The Problem

We are losing our rainforest at the average rate of: 75 acres every minute; 108,000 acres each day; over 39 million acres per year. This land is only productive for a few years and then is lost forever. In only ten minutes a logger with a chain saw can cut down a thirty-three foot wide, one thousand year old tree. In a four mile by four mile square of Brazilian rainforest 750 different species of trees were found, 125 species of animals, 400 species of birds and 100 species of reptiles. An estimated 10,000,000 to 100,000,000 forms of life exist in the rainforest. Only 1,400,000 species of plants and animals have been identified out of approximately 5,000,000 in the world. "We don't have a right to tell them how to run their business," Charles Haskell, chairman of Endowment Board for the National Wildlife Federation wrote in an article on Wednesday, July 31, 1991, in the E-Sheet. "A Brazilian sees slashing and burning as a way to live." It is not fair to ask Brazil to bear the financial burden. Brazil is a developing nation short of cash. We must buy and preserve the rainforest!

Oxygen Source Depletion!

80% of all the earth’s surface vegetation found in the rainforests.
50% of all the oxygen you breathe comes from the rainforests.
40% comes from phytoplankton which is very sensitive to pesticides.
10% comes from all other sources.

Deforestation!

Of the estimated original 4 billion acres of rainforest, only about 2.7 billion remain. According to World Wildlife Fund, 54 acres per minute are lost. The Rainforest Action Network says it is more like 100 acres per minute. The World Resources Institute says 74,000 acres a day are lost and the Smithsonian Institute claims the loss of 100,000 square miles a year. The NewYork Rainforest Alliance reports 50 to 100 acres a minute. Earth Island Institute declares 100 acres a minute (a football field a second). The Office of Technological Assessments (Congressional Study Group) says 17.5 million acres a year. The National Academy of Science projects 6% of the remaining forest could be lost each year.

Carbon Dioxide Accumulation in the Atmosphere!

5 to 25% is contributed by the slash and burn fires in the Amazon. Most Western scientists accept the figure of 17%, making it the single largest source of carbon dioxide.

Global Rainfall Reduction!

According to the book Miracle Planet, a loss of the world’s rainforests would result in a 2/3’s reduction in rain fall in the equatorial regions of the world as well as parts of Eurasia and North America.

Extinction of Species!

At the present, a hundred species disappear each day around the world. 40% of our pharmaceuticals come from the rainforest. However, only 1% of the plants have been assessed for their medical value. We are driving species into extinction before we have identified them.

RAINFOREST PRESERVATION FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 820308
Fort Worth, Texas
(817) 222-1155 / (800) RAINFOREST