 |
| Painting by Don Pablo Amaringo |
- 30% of all known plant and animal species are found in the Amazon
- Over 23,000 species may be found in 2.5 square hectares of Amazonian Rainforest
- Over 300 species of trees may be found in one hectare of Ecuador's Amazonian Rainforest
(in relation to a Californian forest - only 10 species of trees can be found in one hectare) - 25% of drugs sold in pharmacies contain rainforest ingredients
- Over 7,000 pharmaceutical drugs contain rainforest ingredients
- Only 1% of tropical species have been analyzed for possible pharmaceutical use
- An average of 20 hectares of the Amazon Rainforest is lost to deforestation per minute;
30,000 hectares per day; 8 million hectares per year - Over 356,200 square kilometers of Amazonian Rainforest have been deforested to date
- 75% of the above figure, or 267,150 square kilometers, has been lost since 1960
- In the past 50 years Ecuador has lost over 50% of its tropical rainforest
- 92% of the coastal rainforest in western Ecuador has been lost
- At the current rate of deforestation Ecuador will lose all of its forest cover within the next 20 years
THE EARTH'S RAINFORESTS
- Harbor 70% of Earth's plant and animal species
- Cover less than 7% of Earth's land area
- Are "Earth's lungs", absorbing carbon dioxide, emitting oxygen
- Contains, in a typical 4-square mile patch, 750 species of trees, 125 kinds of mammals,
400 types of birds, 160 varieties of reptiles and amphibians - Are necessary for life on Earth, as we know it
- Are being destroyed by people at the rate of over 40 million acres each year, an area the size of Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands combined
- Must Be Saved!
Sources:
"Biological Extinction in Western Ecuador" by Alwyn Gentry
Jatun Sacha Foundation, Ecuador
World Rainforest Report, Australia
Earth Watch Report
Rainforest Action Network