HELP PROTECT THE RAINFORESTS

 

Each year, 27 million acres of tropical rainforests are destroyed. That's an area the size of Ohio, and translates to 74,000 acres per day ... 3,000 acres per hour ... 50 acres per minute.

 

BACKGROUND. Some people consider the destruction of the world's rainforests the most frightening of all recent eco logical developments, because it's something they can meas ure. The tropical rainforests, located in a narrow region near the equator in Africa, South and Central America, and Asia, are disap pearing so fast that by the year 2000, 80% of them may be gone.

 

A tropical rainforest is technically defined as a forest in the tropics which receives 4 to 8 meters of rain per year. Beyond that, it is nature's laboratory for all kinds of plant, animal, and insect life. The world's tropical rainforests are critical links in the ecological chain of life that makes up the planees biosphere.

 

DID YOU KNOW

 

Although rain forests make up only 2% of the earth's surface, over half the world's wild plant, animal and insect species live there. In a typical fourmilesquare patch of tropical rainforest you would find. over 750 species of trees, over 1500 different kinds of flowering plants, 125 different mammals, 400 kinds of birds, 100 reptiles, 60 amphibians, and countless insectsincluding 150 types of butterflies. And only 1% of these species has ever been studied!

 

80% of all Amazonian deforestation has taken place since 1980.

 

One in four pharmaceuticals comes from a plant in a tropical rainforest. About 70% of plants identified by the National Cancer Institute as being useful in cancer treatment are found only in rainforests; 1,400 rainforest plants are believed to offer cures for cancer.

 

One third of the world's remaining rainforests are in Amazonia.

 

Latin America and Southeast Asia have already lost 40% of their tropical rainforests.

 

Deforestation contributes between 10 and 30% of worldwide C02 emissions. In 1987, rainforest fires (one method Of clearing) 2 emissions. In 1987, rainforest fires (one method of clearing) pumped about 518 million tons of carbon into the air, roughly 1/10 the total world fossil fuel combustion for that year.

 

WHAT HAPPENS TO RAINFORESTS

 

The world's rainforests are being depleted as a result of several developments: agriculture and population resettlement; beef cattle ranching; major power projects like dams, hydroelectric plants, and roads that go with them; and logging.

 

The soil in rainforests is not rich; only about a twoinch layer contains any nutrients. Most of a rainforest's nutrients are stored in the vegetation. When a rainforest is converted to, say, cattle grazing, the soil is grazed out within two years. The cattle operation must move on, but it leaves behind a desert.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

 

This is more than a political cause; itŐs a fight to save a precious piece of the world. Who knows what may be discovered in the rainforestsan unknown plant that provides a cure for cancer? A new crop that can feed starving children? Unfortunately, the only real influence you may have is on the people who provide financial support to countries with rainforests. So we suggest you write letters expressing your concern. The Rainforest Action Network (listed  low) will supply names and addresses. Write, also, to your elected representatives about the issue.

 

Support organizations involved in rainforest conservation. Indians in the Amazon are trying to foster their own sustainable rainforestbased economy; their Center needs your support. The Rainforest Action Network has information on the Center.

 

Consider alternatives to tropical hardwoods in furniture, lumber, and plywood. To stop importing tropical hardwoods, the U.S. would have to reduce its consumption of timber by only 2%. Write the Rainforest Action Network for a list of woods you can substituted for tropical hardwoods.