FACTS ABOUT THE RAINFOREST

Destruction of the RAINFORESTS

Rainforests are threatened by unsustainable agriculture, ranching, mining, logging and ‘slash & burn’ activities for fuel usage. This is called deforestation.

Originally, 6 million square miles of tropical rainforest existed worldwide, but as a result of deforestation, only 2.6 million square miles remain.

Every second, a slice of rainforest the size of a football pitch is mowed down. That’s 86,400 football pitches of rainforest per day, or over 31 million football pitches of rainforest each year.

More than 56,000 square miles of natural forest are lost each year.

At the current rate 5-10% of tropical rainforest species will be extinct every decade.

A NATURAL DEFENCE AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

· Rainforests act as the world’s thermostat by regulating temperatures and weather patterns.

· One-fifth of the world’s fresh water is found in the Amazon basin. They are critical to our limited supply of fresh water.

· Rainforests are the biggest Carbon Sink on the planet after the oceans.

BIO DIVERSITY

· A typical patch of rainforest (4sq miles) contains 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds & 150 species of butterflies.

· Covering less than 2% of the Earth’s total surface area, the world’s rainforests are home to half of the Earth’s plants and animals.

· Rainforests provide timber, coffee, cocoa and 70% of the plants identified as useful in the treatment of cancer.

PEOPLE & POVERTY

· Nearly 90% of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty worldwide depend on forests for their livelihood.

· 57% of the world’s forests, including most tropical forests, are located in developing countries.

· As forests disappear, so do their inhabitants. Brazil’s Amazon population has been reduced from 6 million to 250,000 people.