DEFORESTATION HAS BEEN A KNOWN PROBLEM FOR YEARS NOW, BUT ORGANISATIONS SUCH AS RAINFOREST CONCERN NEED YOUR HELP
Tropical forests are the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. Covering just 2.5% of the planet, they are home to a staggering 50% of the world’s terrestrial plants and animals.
Compared to temperate forests, which may be dominated by half a dozen tree species, tropical rainforests can contain 480 tree species in a single hectare, attracting a greater diversity of wildlife. 1,300 species of butterfly have been documented in a single park in Peru, while the entire European continent is home to less than 400 species.
As well as their incredible beauty, rainforests play a crucial role in stabilising the Earth’s climate and maintaining its water cycle. Forests absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen and water into the atmosphere, creating clouds and entire weather systems that travel around the globe, bringing predictable, life-giving rainfall.
Tropical rainforests are also nature's medicine cabinet. More than 25% of our modern medicines originate from rainforest plants and 70% of plants that have proven anti-cancer properties are only found in tropical rainforests. However, only 1% of the world’s plants have been analysed for their medicinal properties.
Forest ecosystems provide food, fuel and employment for an estimated 1.6 billion people, however, despite these essential life-giving services, rainforests and the millions of species of plants, animals and people that depend on them are rapidly disappearing.
Deforestation contributes to climate change as, when trees are felled, carbon dioxide stored within the trees is released into the atmosphere. In 2020, global deforestation released 2.64 billion tons of carbon, equivalent to the annual emissions of 570 million cars. Last year, around 1.7 million hectares (2.5m acres) of the Amazon rainforest was destroyed, the highest level in 15 years.
With deforestation comes other risks, including an increase in zoonotic diseases (those passed from animals to humans), such as AIDS, Ebola, MERS and COVID-19.
The destruction of the rainforests is altering the world’s wind and ocean currents, affecting rainfall distribution, resulting in floods and droughts and is squeezing wildlife and nature into an ever-smaller corner of the planet.
According to the IUCN, over half of the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s and more than one hectare of tropical forests is destroyed or drastically
