The Amazon Rainforest
Importance
The Amazon is the most biodiverse place on Earth. It harbors incredible wildlife (one in ten known species), is home to some 40,000 plant and tree species as well as numerous indigenous cultures. The Amazon also plays a key role in regional and global carbon cycles and climate. Described as the Lungs of our Planet, it recycles carbon dioxide and produces about 20% of earth's oxygen. It also contains 20% of the world's freshwater and contributes to 25% of all modern pharmaceutical drugs.
There is no single solution to saving the Amazon Rainforest and stopping the destruction. The solutions for the forest and the peoples whose ways of life depend upon it must be based on a wide range of socially and ecologically responsible initiatives.
Threats
- Market forces - consumer demand for forest products like flooring, furniture, and paper & land for agricultural products like beef, soy, and palm oil
- Population pressure
- Infrastructure advances
- If current deforestation rates continue, these critical habitats could disappear from the planet within the next 100 years.
Simple Solutions At Home
By making smart buying decisions and reducing demand, we can all help to preserve the Amazon.
- Reduce your use of paper – print on both sides and be sure to recycle.
- Buy sustainable products – Between 60 and 80 percent of all logging in the Brazilian Amazon is estimated to be illegal so look for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo when purchasing wood and paper products from toilet paper to flooring. The FSC promotes responsible stewardship of the world’s forests.
- Look for forest products that don’t require habitat destruction – like shade grown coffee. Through these sales you are encouraging sustainable agricultural and forestry practices.
- Purchase the right pets – if you decide to buy an exotic animal make sure it was captive bread.
Many wild animals are illegally smuggled out of the Amazon to be sold as pets and often times die in the process. - Be a smart tourist – research and support ecotourism operations that help protect biodiversity and local residents.
About Rainforest Foundation
The Rainforest Foundation is a dynamic non-profit organization that is working on all levels to protect and sustain the remaining rainforests on earth. We feel confident that our donation to Rainforest Foundation will positively contribute to victorious conservation efforts in the Amazon.
The Rainforest Foundation Donations To Date $243.97
Total Letters For A Cause Donations $4474.54
Raise further awareness by adding an embroidery phrase to your clothing
- Save Our Rainforests
- Protect Our Rainforests
- End Deforestation
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle for the Amazon
- Letters For A Cause
Resources
- http://www.therainforestsite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=4
- http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/work.cfm?id=south_america
- http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/amazon/index.html
- http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/work/art5079.html
- http://www.fsc.org/
- http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/problems_fishing/
- http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/overfishing
Click Here to learn more about The Rainforest Foundation
