The Rainforest

By destroying the rainforests, we are killing many endangered species of animal and plant life along with many of our natural resources. I will first brief you on the rainforest and how important it is to us. Then I will begin talking about the deforestation that is occurring this very second. The rainforest are lush woodlands with vegetation with high temperatures and lots of rain. It is home to two-thirds or all living species on the planet. It also holds many medicines. The rainforests cover approximately seven percent of the planet. The rainforest acts as a natural filter. It cleans and recycles water and stores carbon dioxide. The picture to the left is a natural water fall in the rainforest. There are two types of rainforests, temperate and tropical. Tropical rainforests are found close to the equator and temperate rainforests are farther north near coastal areas. Most house hold plants originate from the rainforest. The undergrowth in rainforests are restricted in many areas because of the lack of sunlight on the ground. The rainforest is composed of three layers. These layers are: emergents, canopy, understory, and forest floor. These are illustrated in the picture above. Emergents consist of giant trees that are much higher than the average canopy. The canopy is the upper parts of the trees; it is almost like a roof. The understory is under the leaves. Since it is under all the leaves, it is a cool and dark environment. The forest floor contains most of the animal life; which also consists of the larger animals. There isn’t that much plant life on the forest floor, though. Since it does not get that much sunlight, plants cannot survive. A normal leaf that might take about one year to decompose in a regular climate will rot away in just six weeks.

Now I will like to address that by perform deforestation on the rainforests, we are destroying many species of animal and plant life, especially the endangered ones, along with many natural resources. No matter how beautiful they may seem, the rainforests are being destroyed for profit. To the right is a picture of a deforestation site in the rainforest. I will give you a basic understanding of this issue called deforestation. It is the removal of forests by the use of machines or simply by burning it down to the ground. The land is then often used for roads, houses and facilities, or more land for agricultural progress. The wood is also used for fuel and everyday materials that people use and abuse everyday. In the early nineteen-nineties, the rate of destruction was about seventy acres per minute. That is thirty-five million acres of our forest gone each year. To the left is a picture of a jungle that was burned down for agriculture in southern Mexico. Within thirty years, we have demolished two million square miles of our tropical rainforests. That is approximately twenty percent.

Deforestation can destroy the habitats that back up this biological diversity, causing population shifts and extinctions. Animals become endangered because of many reasons: the destruction and damaging of an animal's habitat, introduction of non-native species that compete for resources, and illegal collecting, hunting, and fishing.

Many of the animals in the rain forest are endangered; animals like the western gorilla. The western gorilla is classified as a Primate. It is classified as an endangered species due to the projected gorilla population declining to at most fifty percent due to exploitation and a decline in area of occupancy. The gorilla is a peaceful and sociable animal. The picture to the right is what it would look like.

Another animal effected by deforestation is the tapir. Tapirs are easy prey because they can�t run fast and have a hard time defending themselves. They are often victims to carnivorous animals and hunters. On top of their poor defenses, their habitat, the rain forests are also depleting quickly destroyed by human activities, leading even more to their decline. The picture on the left is a tapir.

Lastly, another animal that is endangered is the bonobo, which is diplayed to the right. The bonobo is endangered due to habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. Bushmeat is the term commonly used for meat of wild land animals, killed for subsistence or