In a clearing, they meet the helicopter pilots who will carry them to their destination: the summit of Mount Roraima. As the helicopter lifts up out of the rain forest, they watch as huge rivers curl round this island stuck in time—geologically ancient, botanically unique. The helicopter threads its way between vertical columns of rock thousands of feet high-the Valley of 1000 Columns. At last it flies towards the magnificent plateau of Mount Roraima. Two miles' high, the mountain's ramparts push up above the clouds. The helicopter skims the jagged surface, searching for a landing spot on Roraima's rugged summit, which has eroded into a labyrinth of pillars and canyons.



When the helicopter lands, the scientists find themselves in a landscape just as Conan Doyle imagined it: the Lost World of our imaginations. The biologists spread out and begin their observations among strange rock formations, wreathed in cloud, which seem, in their turn, to observe the newcomers. The sky darkens, signaling one of the violent storms that rake Roraima almost daily. Torrential rain forces the scientists back to their tents. Night comes, split by lightning.

A clear morning dawns, and the scientists begin to examine the strange organisms that have found a way to make a living here. Fabián turns over a thin mat of endemic plants clinging to the infertile soil and takes a sample. Many plants here have adapted to poor soils by becoming carnivorous. An insect lands on the lip of a pitcher plant, lured in by smell and color. Before it can escape, the insect slips into dark water, where other organisms devour it. The plant itself survives on the excretions of its well-fed guests.




Margarita and Celsis are also discovering the extraordinary richness of life in this apparently inhospitable place. They find a rare frog that lays its eggs in a carnivorous bromeliad-the only such frog known to science. Tiny tadpoles dart back and forth playfully in the soup of rainwater and nutrients. Later, Margarita encounters a fascinating creature: a tiny black toad threatened by a tarantula. Blending into the black rocks, the toad doesn't hop: it strides slowly like a turtle and rolls downhill. This is biodiversity in action! Organisms are shaped by local conditions—by geology, soil, climate, and by other forms of life. How little we know of life's diversity, even though we're utterly dependent upon it.

We dissolve from the scientists, alone on the vast plateau of Roraima, to a group of sixth-grade explorers on a field trip in a suburban New York park. It's a long way from the table mountains of Venezuela to our own backyards, but biodiversity is just as important here, and equally fragile. These children are participating in a study called Biodiversity Counts. Their mission: to find as many different species as they can in a square meter of earth. If they look hard enough, they might discover something new, something not yet discovered and described by scientists. Pulling up from the group of kids, we see that this small patch of parkland is surrounded on all sides by freeways and buildings. Even as we work to learn more about it, we risk tipping the balance of life on which we all depend.

We dissolve to Tikal, where the film began. The people who built this city believed it would stand forever. As the camera moves through ruins, we catch sight of the jaguar. Vines wrap stone, trees split foundations. Until recently, the fate of Tikal was cloaked in mystery. But new studies, supported by satellite images, have revealed that 1,000 years ago, there was widespread deforestation ... for miles around. In a dramatic re-creation, we watch the jungle disappear to reveal the Tikal of 750 AD. Temples and dwellings reach to the horizon. We watch as 200 years pass before our eyes.