Amazon rain forest
The Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazonia, is one of the world's greatest natural resources. Because its vegetation continuously recycles carbon dioxide into oxygen, it has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet". About 20% of earth's oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest.
The Amazon rainforest gets its name from the life force of the rainforest and most of its water comes from the snow melt in the Andes of Peru - it originates high up in the mountains and formed by the join efforts of the Ucayali and Marañon rivers.
It also receives about nine feet of rain every year during rainy season, causing the water level to rise between 30 and 45 feet.
Whenever rain falls in the river basin, it all drains into Amazon rainforest and into Amazon river. Tens of millions of acres get flooded creating the world's highest level of biodiversity.
With temperatures constant ant 75-80 degrees F. it provides the perfect conditions for life.
The Amazon Rainforest is so vast its span reaches throughout 9 countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guinea, French Guinea, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. The world's largest tropical rainforest, Amazonia covers more than half of Brazil. The canopy of Amazonia is less studied than the ocean floor. Scientists believe that the canopy may contain half of the world's species. Over 500 mammals, 175 lizards and over 300 other reptiles species, and one third of the world's birds live in Amazonia. It is estimated that about 30 million insect types can be found here. Both plants and animals have made adaptations to defend themselves from being eaten, and to overcome these defensive systems. Plants trap sunlight and turn it into energy for themselves and the herbivores of the canopy. Animals have their diet of low nutrition leaves forces them to conserve energy, causing the sloth to spend 80% of its life resting.
Rainforest has a diverse collection of flora and animals including amphibians, birds, insects, mammals and reptiles. Some well-known inhabitants are Anacondas, Caimans, Chimpanzees, Gibbons, King Cobras, Jaguars, Sloths, Tamarins, Toucans and elusive Vampire Bats!
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[edit] Layers of Amazon Rain Forest
The Amazon rainforest consists of four layers or communities. Each layer has unique ecosystems, plants, and animals adapted to that system. They are:
- The Emergent Layer is the tallest layer, where trees can be as tall as 200 feet, and rise well above the canopy. Here they are exposed to fluctuation of temperature, wind, and rainfall. The leaves are small and covered with a thick waxy surface to hold water. They take advantage of the wind by developing winged seeds that are blown to other parts of the forest. Trunks can be up to 16 feet around and braced by massive buttress roots. Some of the animals find everything they need to survive in the emergent layer and never leave it.
- The Canopy Layer is the main layer of the rainforest. The main layer of the rainforest is the canopy. Most canopy trees have smooth, oval leaves that come to a point, known as a drip tip. This allows water to flow off the leaf quickly and prevents the growth of fungi, mosses, and lichens. The canopy's leaves are very dense and filter out about 80% of the sunlight. Many flowers and fruits grow in this layer. The plants find unique ways to adapt to this shadowy existence. Their solar-collecting leaves grow large, and are dark green in color. They don't often grow more than 12 feet in height. Because there is very little air movement, they rely on insects and animals to pollinate their flowers. Some grow large flowers and fruits low on their trunks to allow larger, non-climbing animals to eat and disperse their fruit. The largest concentrations of insects inhabit this layer.
- The Understory Layer is directly underneath the Canopy Layer and on top of the Forest Floor. Growth here is very dense. The Understory Layer is a dark, sometimes almost impenetrable natural habitat entwined with vines, shrub and broadleaf trees. This layer provides superior camouflage and many of the species who live here crossover between this layer and the Canopy Layer. Trees here average 12’-15’ feet in height and have exceptionally large leaves to compensate for the lack of sunlight. The leaves are so large in fact, just one single leaf could be used for an umbrella. The Understory Layer teams with life. Many species living in this layer are nocturnal. Here you will find several species of Tree Frogs, Bats, Owls, and an amazing array of insect species like the famous team working “Leaf Cutter Ants”. Intermingling between layers is done by many species but especially by the many varieties of Monkeys, Sloths, Jaguars and Leopards.
