May 05, 2006

Update 18: Can We Save the Rainforest?

Rainforests all over the world are disappearing rapidly. In fact, many experts believe that rainforests are shrinking at a rate of one hundred acres per minute. That number seems hard to believe for most of us. But I am sure if we asked the plants and animals whose habitats are shrinking daily, they would tell a similar and very sad story.

We have learned about the many reasons for the disappearing rainforest, and sadly,they can all be blamed on humans. As we know now, the Amazon is full of thousands of desirable plants, trees, and animals. Many people will go to great lengths to get these things. Many pharmaceutical companies are in hot pursuit of tropical plants for modern medicines. Many do not harvest the plants sustainably, which won't allow the plants to continue to thrive. Illegal loggers after valuable wood are not uncommon. They will cut down entire areas of rainforest for the motive of money. The constant quest for oil leaves nothing but mounds of mud in places where monkeys and birds once lived. With the logging, oil, and pharmaceutical industry, comes building roads that further destroys the rainforest.

If the rainforests are to survive, there must be cooperation between the countries that are home to the forests and the companies that want the natural resources, like plants and trees. But how do they do this? How do we still use the valuable gifts from the rainforest without destroying it while doing so? Unfortunately, this complicated dilemma will continue until more aggressive action is taken to preserve our rainforests: the lungs of the earth.

Thanks for working with us to preserve the rainforests!

Patrick, Anna, and Dave