It’s crunch time for the oldest, most vital ecosystem on the planet: the tropical rain forests! Nearly half the
world’s original tropical rainforests have been destroyed; most within
the last 45 years. Greater awareness over the last few years has
sparked a renewed effort to save this "treasure chest" of resources.
(The tropical rainforests are not only home to two-thirds of all the planet's species, they help regulate global climate, are a major source of the air that everyone on planet Earth breathes, and they harbor nearly half the medicinal compounds we use every day.)
Despite growing interest and awareness for the "keys" to life that the tropical rainforests hold, the Rainforest Action Network estimates-(at its calculated rate of two-and-a-half acres per second)-that an area more than
twice the size of Florida will go up in smoke this year. Not only will
we lose all the flora and fauna that lives there, a huge percentage of
which man has never studied for their medicinal properties, we will
exacerbate global warming and many other issues affecting our
environment!
At this rate, not only
does another living species becomes extinct every ten minutes, but the
remaining tropical rainforests will vanish by the time the Class of
2008 reaches retirement. The consequences would be catastrophic and put
man's survival, most scientists agree, at serious risk!
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| "We need your help. I'm not sure how much longer we can hang on for!" |
If
you're looking for a quick and easy, "feel-good" activity that will
leave a lasting legacy for your participants, may we suggest our "Sell-A-Case/Save-An-Acre" program. |
There is no simple answer to explain why 2-½ acres of tropical rainforest is being destroyed, virtually unabated, every second. But until we truly understand and appreciate the role this incredible ecosystem plays in our own survival, and put an end to the destruction, education and conservation is the best medicine.
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