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How rapid is rainforest loss?

Globally, rainforests are being destroyed at the rate of about 5 acres every second, or 300 acres per minute. We are losing over 80,000 acres, and significantly degrading another 80,000 acres, of tropical rainforest every day. Every year, the area of rainforests destroyed is equal to one half the size of the state of California. The destruction of rainforests alone, without any other of the myriad causes of species extinction, is causing the extinction of 135 plant and animal species every day, which is almost 50,000 species a year! According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, overall tropical deforestation rates this decade are 8.5 percent higher than during the 1990s. The loss rate of primary tropical rainforest is increasing—the wildest and most diverse areas—has increased by as much as 25 percent since the 1990s. If the destruction is not stopped, rainforests will cease to exist except in a few protected areas within 60 years. Brazil has declared the situation in its Amazon Rainforest to be a national emergency. Madagascar has already lost over than 60 percent of its rainforest habitat as of 2015. Loss of rainforest could result in approximately 25 percent of the world's species becoming extinct by the second half of the 21st century.

Learn more about how rapidly we lose rainforest >>

Why save rainforests?

Both local residents of the rainforest and large corporations destroy the rainforest for economic development such as to extract resources including wood, oil, and minerals, to clear way for farmland, and to generate electricity from very large dams. But the methods employed by these groups are frequently economically short-sighted because structures built in the rainforest deteriorate unusually rapidly due to acidic corrosion from the rotting dead trees, and also because important sources of water become polluted and unusable. Climate change, which we are all contributing to, is playing a key role in rainforest loss, as it causes droughts by reducing the capability of air to retain moisture.

Learn more about why people are motivated to destroy the rainforest >>

I am more concerned with economic development than the environment. Why should I be concerned about the rainforest?

Rainforests are home to half of the Earth's plant and animal species. This unusual diversity has yielded a remarkable collection of economically valuable medications, foods, and materials. More than one forth of the medicines we use today have their origins in rainforests, and only 1% of rainforest plants have been studied for their medicinal properties. Foods originally discovered in the rainforest include coffee, sugar, lemon, lime, orange, tangerine, avocado, banana, tomato, yam, grapefruit, guava, heart of palm, mango, Brazil nut, sweet potato, cashew nut, coconut, ginger, chocolate, tapioca, sesame, rice, peanuts, macademia nuts, corn, and cola. Spices originally discovered in the rainforest include black pepper, allspice, cardamom, cayenne, chili pepper, cinammon, cloves, mace, nutmeg, paprika, turmeric, and vanilla. We are far from finished discovering useful and valuable species in the rainforest, therefore preserving rainforest is a smart economic move.

Learn more about economically valuable species and medicines which have originated in the rainforest >>

How can the World Rainforest Fund help?

The World Rainforest Fund provides grants to worthy, qualified non-profit organizations doing projects of special value to conserve rainforests.

Read more about our projects and grants >>

Our advisory board is highly qualified and experienced in rainforest preservation and the operation of nonprofits.

View our advisory board >>

Meet Our Team

DAVID SEABORG

President and Founder

David Seaborg's Biography >>

STEVE GARAN

Secretary

Steve Garan's Biography >>

PETER EGGLETON

Treasurer

Peter Eggleton's Biography >>

The World Rainforest Fund is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit US corporation (US tax EIN 94-2914127).

Nature photography copyright Chien C. Lee.