Some 370 miles east of the Australian mainland lies Lord Howe Island.

Uninhabited when the British first

came upon it in 1788, the island served for nearly a century as a port for whalers. As that industry
declined, trade in the native kentia palm boomed, along with regular visits from scientific expeditions. The
island is now regarded as a prime biodiversity hot spot, with many of its plant and animal species found
nowhere else on Earth. With just a few hundred inhabitants, much of the island is protected as a natural
preserve and marine park. In 1982 the entire Lord Howe Island Group was designated a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.