Rainforests are Earth's oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years.
The world's five largest blocks of rainforest: Amazon, Congo, Australiasia, Sundaland, and Indo-Burma.
The world's five largest blocks of rainforest: Amazon, Congo, Australiasia, Sundaland, and Indo-Burma.
Amazon
The Amazon is one of the world's richest and most-varied ecosystems, home to over 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish species, 1,300 bird species, 430 mammals and an amazing 2.5 million different insect species!
https://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/stories/cool-facts-about-the-amazon-rainforest
https://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/stories/cool-facts-about-the-amazon-rainforest
FactsThe landscape contains
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Threats (in addition to Deforestation)POORLY PLANNED INFRASTRUCTURE
Transportation and energy infrastructure are essential for national and regional development, but when they are poorly planned, negative impacts can exceed short-term benefits. For example, building new roads exposes previously inaccessible areas of forest to illegal and unsustainable logging as well as illegal or unplanned settlements and agricultural expansion. Hydropower is now used to meet Brazil’s growing demand for energy, but many dams are being constructed in areas of high conservation value. The dams:
ILLEGAL AND UNSUSTAINABLE NATURAL RESOURCE EXTRACTION There is high demand for the natural resources found in the Amazon but weak law enforcement to safeguard them. In addition, inefficient extraction processes lead to the destruction of nature and wildlife. For example, mining activities contribute to soil erosion and water contamination. Mercury contamination of Amazonian waters from artisanal mining is of particular concern given the consequential impacts on human health and contamination of the food chain for fish and wildlife. WWF works to promote best practices and decrease environmental damage from:
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Animals
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Congo
factsA mosaic of rivers, forests, savannas, swamps and flooded forests, the Congo Basin is teeming with life. Gorillas, elephants and buffalo all call the region home. The Congo Basin spans across six countries—Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
There are approximately 10, 000 species of tropical plants in the Congo Basin and 30 percent are unique to the region. Endangered wildlife, including forest elephants, chimpanzees, bonobos, and lowland and mountain gorillas inhabit the lush forests. 400 other species of mammals, 1,000 species of birds and 700 species of fish can also be found here. The Congo Basin has been inhabited by humans for more than 50,000 years and it provides food, fresh water and shelter to more than 75 million people. Nearly 150 distinct ethnic groups exist and the region’s Ba’Aka people are among the most well known representatives of an ancient hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Their lives and well-being are linked intimately with the forest. https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/congo-basin |
Threats (in addition to Deforestation)DEMAND FOR NATURAL RESOURCES
The Congo Basin is extremely rich in wood, oil and minerals such as diamonds, gold and coltan (used to make cell phones). Many people depend on such resources for their livelihoods, and the global demand for these materials is increasing. A large and growing percentage of the Congo Basin is under concession to logging and mining companies. Such industries bring large groups of people to the forest and with that come their need for food, including bushmeat and fuelwood. Related infrastructure projects—such as roads and dams—have environmental impacts and increase access to remote forest areas for hunters. ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE The leading cause of wildlife loss in the Congo Basin is the commercial bushmeat trade, driven by an ever increasing market. In the DRC alone, over a million tons of bushmeat are consumed each year. Alarmingly, this lucrative business is causing the forest to become empty of species. Animals like monkeys and antelope are common targets, although species such as gorillas and bonobos are also at risk. Combating the bushmeat trade presents many challenges. In remote areas, bushmeat is the primary source of income for families, as it is the only export that will earn a profit. WWF works with communities to create alternatives. The international demand for ivory still drives the killing of elephants, leading to local extinctions and threatening to eliminate elephants entirely. WWF plays an important role in fighting illegal trade, including through TRAFFIC, the world’s largest wildlife trade monitoring network. |
Animals
AUSTRALASIA
FactsThe Australasian rainforest includes tropical forests on the island of New Guinea, New Zealand, and northeastern Australia as well as scattered islands that were connected as a single land mass when sea levels dropped during that last ice age.
Virtually all this region’s primary tropical rainforest is on the island of New Guinea, which is roughly split between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. |
Threats (in addition to Deforestation)Rural residential development: Clearing of the rainforest for residential development remains the greatest threat to the Daintree Lowland Rainforest leading to fragmentation, displacement of wildlife, and susceptibility to invasive weeds all of which threaten the biodiversity values which make the Daintree Rainforest so unique.
Fragmentation: Habitat fragmentation caused by rural residential development and clearing for farming makes it difficult for plants and animals to move from one rainforest patch to another. It can also limit breeding populations and make species more vulnerable to extinction, particularly in small, isolated pockets. Climate change: Climate change is becoming a major concern to the biodiversity of the Daintree Rainforest. Global warming could decrease the habitat of many endemic vertebrate species which live in the cooler upland and montane rainforests, leaving only isolated pockets of rainforest for them to live in. It is predicted that seven frog species, five mammal species, three bird species, and three skink species would lose over half their present habitat with only a 1-degree temperature increase. The cool, wet mountaintop rainforest habitats are at most risk, thus the species in those habitats (the frogs, skinks, and several possums, as examples) might be the first to lose much of their habitat should this increase occur. Weeds: Clearing of rainforest habitat for residential development has lead to an alarming increase in the number of known weed species in the Daintree. Weeds disrupt ecosystems, compete with and replace native plants, reduce food and shelter for native species, change fire regimes and create soil erosion. Feral animals: Feral animals impact on the values of the Daintree Rainforest through predation on native species, competition for food and habitat, degradation of habitat, soil erosion, disease and weed transmission, and changes in fire regimes. |
Animals
Sundaland
factsSundaland includes the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, among others as well as Peninsular Malaysia. Most of the region’s remaining forest is on the island of Borneo, which is divided politically between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
Sundaland lost the world’s largest share of primary forest cover between 2002 and 2019. Borneo lost 15% of such forests, while Sumatra lost 25%. |
Threats (in addition to Deforestation)ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE:
Wildlife trade is a major problem in this region. Rampant poaching, facilitated by the growing number of roads and logging trails, poses a grave threat to Borneo and Sumatra's endangered species like tigers and rhinos. UNSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE: Expanding oil palm plantations and, in Sumatra, coffee cultivation is encroaching on landscapes crucial to species conservation. |