Rainforests cover only about 7% of the planet’s landmass, so why are they important?
Rainforests are the planet’s workhorses, essential in producing rainfall for the planet and water for river systems around the globe. Tree leaves deflect the rain and prevent topsoil erosion from river basins. The trees fertilize the land, filter and purify water, hold rainwater deep underground to recharge aquifers, and they extract carbon from the atmosphere and funnel it back into the soil. They protect from drought, provide shade which creates microclimates, play a critical role in reversing climate change, and sadly, they feed our economy.
Rainforests are an integral part of the livelihoods of close to one quarter of the world’s population. Approximately 300 million people, 60 million of whom are indigenous, depend on rainforests for food and their livelihoods. Many of the world’s pharmaceuticals result from studying the biology and genetics of fauna indigenous to rainforests, and a significant part of the world’s economy depends on clear-cutting these ancient forests for livestock pasture and wood products.
Why are trees important for reversing climate change?
Through photosynthesis, plants convert sunlight into energy. This process draws carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and is stored in plants. While plants do recycle oxygen back into the atmosphere for our use, there is a more important role in this gaseous exchange. The sequestration of carbon dioxide within plants plays a major function in reducing the amount of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas which is largely responsible for causing climate change.
Climate change and biodiversity are inseparable. Often referred to as the lungs of our planet, rainforests play an important role in biodiversity, providing 80% of land-based biodiversity. This biodiversity is the web of life that Chief Seattle so famously spoke about. Biodiversity is one of the most beautiful and brilliant natural designs, engaging all living organisms on Earth to work together to sustain life. It’s a lesson that humans have yet to learn.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of lifeforms on our planet, encompassing all species from humans, to other vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms – all living things on this planet. It operates on every level that sustains life, including ecosystems, DNA, and evolutionary, cultural, and ecological processes. These systems all work together and form a network that makes it possible for life to exist on Earth.
“There is no solution available, I assure you, to save Earth’s biodiversity other than the preservation of natural environments in reserves large enough to maintain wild populations sustainably. Only Nature can serve as the planetary ark.” ~ Edward O. Wilson, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth
Biodiversity helps ecosystems remain strong, more resistant to disease, and more resilient when it comes to variations in climate. It’s a critical factor in providing clean air and water, plant pollination, insect and disease control, oxygen, and filtration of wastewater. A healthy ecosystem has an existential impact on human life. Without pollinators in a healthy ecosystem, our food supply would vanish.
We are all interdependent – not just humans, but all creatures on Earth. You’re probably aware of the term “butterfly effect,” the theory that if a butterfly flaps its wings in China, it could cause a tornado in the United States. We’re all connected by Divine design. What one creature does, affects the whole.
Rainforests promote biodiversity and provide habitats for more than half of Earth’s animal and plant species. The biodiversity of species, including bacteria and other microorganisms, form a network of life that is critical to the existence of all life on this planet. Ecosystems are social structures that have far reaching effects, because they’re interconnected with all other systems. If we destroy one system, we cause harm to all systems and, ultimately, to ourselves.
Although rainforests are primarily tropical, located near the equator, there are temperate rainforests that are found in Norway, Australia, western Scotland, Turkey, New Zealand, and Japan. The United States is home to several rainforests, the Pacific Temperate Rainforest (northwest Pacific coast), the largest temperate rainforest on the planet, and tropical rainforests on the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Big Island, and Molokai.
The 12 largest rainforests in the world are:
- Amazon Rainforest (Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana)
- Congolese Rainforest (Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea)
- New Guinea Rainforest (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
- Valdivian Temperate Rainforest (Chile, Argentina)
- Heart of Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei)
- Pacific Temperate Rainforest (United States, Canada)
- Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (Indonesia)
- Eastern Australia Temperate Forests (Australia)
- Bosawás Biosphere Reserve (Nicaragua)
- Westland Temperate Rainforests (New Zealand)
- Hainan Rainforest (China)
- Daintree Rainforest (Australia)
All of these rainforests have experienced large percentages of deforestation in recent decades. Over the past 40 years, Borneo has lost 30% of its rainforest. The Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is under substantial threat by Nicaragua’s booming livestock industry, supported by the fast food industry. Yes, your food choices matter!
The world’s largest and best-known rainforest, the Amazon, represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests. It has lost more than 20% of its habitat, due to cattle ranching, mining, logging, and sustenance agriculture. The lion’s share of this forest falls within the borders of Brazil. Brazil allowed an increase of 13.7% in clearcutting trees from 2017-2018, and this practice is expected to continue under the current policies of President Jair Bolsonaro. This lost forest is likely never to be reclaimed.
More than half the planet’s rainforests have been destroyed by logging and fires in the past 50 years. Over 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day, to make way for cattle grazing, agriculture, and other commercial endeavors. Ecologists cite that 130 species of animals, plants, and insects die every day from this deforestation. At this rate, the planet’s remaining rainforests may disappear in less than 40 years. The loss of biodiversity from this destruction could accelerate global warming by releasing CO2 trapped in the vegetation.
