Ranging from the Amazon to the Guinea-Congo region of Africa to India to the tropical Pacific islands, the rainforests occupy four million square miles of the wettest land on earth.  Rainforests are home to about half of the world's species of plant and wildlife. One in ten of all the world’s medicine is derived from plants that live no place else on earth. Rainforests help regulate rainfall and wind currents by absorbing harmful solar energy. Yet, mankind is killing them by destroying 71 million acres per year. Put into perspective, that's about 25 to 50 acres in the time that it takes you to read this paragraph. At this rate, there will be very little, if any, remaining by the year 2050.

At least 11 million acres of rainforest are being logged annually to meet the export demands of exotic woods, such as mahogany, ebony, and teak. Because these hardwoods take centuries to mature, they are not replaced, and it leaves the top soil unprotected. Heavy rainfall then causes the soil to wash into rivers, creating pollution that threatens the fish and other aquatic life.

In addition to logging, two of the largest sources of destruction of the rainforest are mining and cattle ranching. In Brazil, the main destructors have been open cast and strip mining of bauxite, a substance that is the chief ore of aluminum. Although the law requires mining companies to reforest the damaged areas, most of them don't. As a result, the depleted forest can no longer hold moisture, so rain rushes down through the river system causing flooding. When rain does not fall, drought occurs. On the other hand, due to such a large market for cheap beef, companies buy up the land and burn it to the ground to provide grazing for South American cattle. Within a few years, the land becomes overgrazed and cattle ranchers must burn another area. As the rainforest is burned (approximately 230,000 square miles annually), millions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the air. Because the earth's atmosphere is sustained by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide that takes place when plants convert sunlight into energy, the balance of atmospheric gases is upset and contributes to global warming, commonly called "the greenhouse effect."

There are more people on earth today than at any other time in history. They need both food and land on which to grow the crops. The rainforest is being destroyed as people clear land to make room for housing and farming. Because almost the entire remaining rainforest is found in Third World countries, to these poor nations, it is a valuable resource to be sold for profit. In some countries, the sale of timber can finance much needed hospitals and schools, as well as aid in economic growth.

As acknowledged by the World Wildlife Federation, "some rainforest exploitation is necessary to provide farming and ranching land for impoverished local populations. But it must be done responsibly." Some suggestions were to boycott retailers who sell cheap beef products, especially fast food chains, which contribute to deforestation by purchasing land in South America on which to raise cattle. (And be sure to tell them why you won't purchase their products.) 

Dont buy or use anything made of tropical woods.

Support conservation groups in their fight to preserve the rainforest through habitat protection, conservation education, and direct land acquisitions for nature reserves.

And last, but not least, become aware that whatever affects the rainforest, ultimately affects us all.