Rainforest Issues

Amazon Herb Company Rainforest Projects

• In 1800, there were 7.1 billion acres of tropical forest worldwide. There are 3.5 billion acres of tropical forest remaining. We're losing 33.8 millions acres of tropical forest per year. That's more than the total area of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware combined - 2.8 million acres lost per month... 93,000 acres/day... 3,800 acres/hour... 63 acres/minute.
• Between 1960-1990, 1.1 billion acres of tropical forest were cleared.
• Brazil lost 91.4 million acres of tropical forest between 1980-1990 - almost the total area of North and South Dakota combined.
• We lose 100 species every day - 4 species per hour - due to tropical deforestation.. At current rates, 5% to 10% of tropical forest species will become extinct every decade.
• Over 50% of the Earth's species live in tropical forests.
• Tropical forests contain 70% of the world's vascular plants, 30% of all bird species and 90% of all invertebrates.
• In Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest, 70% of its plants and most of its 20 primate species are endemic (found nowhere else in the world) - 95% of this rainforest has been destroyed.
• 43 ant species were found on one tree in Peru - the same number as in the entire British Isles.
• Ecuador's tropical forests contain over 15,000 plant species. There are 13,000 plant species in all of Europe.
• Medicines that derive from tropical forest plants include: Curare (muscle relaxant used in surgery), Diosgenin (birth control pills, arthritis, asthma), Ouabain (heart medication), Quinine (malaria, pneumonia), Emetine (bronchitis, dysentery), Vincristine/Vinblastine (Hodgkin's disease, leukemia, other cancers).
• Over 2,000 tropical plants have been identified by scientists as having anti-cancer properties.
• Indigenous Peoples of Nortwest Amazonia use over 1,300 plant species as medicines.
• Before 1500, there were approximately 6 million Indigenous People living in Brazilian Amazonia. In the early 1990's, there were less than 250,000.
• Over 90 different Amazonian tribes are thought to have disappeared since 1900.

Now, the Good News

In one year, one acre of Rainforest is worth:

Amazon Herb Company, in working with 14 indigenous tribes to sustainably harvest the herbs, has already helped in stabilizing and preserving 300,000 acres of Rainforest land. We're working hard to continue to make a difference. When you join us as a customer or associate, you are helping in giving a bright future to the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon and keeping the Rainforest alive. See also the Rainforest Projects the Company is currently involved in.

Other Related Articles:

How Our Food Choices can Help Save the Environment