thebeautyofrolex’sceramic bezelismorethanskindeep.

the bezel of a watch can deteriorate when exposed to sunlight,

chlorinated water and scratches. this is why the bezel of the rolex

gmt-master ii is made from an extremely hard ceramic material. it has

excellent corrosion-resistant properties, its colour is not affected

by ultraviolet rays and it is virtually scratch-proof. to inscribe

numerals on this hardest of materials, rolex even developed and

patented a unique process: the numerals are carved before the

ceramic hardens, the entire bezel is covered with gold, atom

by atom, and then polished until only the gold in the numerals

remains, permanently. it takes 40 hours to produce a ceramic bezel.

even a rolex has to suffer to be beautiful.

ROLEX.COM

OYSTER PERPETUAL GMT-MASTERII

FOR INFORMATION ON THE ROLEX RANGE WRITE TO

ROLEX UK, 19 ST. JAMES’S SQUARE, LONDON SW1Y 4JE OR TELEPHONE 020 7024 7300
WIN! A £2,000 18-day holiday to Egypt & Jordan Full details on page 78

Page 38 The Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall, Fukuoka, Japan. This government building replaced the last remaining green space in the city centre, but hosts an impressive 35,000 plants from 76 species

G

Hiromi Watanabe

JULY 2007 Volume 79 No 7

Features 28 The world’s last log fl ume? While kayaking in the Indian Himalaya, river explorer Peter Knowles discovers an unusual method of transporting logs down particularly steep valleys 30 Foreign exchange Photographer Matthieu Paley joins the nomadic Afghan Kyrgyz and their yaks on a week-long journey across treacherous 5,000-metre passes into Pakistan 38 The garden up above Hugh Warwick reports on an innovative way of promoting biodiversity in urban areas 44 Hunters of the great red island Anthropologist Daniel Stiles meets the Mikea people of southwestern Madagascar 50 The dating game ‘Super dates’ grown in the palm groves of Elche in Spain’s Alicante region are helping scientists to revive date plantations worldwide, writes Mark Eveleigh 58 Colombia: confl ict and commerce Dominic Nutt reports from Colombia, where paramilitaries are forcing people from their land in order to turn it over to palm oil production 64 Keeping it in the family Lee Durrell talks to Jo Sargent about the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, her late husband Gerald and eff orts to save the endangered ploughshare tortoise 70 Through the foothills on foot Amar Grover visits northern India’s Uttarakhand state to see how a sustainable tourism project is helping to halt rural depopulation in remote villages

80 Archive: Trade roots A selection of images from the RGS archives documenting early trade and its close links with exploration and colonialism 95 Essential gear: Expedition medicine Dr David Hillebrandt off ers advice on medical kits for remote areas News 8 Worldwatch 22 In Society 100 Out and about

Regulars 6 Where in the world? 12 Climatewatch 14 Geopolitical hotspot East Timor 16 State of the world Holy sites 18 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Cornwall 26 From the collection Rear Admiral Byrd’s fl ag and matchbox 87 Reviews 102 Geophoto Wildlife photography 107 Letters and crossword 114 In conversation with Willie Corduff

JULY 2007 www.geographical.co.uk 3