- The Forest Floor is the ground layer. Since almost no sunlight reaches the Forest Floor it is very dark. The quality of the soil is extremely poor and very few plants are found growing in this area. There is of course moss, ferns and some low growth plants and vine roots taking root. But it is rich in microorganism and this environment makes quick work of decomposition making a natural compost that is exceeding rich. Giant Anteaters, Beetles, Frogs, Lizards, Snakes – including the giant Anaconda, Termites, and insects of every kind thrive by the millions in the moist, dark climate of the Forest Floor.
[edit] Amazon Rainforest Facts
- More than 20% of Earth's oxygen is produced in this area, thus the name "Lungs of the Planet"
- Amazon rainforest birds account for for at least one third of the world's bird species, being toucan the most popular icon
- More than half of the world's estimated ten million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical forest.
- The number of edible fruits found in the rainforest is estimated in 3,000. Amazon natives consume more than 1,500, but only 200 are cultivated for use today
- With 2.5 million square miles, the Amazon rainforest represents 54% of the total rainforests left of the planet
- 70% of plants found to have anticancer properites are found only in the rainforest
- In 1500 there were an estimated 6 to 9 million Amazon natives. By 1900 the number has gone down to one million left in Brazil. Today, the number is believed to be of around 250,000 Amazon natives, comprising 215 ethnic groups with 170 different languages
- An estimated 90% of Amazon rainforest plants used by Amazon natives have not been studied by modern science
- An estimated number of 2,700 million acres of the rainforest are burned each year
- There may also be fifty or so Amazon tribes living in the depths of the Amazon rainforest that have never had contact with the outside world
[edit] Rainforest Action
- Experts agree that by leaving the rainforests intact and harvesting it's many nuts, fruits, oil-producing plants, and medicinal plants, the rainforest has more economic value than if they were cut down to make grazing land for cattle or for timber.
- The latest statistics show that rainforest land converted to cattle operations yields the land owner $60 per acre and if timber is harvested, the land is worth $400 per acre. However, if these renewable and sustainable resources are harvested, the land will yield the land owner $2,400 per acre.
- If managed properly, the rainforest can provide the world's need for these natural resources on a perpetual basis.
- Promoting the use of these sustainable and renewable sources could stop the destruction of the rainforests. By creating a new source of income harvesting the medicinal plants, fruits nuts, oil and other sustainable resources, the rainforests is be more valuable alive than cut and burned.
- Sufficient demand of sustainable and ecologically harvested rainforest products is necessary for preservation efforts to succeed. Purchasing sustainable rainforest products can effect positive change by creating a market for these products while supporting the native people's economy and provides the economic solution and alternative to cutting the forest just for the value of its timber.
[edit] Destruction
- Logging for Tropical Hardwoods : Logging tropical hardwoods like teak, mahogany, rosewood, and other timber for furniture, building materials, charcoal, and other wood products is big business and big profits.
- Fuel Wood and the Paper Industry : In addition to being logged for exportation, rainforest wood stays in developing countries for fuel wood and charcoal.
- Grazing Land : As the demand in the Western world for cheap meat increases, more and more rainforests are destroyed to provide grazing land for animals.
- Subsistence Farming : This type of government-driven destruction of rainforest land is promoted by a common attitude among governments in rainforest regions, an attitude that the forest is an economic resource to be harnessed to aid in the development of their countries.
- Governments - the leading threat : Directly and indirectly, the leading threats to rainforest ecosystems are governments and their unbridled, unplanned, and uncoordinated development of natural resources.
