The Rainforest Facts

• In Peninsular Malaysia, more tree species are found in 125 acres of Tropical Forest than in the entire North America.

• In Peru a single bush may contain more ant species than in the British Isles.

• A study has shown that there are possibly over 30 million species of insects dwelling in the canopies of tropical forests.

• 63,000 square miles of Rainforests are being destroyed each year.

• Rainforests higher than 3,000 feet above sea level are called cloud forests.

• Already over half of the world's tropical forests have been lost.

• Madagascar is the home to a rainforest where 60 percent of it's 12,000 different plant species are unique to that island.

• When you visit a pharmacist, one in every four purchases will have come from a tropical forest.

• Medicine produced in tropical forests bring in commercially 30 billion dollars a year.

• Large areas of South and Central America are cleared and burned for cattle ranching. This is so that farmers can provide cheap beef to consumers in the West.

• Every year approximately four billion tons of carbon accumulates in the air each year, about 30% of this comes directly from the continued burning of the rainforests.

• More than anything else, rainforest is destroyed by peasant farmers. However, the responsibility for this lies largely with the governments who fail to promote land reform and sustainable agricultural practices as an alternative to forest clearance.

• Greater than a quarter of our rainforest is in Brazil.