The rainforest is home to millions of species which interlock in a common ecosystem, and sustain each other. We, as well as countless animals rely, on its biodiversity. However, the way we humans are treating our earth could be fatal for this sustainable, well tuned biodiversity, as well as our planet’s future. Owing to lack of sustainable consumption and production, the climate is running into a downward spiral towards the point of no return. Ruining nature - the origin of our existence - is mankind’s greatest mistake, but if we act now, we can gain a step towards the right direction.
Deforestation results in massive impacts to global warming, extinction of a large variety of animal and plant species, and huge setbacks in a total of 6 of the seventeen sustainable goals of the United Nations. We need to act quickly. Reducing deforestation is quite urgent due to its significant rate of 130 000 km2 loss of forests every year, according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations).
Fortunately, there are a multitude of organisations that work on deforestation conservation, like Amazon Watch, Rainforest Alliance, REDD and Trees of the Future. However, according to botanist Charlotte Bjorå, restoring the already damaged areas of the rainforest is almost impossible due to factors like too strong UV-light from the sun, lack of nutrients in the soil, and an unbalanced ecosystem. Fortunately, BioBalance has made a solution that combats these barriers to stabilize the ecosystem, in order to prevent further destruction of the forest areas around deforested grounds.
The rainforests are the most important assets of carbon capture, and accounts for a great decrease of global warming. According to Rainforest Foundation Norway, deforestation is responsible for 11% of the annual global carbon emissions (1) . In addition to carbon capture, the rainforests generate cloud covers that reflect sunlight, directly cooling the Earth in the process. Deforestation is a significant threat to humans, especially in developing countries, and preserving the rainforest is an essential strategy to stabilize climate change.
According to National Geographics , 80% of all animal species live in the rainforests, and they are all essential to the ecosystem. Cutting down areas of the rainforests results into great disturbance in biodiversity, as all the living organisms rely on each other for survival. Deforestation accounts for the extinction of a large number between 4000 to 6000 animal species annually according to the organisation RainForrest Maker.
90% of all viruses that are infectious to humans origins from animals that are forced to leave their natural habitat. Examples of these are SARS-CoV-2, HIV and Ebola. By conserving the rainforest we may prevent a number of new pandemics. Also, treatments for infectious diseases often depend on ingredients from the rainforest, as a result of the immense and unique diversity of the plant kingdom (2).
The rainforest contains the Earth’s largest diversity of genomes. In the future we may use them to create new sources of foods and medicine. Today, one billion people worldwide depend on medicine made out of rainforest vegetation. We already have an array of important foods from rainforests like sugar, avocado and cocoa. The rainforests also contribute to divide water from oceans, which is necessary for agriculture (3).
The humongous amount of evaporated water from the trees of the rainforests triggers pressure differences in the atmosphere, which creates a shift in the wind patterns that accounts to rain clouds from the oceans giving moisture that is necessary for agriculture around the globe (4).
Below you can find a youtube video from Inspire Education that explain why the rainforests are important. Inspire Education is made by a group of Literacy and PSHE specialists.