[edit] WWF Purpose
WWF (World Wildlife Fund) is working in the Amazon region with government authorities, local and indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and others to protect large parts of the Amazon and its unique biodiversity and ecological functions and services. This is being achieved through:
- Promoting the responsible use of natural resources and sustainable management
- Ensuring environmental and social standards for infrastructure development, particularly road and dam projects
- Developing national programmes for reducing emissions from deforestation
- Consolidating and expanding protected areas
[edit] Saving the Amazon
- Rehabilitation and increased productivity of formerly forested lands
- Expansion of protection areas
- Development based on concepts of sustainable use of some existing forest
- Land policy reform
- Law Enforcement
The Amazon rainforest is the biggest forest in the world and is also the last big space covered with tropical plants and animals. The Amazon forest territory is a tropical rainforest that is located in the north side of the South American continent and is shared by 9 countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana and Guiana. Travel through the forest can be difficult, and a guide or a river tour are the best options to see the natural wonders of the rain forest.
The largest part of is located in Brazil (60%) and covers almost half of that country. The space covered with the forest is 5.5 million square kilometers (3.4 million square miles ). When the Old World explorers reached the Americas they were all looking for gold, silver and gems. The Portuguese explorers that colonized Brazil believed that somewhere in that huge forest they would find the "Eldorado", an entire city made of gold that has an almost intangible value. This hoax came along with the myth that the Eldorado was guarded by the women warrior race of the Amazons.
Expeditions started to go up the Amazon River trying to find the Eldorado. There was a race to find the gold before the Spanish and French arrived, and found it on their own. They never found the Eldorado or the Amazons, but the name was set.
The "Rain" forest is a nickname that describes the humidity that you find in tropical and equatorial forests, but it doesn't rain all the time. Tropical rainforests are always located near the equator, and are very hot. All this heat associated with great portions of water make a lot of evaporation into the air. The forest also helps to retain water in their branches, roots and soil. All of this makes these forests very humid and there's a well defined rainy season that works towards the establishment of this nickname for tropical and equatorial forests.
All this heat, rain and humidity make these forests a very rich ecosystem or habitat for many organisms. A rainforest has trees, like any other forest, but they are very different from the temperate forest you are used to seeing in colder places like in US, Europe and parts of Asia. There are 120 foot trees, thousands of different species of plants, and all sort of rainforest animals including the red eyed tree frog, insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. The rainforest canopy is home to thousands of animal species. The bio diversity one can experience here is unparalleled. And the most amazing part is that all this apparent chaos is actually a very balanced system, a product of million of years of evolution and natural selection.
But the forest is not only populated by animals and plants, there are many humans there too. The Indians are part of the equilibrium that existed there for thousands of years. The indigenous tribes of the forest live off the land as their ancestors have for thousands of years. The other humans, not native, have settled there for different reasons, but are always looking for opportunities in this unexplored land. Sometimes (usually) this has a negative impact over the forest. The idea of learn how to live from the forest by the forest is something that is not easy, but not impossible either. There are many examples of sustainable use. This type of information needs to become more popular, as deforestation is becoming a danger to the existence of the forest. While logging and forest clearing may be profitable in the short run, in the long run it is a danger to the amazon. It is also a danger the growing eco tourism that is a major attraction to the Amazon for tourists.
Amazonia is a huge and very complex place where nature created a unique set of biological and geological cycles, hardly seen in other places, and where mankind developed different cultures, languages, and art. The mysteries and awe around the Amazon jungle is something we should know and need to protect. There are several programs where on can buy an acre to save the land from harm.
[edit] Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest is the world's greatest natural resource - the most powerful and bio-actively diverse natural phenomenon on the planet. Yet still it is being destroyed just like other rainforests around the world. The problem and the solution to rainforest destruction are both economic. Rainforests are being destroyed worldwide for the profits they yield - mostly harvesting unsustainable resources like timber, for cattle and agriculture, and for subsistence cropping by rainforest inhabitants. However, if land owners, governments and those living in the rainforest today were given a viable economic reason NOT to destroy the rainforest, it could and would be saved. Thankfully, this viable economic alternative does exist. Many organizations have demonstrated that if the medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, oils and other resources like rubber, chocolate and chicle, were harvested sustainably - rainforest land has much more economic value than if timber were harvested or if it were burned down for cattle or farming operations. Sustainable harvesting of these types of resources provides this value today as well more long term income and profits year after year for generations to come.