The sad truth is, humans are destroying rainforests intentionally. Humans have polluted air, water, and soil, caused detrimental global changes resulting from the use of fossil fuels for energy and the destruction of natural resources and habitats in the name of commerce. These activities have caused climate change and destroyed the healthy balance of ecosystems.
The world’s forest cover is disappearing at an alarming rate. From 1990 to 2016, nearly one square mile, about 800 football fields, was destroyed every hour globally. More than 100,000 acres of forest are demolished every day. Greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, approximately 12% of all greenhouse gas emissions, are the second biggest cause of climate change. The human species cannot survive without rainforests, and yet if we continue on this same path, rainforests will be extinct within 40 years. I’m repeating this, because it’s so damned important!
The loss of our rainforests due to human activity has a devastating effect on the survival of species around the globe, including humans. We are committing environmental suicide. Many species are not able to adapt to quick shifts in climate, so they die off. While it’s normal for some species to go extinct due to natural planetary changes, we’re now faced with rapid mass extinctions of multiple species, because of human activity.
In general, when there is more biodiversity on our planet, we experience less disease among humans. This manmade shift in climate has a measurable effect on biodiversity. Ecologists believe we are in the midst of a mass extinction and that the loss of biodiversity is directly responsible for the immergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemics are likely to occur more frequently as diversity of life on this planet diminishes. This domino effect of mass extinctions will eventually lead to the extinction of humans on Earth – unless we take immediate and strategic action to reverse the destruction and repair what we have damaged.
How do we preserve rainforests and reverse climate change?
Of course, the best solution to preserving the planet’s rainforests is to stop deforestation. Clear-cutting and burning of forests are funded in large part by the fast food industry. We can help to stop this destruction by altering our eating habits. Stop buying fast food and reduce or eliminate meat consumption. And speak up. Help others understand that their actions have real consequences.
Practice agroforestry. This is an old concept that is gaining new ground in the United States, as well as in other countries around the world. Agroforestry is the intentional integration of woody perennials, such as trees and shrubs, with crops and livestock. Rather than cutting trees to make way for crops and grazing land, farmers keep the trees and plant around them. Livestock is allowed to feed in this area, as well. The trees provide much needed shade and water for the animals. This combination of trees, crops, and livestock creates a sustainable “food ecosystem” that farmers can use to increase biodiversity on their land and reduce climate change on a broader scale.
Should we, or can we, replant the world’s rainforests?
The second-best solution to preserving our rainforests is to restore them, to replant.
According to the Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete, “Forests are one of our key allies in fighting climate change… halting deforestation and forest degradation is therefore crucial to fight climate change. Sustainably restoring degraded forests and creating new forests can be an effective complementary measure to the efforts to halt deforestation.”
Reforestation is very costly and time-consuming. It’s a labor-intensive activity which takes many people and resources to accomplish. But the loss of our forests – and the habits of all creatures on this Earth – is even more costly. It likely will cost our very existence.
Efforts are underway around the globe to restore our forests and to link our remaining forests together. A reforestation plan in Brazil is underway, sponsored by Conservation International, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment, and several corporations and NGOs. The 6-year plan is to plant 73 million new trees in the Amazon rainforest.
The largest reforestation plan on the planet began in July of 2016 in Uttar Pradesh, India, where 800,000 people planted 50 million trees in 24 hours! The largest ongoing program is China’s Grain-for-Green plan, which intends to restore 69.2 million acres of forestland.
Rwanda’s government in partnership with several ecological groups is making an effort to bring back their rainforest in a project called Rwandan National Conservation Park in the Gishwati Forest Reserve.
The United Nations Environment Programme “Billion Tree Campaign” launched in 2006 and was successful in planting 1 billion trees in eight months. A new goal of planting 7 billion trees was met in 2009. By December 2011, they had planted more than 12 billion trees.
Considering that 25 million acres of forest are destroyed each year, this replanting is only a small part of the solution. The focus must still remain on halting the practice of deforestation. Ancient rainforests are filled with enormous trees that take decades to grow. Newly planted saplings cannot immediately replace mature trees. The ecosystems of the rainforests are delicate and take time to develop. Since much of the ecological activity takes place in the canopy of mature trees, decades are needed to restore the natural balance that supports functions such as pollination and nutrient cycles of the surrounding flora and fauna.
However, doing nothing is not an option. A two-pronged approach of both preservation and replanting can go a long way in stemming the tide of climate change and mass extinction. Reforestation can be accomplished by both humans and nature. As the saying goes, when is the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When is the second-best time to plant a tree? Right now.
What can you do to help?
Aside from changing your diet, using your power as a consumer to boycott companies that harm our forests, and being more careful not to waste resources, you can volunteer to plant trees with the US Forest Service (they always need volunteers) and other organizations, and you can donate to non-profits like RainforestMaker, which has planted over 30,000 trees, to date. Their mission is to grow back the Earth’s rainforests, with an initial goal to plant 2 million trees.
Take charge. Take part. Be part of the solution.
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