Barclaya motleyi

A peat swamp stream in southern Pahang dominated by Barclaya motleyi, a rare member of the water lily family. In these cool, shallow waters, we found an incredible diversity of fishes: Boraras maculatus, Parosphromenus nagyi, Rasbora pauciperforata, Belontia hasselti, Betta waseri, Trichogaster trichopterus, Anabas testudineus, Kryptopterus macrocephalus, Rasbora einthovenii, Sphaerichthys osphromenoides, Wallago leeri....

A couple of miles ahead, the land lies fallow and dessicated, freshly cleared for a future crop of oil-palmed profits. What is the worth of such untouched pools that can endure the thaw of Sundaic ice ages but not the plans of late-arriving land apes? How much would far off fanciers of pretty little fish and fragile plants stake in the survival of a biome barely sampled?