This is no longer a theory. It is a fact and it is being implemented today. The latest statistics show that rainforest land converted to cattle operations yields the land owner $60 per acre and if timber is harvested, the land is worth $400 per acre. However, if these renewable and sustainable resources are harvested, the land will yield the land owner $2,400 per acre. This value provides an income not only today, but year after year - for generations while still protecting the forest. Just as important, to wildharvest the wealth of sustainable rainforest resources effectively, local people and indigenous inhabitants are employed. Today, entire communities and indigenous tribes earn 5 to 10 times more money wild harvesting medicinal plants, fruits, nuts and oils than they can earn by chopping down the forest for subsistence crops - another reason why so much rainforest land is lost year after year. This much needed income source creates the awareness and economic incentive for this population in the rainforest to protect and preserve the forests for long term profits for themselves and their children and is an important solution in saving the rainforest from destruction.
The Raintree companies advocates the preservation of rainforests by promoting the use and creating consumer markets for these sustainable and renewable rainforest resources and products with special emphasis on it's important medicinal plants. Hundreds of pages of documentation, validation and information on rainforest medicinal plants can be found on this website in an effort to help educate people about the true wealth of the rainforest - these important medicinal plants. We all share a common thread in this relationship, and that is the preservation of the rainforest, through education and by developing ethical, viable and economic alternatives. By creating a market demand and income from sustainably harvested rainforest resources, we are enjoined by many others to provide a morally and ecologically balanced relationship that is not only supportive of the rainforest and monetary needs of the indigenous peoples of the rainforest, but can compete financially with other unsustainable sources of income offered by timber companies and agricultural concerns. Raintree's focus, since it's inception, has been on the Amazon Rainforest.
The Amazon Rainforest has long been a symbol of mystery and power, a sacred link between humans and nature. It is also the richest biological incubator on the planet. It supports millions of plant, animal and insect species - a virtual library of chemical invention. In these archives, drugs like quinine, muscle relaxants, steroids and cancer drugs are found. More importantly, are the new drugs still awaiting discovery - drugs for AIDS, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer's. Many secrets and untold treasures await discovery with the medicinal plants used by shamans, healers and the indigenous people of the Rainforest Tribes. So alluring are the mysteries of indigenous medical knowledge that over 100 pharmaceutical companies and even the US government are currently funding projects studying the indigenous plant knowledge and the specific plants used by native shamans and healers.
Long regarded as hocus-pocus by science, indigenous people's empirical plant knowledge is now thought by many to be the Amazon's new gold. This untold wealth of the indigenous plants are the true wealth of the rainforest - not the trees. Rich in beneficial nutrients, phytochemicals and active constituents, the rainforest Indians and Indigenous People have used them for centuries for their survival, health and well-being. Yet extracting these secrets from the jungles is no easy task and sadly, this state of affairs may not last long enough into the future for man to unlock all their secrets. Tragically, rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6%. In less than 50 years, more than half of the world's tropical rainforests have fallen victim to fire and the chain saw and the rate of destruction is still accelerating. Unbelievably, over 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day in the world. That is over 150 acres lost every minute of every day. Experts estimate that at the current rate of destruction, the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Experts also estimate that we are losing 130 species of plants, animals and insects every single day as they become extinct from the loss of rainforest land and habitats. How many possible cures to devastating diseases have we already lost?
We hope you will join us and others in supporting rainforest conservation and preservation to stop this tide of destruction. Raising consciousness of the problems is simply not enough. You as a consumer do have power and it can be put to good use. We hope that this website will not only educate you about the problems but show you effective ways in which you as an individual can positively affect your life and health while positively affecting the rainforest.
