The Rainforest and It’s Medicine

Losing the Rainforests

• At the present time, 14 to 16 million hectares of tropical forests are being converted each year to other land uses.

• Most of the destroyed rain forest land is used for cattle farming.

• Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface .

• Now they only cover 6% of the surface.

• One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second .

What We Are Losing

• 25% of the U.S.’s medicines are derived from rainforests.

• More than 20% of the world’s oxygen comes from the Amazon.

• Nearly half of the worlds plants animals and insects are found in the rainforests.

• 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost everyday because of the rainforest destruction.

The Rainforests Medicines

• Less than 1% of the medicines derived from the rain forests are tested by scientist for used by humans.

• 70% of the medicines that are anti-caner medicines are found in the rainforests.

• Over 100 pharmaceutical companies and several branches of the US government, are engaged in plant research projects for possible drugs and cures for viruses, infections, cancer, and even AIDS.

Things To Know

• When trees are burned, or cut and left to decay, the carbon is released into the atmosphere. This is the second largest factor contributing to the greenhouse effect.

• This could eventually raise the temperature of the planet, break down the ozone layer, and cause global warming

• Nature has her own ways of balancing out the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere

• Scientist say that if we stop destroying the rainforest and just harvest the things we need the rainforest will be more useful.

• The rainforest is one of the earth’s abundant resources, one of its fastest shrinking ones.

This product came from the rainforest!! :]]

By: Dominique Perrin

Save the Rainforest!!!!!