Rainforest conservation
Amazon Conservation Society – protecting the Amazon rainforest.
Australian Rainforest Conservation Society – protecting the rainforests of Queensland.
Cristalino Ecological Foundation – rainforest purchase, education, political lobbying in Brazil.
Iwokrama – research and protection of rainforests in Guyana.
Mongabay – detailed up to date news about rainforest destruction.
Rainforest Concern – protecting rainforests and cloud-forests in Ecuador and elsewhere.
Rainforest Portal – ( Ecological Internet ) link to all major rainforest conservation agencies.
Seacology – protecting rainforests on islands.
World Land Trust – purchasing and protecting wildlife habitats worldwide
| A typical 5 sq mile / 260 ha area of Amazon rainforest supports: | |
| 1500 | flowering plants |
| 750 | species of tree |
| 450 | species of bird |
| 500 | species of butterfly |
Over 10,000 square miles ( 2.6 million hectares ) of the Amazon rainforest is deliberately burnt down every year to make way for soybean plantations and cattle pastures.
The pastures are very poor in nutrients, so support only very low densities of cattle. The land is burned annually to promote new grass growth and to destroy cattle parasites. The fires often rage uncontrolled, setting fire to further areas of forest.
Deforested areas are considerably hotter and drier than the rainforests. As a result the average temperature of the entire Amazon region rises and the humidity falls even more dramatically. This causes major changes in the vegetation structure of the remaining areas of forest, leading to reduced biodiversity even in protected areas.
| Worldwide, 50,000 square miles of rainforest is deforested every year. |
| Tropical deforestation accounts for 20 percent of global carbon emissions. |
| Every second a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is destroyed. |
| Every day 86,400 football fields of rainforest are destroyed. |
| Every year 31 million football fields of rainforest are destroyed. |
| Rainforests are home to over 50 percent of the world’s plant and animal life. |
The Amazon rainforests and the cloudforests of the Andes together account for about 40% of all butterfly species on Earth. If deforestation continues at it’s present rate, the rainforests will have entirely disappeared within 50 years, and almost half of the world’s butterfly species will by then be extinct, with nothing more than museum specimens and photographs remaining.
We urges everyone viewing this website to take immediate action – please visit the rainforestportal and mongabay websites where you can find more detailed information, and take part in on-line petitions to save the Amazon and the rainforests of Africa and Asia.
Aerial view of fires burning in the southern Amazon
Deforestation in Rondonia, Brazil. Just imagine what the 2012 map looks like !
| Please support rainforest conservation |
| sign on-line petitions |
| reduce consumerism |
| reduce your mileage |
| boycott tropical hardwoods |
| boycott South American beef |
| boycott oil palm products |
| support eco-tourism |
| support rainforest conservation organisations |