or a 3-hour drive on mostly muddy trails, which is actually a blessing in disguise to keep the virgin forest well isolated and protected.

Currently the 438 sq km Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA) neither has a national park status nor is under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The forest is actually “owned” by Yayasan Sabah under the state government, which in 1980 pledged to permanently preserve Danum’s natural ecosystem.

As a matter of fact, Sabah has for so many years been a major concern for international environmental groups for its vast forest logging area and extensive oil palm plantation.

What Dench is worried about is how the wild animals are going to adapt to their increasingly inhospitable living environment. Their survival is being threatened by starvation, illnesses and illegal poaching. She said she felt reassured to have come across so many environmentalists and conservationists in Sabah dutifully and selflessly safeguarding the rare tree and animal species for the well-being of the human race.

During the trip, she did an in-depth interview with Dr Wong Siew Te lauded as the CNN Hero for his sun bear conservation effort. Notably, she expressed her tremendous appreciation for Dr Wong’s momentous role in NGO.

Actually Danum was long ago gazetted by the British government as a Class I protection area as well as the base of the Royal Society’s rainforest research program during the colonial days.

Sabah has continued to work with the Royal Society after independence. Today, a DVFC tropical rainforest research centre has been set up in Danum, along with one of the world’s 27 Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) stations.

We drove on the gravel road for three hours before arriving at the entrance of the Danum conservation forest, and another 4 km past the DVCA signpost to reach our final destination, where the 350 km Danum River makes its sharpest bend on the foothill of the 1,093 m Mount Danum. This is the furthest point general travellers, hikers and birdwatchers can go. Despite the tiring journey, why not take a deep breath now that you are inside the 130-million-year-old virgin forest?

In Danum, we were lucky to have ten highly professional eco tour guides and a symphony of insects, birds and wild animals with us, in addition to the well fed leeches wriggling briskly and a dozen of orangutans frolicking joyously, as we traced the footsteps of Prince William and Judi Dench for an immersive experience of the untouchable virgin forest!

Surrounded by the pristine nature in the middle of the rainforest, we couldn’t help but ponder over the present dilemma of our Planet Earth and ask: From where did we come and to where will we be headed?

(Lee San is Founder and Group Executive Chairman of Apple Vacations. He has travelled to 132 countries, six continents, and enjoys sharing his travel stories and insights. He has also authored five books.)