According
to the National Forest Association, There are about 4 billion hectares of forest
in the world, 25% of this is Tropical Rainforest.
The rainforest is home to a wide variety of plants and animals … 
many of them
are found nowhere else on Earth. These species have extremely valuable medical
properties… the only known cure for some diseases rely upon certain species of
the Rainforest.
As an example of the rainforest’s
diversity, a single hectare in Kenya’s Kakamega Forest may host between 100
and 150 different tree species, compared to only about 10 different species in 1
hectare of the forest of North America.
The diversity of rainforest species applies to much more than just trees.
Although insects represent only 62 percent of the 1.4 million named organisms on
the planet, scientists estimate that the total number of arthropods to number
between 8 million and 80
million.
Only 20 percent of the nutrients of the rainforest are in the soil; 80% of the
nutrients remain in the trees and plants. The rainwater of the forest is
recycled by evaporation. Clouds above the forest’s canopy help reflect
sunlight, which means temperatures within the forest to remain more constant.
Although rainforests take vast amounts of time to regenerate, young forests are
more effective at removing carbon dioxide from the air than older forests. Older
forests absorb carbon dioxide less efficiently, but have more total carbon
dioxide stored within them.
The soil of the rainforests is only suitable for being rainforest soil; crops do
not grow well in it. When forests are cut down, the soil erodes quickly and soon
only a dry area of land remains.
Humans also inhabit the rainforests. Most of these people are or Indian. It is
estimated that there are over 1,000 or more indigenous groups around the world,
but they are also becoming extinct. In 1900, Brazil had just fewer than one
million Indians. Today, there are less than 200,000 in the Amazon.
