Everyone wants to save the Rainforest, but most people don’t know how or think their individual actions will not make a difference. NOT TRUE! You can make small and simple green choices everyday that will help plants, animals and people in far away rainforests.
THE FOREST
One and a half acres of land are lost every second every day – and no stop in sight.
Rainforests are logged worldwide for their valuable timber. Logging is driven by complex factors. Two examples are subsidies by governments in tropical countries for slum dwellers and farmers to clear and settle forest land, and consumer demand in industrialized countries for tropical products like hardwoods, railroad ties, beef and palm oil.
Thin tropical topsoils exposed to heavy rains erode rapidlly, carrying away what nutrients they contained and exposing even more infertile sub-soils. Expensive fertilizer application is required increasingly over time but much is lost to the same heavy rains that take away topsoil. Even later abandoned, these lands have been so degraded that forest cannot recover by the natural processes of regeneration.
One of many foundations which helps to restore soil and trees, is Rainprogram, you can read more here www.rainprogram.org and also look at www.rainforest-alliance.org
THE ANIMALS
More than half of Earth’s rain forests have already been lost forever to the insatiable human demand for wood and arable land. Rain forests that once grew over 14 percent of the land on Earth now cover only about 6 percent. Many animals are deprived of their homes, they are starved to death, killed or getting extinct.
The numbers are dire: 150-200 species become extinct every 24 hours, and approximately 15 percent of mammal species and 11 percent of bird species are threatened with extinction.
The Alliance for Zero Extinction hosts about 88 sites and foundations which actively protect animal life in the rainforests. If you want to get involved, you find here an array of choices: www.zeroextinction.org We also liked www.rainforest-rescue.org
THE PEOPLE
Indigenous peoples are often not recognized as the owners of their land, even if they have lived there for hundreds or thousands of years. Without official titles, many indigenous communities have had little recourse but to watch as government or corporate interventions have exploited and destroyed huge tracts of their forests without their consent.With secure rights to their lands and natural resources, indigenous peoples can better defend their communities against unwanted development pressures. Indigenous peoples are effective guardians of the forests they live in. Today, most of the world’s large tracts of conserved tropical forests are in the hands of indigenous peoples.
The Rainforest foundation gives wonderful opportunities to help, they offer fun activities for adults and children. Check them out here: www.rainforestfoundation.org Please also read here www.treehugger.com
- Just say NO to palm oil. Palm oil, found in half of all processed foods in the US, is a key contributor to rainforest deforestation.
- Avoid furniture and other products made from threatened rainforest woods like: Mahogany,Rosewood and Ebony. Logging and the new roads it necessitates is a major driver of long term rainforest destruction.
- Learn and Teach others about the importance of the environment and how we can help save rainforests. Teach kids about the health of our planet. Empower them to make responsible choices. Help them make the connection between choosing foods without palm oil or conserving fossil fuels and protecting the rainforests.
- 60-70% of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon results from cattle ranching. Meat production is non-sustainable. Period. It affects all countries, the waste of water and crop has huge impact on the ecological balance. Eat (more) vegan foods.
- Oil extraction in the Amazon has increased dramatically with sometimes devastating social and environmental consequences. Approximately 70% of the entire Peruvian Amazon in now leased by oil companies.
- Support: Pick a region or project of particular interest to you and be assured your gift is directly contributing to the Rainforest program(s) of your choice.
- Buy organic, fair-trade, rainforest alliance approved food products.
Check out our DIVINE ORGANICS Super-Cell-food-Powders: The plants are harvested by hand from the indigenous community in the foothills of Northern Thailand and they sustain their families, villages and forests first, before they sell the precious herbs and botanicals. We were so impressed that we decided to take it into our product line, please click to read more