Saving the World’s Tropical Rain Forests.

Rain forests cover much of the tropics in a thick, lush carpet. At one time the tropical rain forests of the world covered an area twice the size of Europe. Today, the tropical forests have been reduced by half and logging continues at a feverish pace in many areas. Some experts think that tropical rain forests could be virtually obliterated by the end of the century if we do not effect strict measures to protect them.

The rate of deforestation varies considerably from one country to the next. In Thailand, Costa Rica, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria the rate of deforestation is 3% to 6% per year. In other countries, such as Zaire and Cameroon, the rate of deforestation is much slower, but still of considerable concern in the long term.

All in all, many experts believe that about 11 million hectares (27 million acres) of tropical forests are cut down each year. That’s an area about the size of Ohio.

The loss of tropical rain forests is one of the most serious problems facing the world today. It is a major cause of extinction since the tropical forests contain about two-thirds of the world’s species, only about one-sixth of which have been named. The importance of preserving these and other species is vital.

Al Gentry, a researcher who studies tropical forests, says that “the loss of so many species is not only a tragic squandering of the earth’s evolutionary heritage but also represents depletion of a significant part of the planet’s genetic reservoir, a resource of immense economic potential.” Genes from the tropical rain forest could help boost agricultural production. Wild species are also a source of new drugs to battle diseases.

Gentry pints out another problem not often considered in the debate over tropical deforestation, that is, the effect of other methods of tree harvesting, such as selective cutting. Selective cutting, in fact, often alters the forest so much that it destroys as many species as clear-cutting.

Tropical forests play an important role in global cycling of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Global deforestation today accounts for about 25% of the world’s annual increase in carbon dioxide. It is, therefore, a major factor in gradual global warning.

Clear-cutting tropical rain forests can reduce rainfall by 50% in the immediate vicinity, turning once-lush areas into barren deserts. When rains do come, they wash away the soil, filling streams and rivers with sediment. Tropical deforestation is already creating such problems in Pakistan, India, and the Amazon Basin of South America.

Tropical soils are poor agricultural lands. They are generally nutrient poor and some may bake to a hard, bricklike consistency when expose to sunlight. “Lush, high biomass tropical forest”, says Al Gentry, “represent the end point of a very gradual accumulation of tightly held nutrients, continually recycled through the ecosystem over millennia.” Cutting and burning the forests to make rooms for ranches and farms releases sufficient nutrients foe a few years, but the nutrients are quickly taken up by crops or washed away, making the land useless.

Despite these and a number of other problems, tropical rain forests are receiving very little protection. The steps taken in recent years, however, are important in protecting forests from decimation.

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