RAINFORESTS: USAGE, THREATS AND CONSERVATION

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In order to understand why rainforest conservation is important, it is important to know where they, their functions and their importance in global ecology. Rainforests lie in three main regions near the equator, which include South America (Amazon and Orinoco River areas), Central and West Africa (Congo and Gulf of Guinea areas), and Southeast Asia (Malay Archipelago and scattered fragments on the Asia mainland and Pacific islands). Smaller, but no less important, rainforests are on the outskirts of the larger regions. In short, rainforests are important because they 1. Produce oxygen; 2. Remove and sequester (trap and store) carbon dioxide, a poisonous greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere; 3. Have the greatest biodiversity of any ecosystem on the planet; 4. Have the potential to provide many phytochemicals (plant-based compounds) for medical and other scientific research; 5. Are natural and aesthetic features of the Earth. Rainforest conservation and exploitation are completely different

philosophies. Conservation relies on practical, responsible, and sustainable methods to obtain resources. Exploitation is the taking of everything that is desired, with little, if any concern for acute (immediate and short-term) and chronic destruction. (long-term and possibly permanent) damage and

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Threats to the rainforest are wide and varied, but all contribute to net loss of biodiversity. The global rainforests contain a weal th of natural treasures in terms of biodiversity, which need to be conserved and utilised wisely BIODIVERSITY: A NATURAL TREASURE

Rainforests account for less than 2% of the Earths total surface area, yet contain about 50% of all known species (Nature Con servancy). In general, warm and wet climates are the most biologically productive areas on the planet, the reason for this very dense biodiversity. It is difficult to tell governments and nations what they can do with their resources. International conservation and other environmental organisations continually lobby governments, whose countries host rainforests, to conserve and protect their resources for the benefit of the entire world. Nations with rainforests within their borders seem to understand the need for conservation. But they also want to use the rainforest resources to build and support their economies. Some tropical and sub tropical countries have few other resources the rainforests are their largest and most profitable national source of income. It is difficult to tell poor, indigenous peoples that although they have a vast amount of wealth in rainforest resources, they must preserve its integrity for future generations, and others in the world. The local people, governments and industries nee d to understand the global impacts of the rainforests and how they help to function as an oxygen source and air filters for the Earth.

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Because rainforests contribute to regulating global temperatures, they are often considered the worlds thermostats. Global warming and resulting in rising sea levels will likely adversely impact many of these communities in the future. Initiatives for identifying other ways to generate income, including, for example, environmental tourism, are helping rainforest-resourcedependent communities to move away from rainforest exploitation. NATURAL CLIMATE CONTROL

Rainforests contribute to regulating the global climate by absorbing and sequestering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere. Large ecosystems, such as rainforests, have the power to generate their own weather conditions While not all scientists agree, it is widely believed that excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may contribute to global warming. High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are not beneficial to oxygen-breathing organisms, including humans. Radical temperature changes can have adverse effects on the global climate and agricultural production areas. RAINFOREST ECONOMY

There are many rainforest uses that are also threats to the fragile ecosystem, including local, national, and international industries and economies. Unfortunately, most these result in contributing to a net loss of biodiversity and alter the landscape.

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RAINFOREST USES AND THREATS 1. Slash and burn agriculture clearing land to grow many food and fiber crop species 2. Logging and Deforestation selective and clear-cutting trees for exotic and commercial-grade wood and paper products 3. Exotic plant, animal, and bird trade legal harvesting and illegal poaching 4. Over-development building and road construction 5. Pharmaceuticals chemical compounds extracted from plants to manufacture medicines 6. Grazing land for cattle 7. Mining mineral extraction All of these practices must be regulated to promote renewal and sustainability. Conservation is the answer. CONSERVATION

Conservation is about humans adopting a land ethic and a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards the Earth to promote sustainability. Healthy and stable environmental systems are self regulating and sustainable, where biological functions o f life, death, and rebirth occur unimpeded. When humans interact with an ecosystem, disruptions, however minor or insignificant they may seem, alter the environment. When one person enters an ecosystem and removes a flower or plant, the impact on the ecosystem is negligible. But, if a thousand people enter the

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same ecosystem and each removes one flower or plant, it will disrupt and possibly destroy the ecosystem. Taken on a much larger scale, when many machines are continually removing trees from the rainforests, the negative impacts are much more evident. If resources are used indiscriminately without regard for sustainable and renewable practices, eventually the resources will be depleted. W.B. Clapman Jr. reported that in 1971, there were 14.7 106 km2 (14.7 million sq. kilometers), which is about 5.7 million square miles, of wet tropical and subtropical forests (rainforests) in the world Forty (40) years later, in 2011, there are an estimated 2.6 million square miles of tropical rainforests remaining (Nature Conservancy), which is a total loss of 3.1 million square miles! Tropical species are being lost at the rate of 5 -10% per year (Nature Conservancy). If the rainforest ecosystem loss continues at the current rate, it will all be gone before the next 40-year cycle ends in 2051. In order to avert a complete and permanent ecological disaster, extreme conservation efforts must be implemented and sustained. All stakeholders, especially the indigenous peoples, must be part of the decision-making processes to promote rainforest conservation and sustainability.