Rainforest facts

The good news:

• The Amazon Rainforest covers over a billion acres and if it was a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world
• More than 20 percent of the world’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon
• More than half of the world’s estimated ten million species of plants, animals, and insects live in rainforests
• Around 20% of the world’s fresh water is in the Amazon Basin
• One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees
• 80% of the developed world’s common foodstuffs originated in tropical rainforest
• 3000 fruits are found in rainforests but only 200 are now in use in the West

The not so good news:

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

• Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber
• Nearly half of the world’s species of plants, animals, and microorganisms in severe danger over the next 25 years because of deforestation
• We are losing more than 100 plant, animal and insect species every day due to deforestation (over 50,000 species a year).

Source: Raintree Nutrition