Classification: Endangered
Original coverage: 14% of the Earth
Classification: Endangered
Original coverage: 14% of the Earth
Current habitat: 6% of planet Earth
Reasons for loss – logging, farming, ranching, mining, hydroelectric schemes, roads, burning to provide charcoal.
We are losing the earth’s greatest biological treasure. At the present rate of destruction, the rainforests could be consumed in just 40 years.
Half of the world’s species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened due to rainforest deforestation. This equates to 50,000 species per year. Scientists estimate that we are losing more that 137 species of plants and animals every single day.
One hectare (2.47 acres) can contain up to 750 types of tree, 1500 species of flowering plants, 450 species of bird and 150 species of butterfly. Animal numbers can vary from 1000 and more.
The loss of the rainforest and its ecosystem severely threatens the development of cures for diseases – currently 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. A quarter of western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest plants yet less than 1% of the rainforest plants that exist have been tested.
Rainforests are also human habitats – home to Amazonian Indians, now numbering less than 200,000 people but once numbering 10 million.
