Rainforests - Quick and Dirty Facts

Borneo Rainforest

Wild and wondrous, rainforests extend from as far as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa.

They nurture thousands of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth and provide life’s essentials such as our medicines, food and water.

Temperate and tropical forests help regulate the Earth’s temperature and weather patterns.

Rainforests contain many of the essential plants used in the treatment of cancer.

Fifty percent of the world’s plants and animals can be found in these tropical forests.

Selected Threats

More than half of Earth’s original rainforests have all been destroyed. They are the victims of unsustainable agriculture, ranching, logging, mining, and other destructive practices.

Every year, 50 million acres, are cut down. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Haiti have been lost entirely, with the Ivory Coast fast approaching the same fate.

Every second of every day, a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down. That’s 86,400 football field per day.

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Covering less than two percent of the Earth’s total surface area, these habitats are home to 50 percent of the Earth’s plants and animals.

These forests can be found all over the world from as far north as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The largest temperate rainforests are found on North America’s Pacific Coast and stretch from Northern California into Canada.

Temperate forests used to exist on almost every continent in the world, but today only 50 percent – 75 million acres – of these forests remain worldwide.

These habitats are critical in maintaining the Earth’s limited supply of drinking and fresh water.

A typical four square mile patch contains as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds, and 150 species of butterflies.

Resources

Rainforest Facts