The Harmony of Chaos is an extensive ongoing research and photography art project taking place at Taman Negara Bako. 

   Taman Negara Bako is a national park in Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia. Established in 1957, it is the oldest and one of the smallest national park in Sarawak. It covers an area of 2.742 hectares at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula at the mouth of the Bako and Kuching river. 

   Despite the small size of the Bako National Park, it has multiple biomes { including rainforest }. Bako flora contains almost every type of plant life found in Borneo, with over 25 distinct types of vegetation from seven complete ecosystems: beach vegetation, cliff vegetation, heath forest, mangrove forest, mixed dipterocarp forest, grasslands vegetation and peat swamp forest.

   The fauna in Bako is abundant and varied. Starting with the mammals, there are 3 classes of primates, including the rare and unique proboscis monkey, endemic to Borneo. The largest mammal is the Bornean Bearded Pig, an adult male can weight more than 100 kilos. There are also some small and elusive feliform mammals such as the wild cat or the palm civet. Other medium and small mammals live in the park, most nocturnal habits. Large numbers of reptiles inhabit Bako, the largest being the Saltwater Crocodile, which can reach 6 meters in length. And the most venomous, the iconic Bornean Keeler Pit Viper snake. More than 150 species of birds have been recorded. There is also a large number and variety of Arthropod such as: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and myriapods. There are different amphibians and fish. And to complete the fauna of the park we can also find mollusks, cnidarians, echinoderms, nematodes and flatworms.

   One of the most interesting aspects of the rainforest is the tremendous richness of plant and animal life. In Sarawak alone there are about 3.000 different species of tree and many more species of other plants such as mosses, ferns, orchids, vines and fungi. A single hectare of forest may include over a hundred different tree types. In fact the Malaysian rainforest is one of the most diverse natural habitat on the earth. The next time you walk in a rainforest, stop and look at the leaves on the ground - how many different types con you find.

   The ideal soil conditions for the development of a high tropical rainforest are those where the soil is deep, rich in nutrients and well drained but constantly available water, either retained between rain storms or supplied by the movement of water through the soil. The absence of this conditions leads to a decrease in size and number of plant species.

   The fertility of the soil at Bako is generally poor; having generated from the infertile sandstone. However, areas of relatively fertile alluvial soils are also present in the park. In the three soil factors mentioned vary considerably within the park and it is because of this that many of the forest types typical of Sarawak are recognized. 

   The mighty clouded leopard is at the top of the food chain from herbivore to carnivore. Mighty or not, he will die one day, and return to the soil. Immediately the decomposers of the rainforest will go to work on the carcass and in a few days little more than bones will mark the place where it lay.

   In general, most tree roots in the rainforest are found in the top 0.3 m or so of the soil. Some, probably a minority, have deep tap roots. It is believed that on important reason why most roots are concentrate near the surface is because most mineral nutrients are found there, resulting from the descomposition of fallen plant and animal remains. 

   Inside Bako rainforest. Some of the forest trees are very old indeed. - occasionally hundred of years. And some are truly enormous, with a few species growing to heights of 70 meters or more ! In Sarawak, the tropical forest is dominated by a tree species belonging to the Dipterocarp family, and such forest is generally called " Mixed Dipterocarp Forest ". Dipterocarp means two-winged seed, but beware as some have 3 or even " 5 wings " !

   Millions of years of erosion of the sandstone have created a coastline of steep cliffs, rocky headlands and stretches of white, sandy bays. Wave erosion at the base of the cliffs has carved many of the rocky headlands into fantastically shaped sea arches and sea stacks with colored patterns formed by iron deposition.

   Iron Patterns: Iron occurs naturally in sandstone. The water that passes through the rock dissolve some of this iron and carries it in solution form. Where the water re-emerges at the rock face, the change environmental conditions causes some of the iron to be precipitated onto the surface. In the air, the iron is oxidised to form a red coloured compound. As a result, a great variety of interesting and attractive patterns, of various concentric rings and lines are formed. 

   Iron Skin Formation: Over time, more and more iron is precipitated at the surface it gradually build up to form a skin or crust. The attractive iron patterns are therefore only found on relatively recent rock faces. On older surfaces a thick, reddish-brown skin is some usual. This skin is even harder than the sandstone, and is very resistant to erosion. Curious nodules and circles, for which there is not enough satisfactory explanations as to how it is formed, can be seen in the iron skin. 

   Iron Ridges: Because water tends to be concentrated along joints, therefore the iron precipitation is often greatest at these sites. In time the iron may form a thick band, which will remain as an upstanding ridge when the less resistant surrounding ding rock in eroded away more rapidly.

   Honeycomb Weathering: Attractive honeycomb patterns can be seen on the rock surface in a number of places, particularly around the coast. It is uncertain exactly how they are formed, but rainwater and sea-spray probably combined to cause pitting of the rock surface. As erosion proceeds, it creates a pattern of closely packed depressions separately by narrow ridge about one centimeter deep. 

   Iron Capping of Sandstone: When the resistant iron skin on the sandstone surface is broken through by water, the slightly softer rock below erodes more rapidly. This can result in some features, as in the surface " capping " of the rock on the cliffs above Teluk Pandan Kecil. 

   Note: For a better visualization of the images of this long project in which I often add new species, I have reorganized them as follows:

   -- Primates

   -- Other Mammals

   -- Reptiles

   -- Amphibians

   -- Arthropoda: Chelicerata. Crustacea. Myriapoda.

   -- Hexapoda-Insecta: Odonata. Blattodea. Isoptera. Mantodea. Orthoptera. Phasmatodea. Hemiptera. Coleoptera. Diptera. Lepidoptera. Hymenoptera.

   -- Gastropoda

   -- Other Animals: Mudskipper. Fish. Jellyfish. Starfish. Birds. Worms.

   -- Vegetation: Flowers. Fungus. Pitcher Plants. Other Plants. Grains-Fruits-Seeds. Ferns-Mosses-Others

   -- Ecosystems-Landscape-Sunset-Santubon Mountain- Sandstone Formation-Art in Nature.