The rainforest
A green sea of ferns, mosses, vines and ancient trees. Iridescent
butterflies and colorful birds. Flowers in every hue of the rainbow. The “green
lung” is a natural wonder of the world. Find out more about the world’s most
diverse, fascinating and threatened ecosystem.
·
ABOUT
Orangutans are dependent on large contiguous
rainforest areas
The tropical rainforest is an eternally green band that spans the Earth at
the equator. Its climate preconditions – high temperatures and at least two
thousand liters of rain per square meter per year – have given rise to perhaps
the most remarkable ecosystem on the planet in the Amazon, Congo Basin and
Southeast Asia.
The rainforest is also the world’s most diverse habitat. Covering
no more than five percent of the planet’s land area, tropical rainforests are
home to half of all animal and plant species. Yet this rich heritage is in
jeopardy. The forests are being cleared – mainly by timber, palm oil, soybean
and mining companies – and with each tree felled, we lose a bit of
biodiversity.
More than half of the planet’s rainforests have already been cleared, and
further areas have suffered grave damage or have been fragmented into many
small islands of forest. Every one of the forest giants is the habitat of
hundreds of further plant and animal species, and when a tree is cut down, its
inhabitants also perish. Every human intervention further upsets the delicate
interdependence of plants and animals.
Despite lip service and efforts to the contrary, the pace of rainforest
destruction has not slowed. Around 10.4 million hectares – and of that total,
6.3 million hectares of primary forest – are still disappearing every year. The
forest, with its biodiversity and intricate interdependencies of its
inhabitants, is more threatened than ever.
Find out more about this natural environment and why it is so worthy of protection
on the pages below. We need your help in preserving the last rainforests!
