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The Rainforest: What's at Stake?
We all have a stake in the health of Earth's rainforests. The Amazon Basin alone produces 20% of the world's oxygen, and it contains one-fifth of the world's fresh water. The world's rainforests are home to 50% of the world's plants and animals, even though they cover only 2% of the Earth's surface.
The Rainforest is also a treasure trove treasure house of healing botanicals, as some twenty-five per cent of Western medicines are derived from rainforest plants. Scientists have identified more than 2,000 tropical forest plants that have anti-cancer properties. Yet less than one per cent of rainforest plants have been studied, so the potential for discovery of additional healing sources is enormous.
Of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty worldwide, nearly 90% depend on forests for their livelihoods.
The Rainforest: What's the Status?
Yet the news about the Amazon Rainforest is disheartening, at best. Over six million miles of tropical rainforest once existed; now only 2.6 million acres remain. A slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down every second. That's 86,400 football fields of rainforest per day, or over 31 million football fields of rainforest each year.
Rainforests also hold vast reserves of carbon in their vegetation. When rainforests are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Deforestation accounts for about 20 % of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
Approximately 6 million indigenous people once lived in the Brazilian Amazon. But as the forests disappeared, so too did the people. Today, approximately 450,000 indigenous people live in the Brazilian Amazon.
Illegal logging, deforestation for cattle grazing, and mining are the biggest threats to the world's rainforests.
For more Rainforest facts, see these sources:
Mongabay.com
Rainforest Alliance
Rainforest Foundation
The Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Web
The Nature Conservancy
The Rainforest: What can I do to Help?
Buy Amazon Herb products. The Amazon Herb Co. creates a value for the living forest, one that supports the traditional lifestyle of indigenous peoples living in the Amazon Rainforest. Click here for information on Amazon Herb wellness packs. You can also call 818-398-4995 or email for more information and free samples. Make Saving the Rainforest Your Business. Get paid for sharing your passion for the Amazon rainforest. Click here for information on the Amazon Herb business opportunity. You can also call 818-398-4995 or email for a personal consultation. Support magazine and book publishers that use certified and recycled papers. Hay House (see link at left) is now using paper from sustainably managed forests, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and their books carry the Rainforest Alliance Certificate logo. For a list of magazines published on recycled paper, see the Better Paper project. Shop Fair Trade. Fair Trade goods support the lifestyles of native and indigenous people around the world. Find Fair Trade companies.... Eat less fast-food beef. Many fast food restaurants and processed beef products contain beef from cattle raised on land cleared of rainforest to graze cattle. Millions of acres of rainforest land in Central and South America have been cleared for cattle grazing. For more ideas, see The Rainforest Web for a comprehensive database of ideas.
Visit the Rainforest Site on the web, and click daily. For each click, money is donated to charities who fund programs to protect and preserve rainforest habitat.
Buy in bulk. Packaging materials accounts for much of the lumber we use. If you have a choice, opt for the item that uses less packaging and buy in bulk when you can. Take your own shopping bags to the store.
