RAINFOREST INFORMATION

A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face - information on tropical forests, deforestation, and biodiversity

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE RAINFOREST

Rainforests are forest ecosystems characterized by high levels of rainfall, an enclosed canopy and high species diversity. While tropical rainforests are the best-known type of rainforest and the focus of this section of the web site, rainforests are actually found widely around the world, including temperate regions in Canada, the United States, and the former Soviet Union.

Tropical rainforests typically occur in the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, latitudes that have warm temperatures and relatively constant year-round sunlight. Tropical rainforests merge into other types of forest depending on the altitude, latitude, and various soil, flooding, and climate conditions. These forest types form a mosaic of vegetation types which contribute to the incredible diversity of the tropics.

The bulk of the world's tropical rainforest occurs in the Amazon Basin in South America. The Congo Basin and Southeast Asia, respectively, have the second and third largest areas of tropical rainforest. Rainforests also exist on some the Caribbean islands, in Central America, in India, on scattered islands in the South Pacific, in Madagascar, in West and East Africa outside the Congo Basin, in Central America and Mexico, and in parts of South America outside the Amazon. Brazil has the largest extent of rainforest of any country on Earth.

Rainforests provide important ecological services, including storing hundreds of billions of tons of carbon, buffering against flood and drought, stabilizing soils, influencing rainfall patterns, and providing a home to wildlife and Indigenous people. Rainforests are also the source of many useful products upon which local communities depend.

While rainforests are critically important to humanity, they are rapidly being destroyed by human activities. The biggest cause of deforestation is conversion of forest land for agriculture. In the past subsistence agriculture was the primary driver of rainforest conversion, but today industrial agriculture — especially monoculture and livestock production — is the dominant driver of rainforest loss worldwide. Logging is the biggest cause of forest degradation and usually proceeds deforestation for agriculture.

Organization of this site

The rainforest section of Mongabay is divided into ten "chapters" (the original text for the site was a book, but has since been adapted for the web), with add-on content in the form of special focal sections (e.g. The Amazon, the Congo, REDD, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Forests in Brazil, etc), appendices, and other resources.

There is also a version of the site geared toward younger readers at kids.mongabay.com.

ABOUT THE RAINFOREST (SUMMARY)

RAINFOREST DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTICS

Each rainforest is unique, but there are certain features common to all tropical rainforests.

• Location: rainforests lie in the tropics.
• Rainfall: rainforests receive at least 80 inches (200 cm) of rain per year.
• Canopy: rainforests have a canopy, which is the layer of branches and leaves formed by closely spaced rainforest trees some 30 meters (100 feet) off the ground. A large proportion of the plants and animals in the rainforest live in the canopy.
• Biodiversity: rainforests have extraordinarily highs level of biological diversity or “biodiversity”. Scientists estimate that about half of Earth's terrestrial species live in rainforests.
• Ecosystem services: rainforests provide a critical ecosystem services at local, regional, and global scales, including producing oxygen (tropical forests are responsible for 25-30 percent of the world's oxygen turnover) and storing carbon (tropical forests store an estimated 229-247 billion tons of carbon) through photosynthesis; influencing precipitation patterns and weather; moderating flood and drought cycles; and facilitating nutrient cycling; among others.

The global distribution of tropical rainforests can be broken up into four biogeographical realms based roughly on four forested continental regions: the Afrotropical, the Australiasian, the Indomalayan/Asian, and the Neotropical. Just over half the world's rainforests lie in the Neotropical realm, roughly a quarter are in Africa, and a fifth in Asia.

These realms can be further divided into major tropical forest regions based on biodiversity hotspots, including:

1. Amazon: Includes parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela
2. Congo: Includes parts of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo
3. Australiasia: Includes parts of Australia, Indonesian half of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea
4. Sundaland: Includes parts of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
5. Indo-Burma: Includes parts of Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
6. Mesoamerica: Includes parts of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama
7. Wallacea: Sulawesi and the Maluku islands in Indonesia
8. West Africa: Includes parts of Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo
9. Atlantic forest: Includes parts of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
10. Choco: Includes parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama

Other countries that have large areas of rainforest include Bolivia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ecuador, Gabon, Guyana, India, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Congo, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Cover and loss by rainforest region

RAINFOREST STRUCTURE

Rainforests are characterized by a unique vegetative structure consisting of several vertical layers including the overstory, canopy, understory, shrub layer, and ground level. The canopy refers to the dense ceiling of leaves and tree branches formed by closely spaced forest trees. The upper canopy is 100-130 feet above the forest floor, penetrated by scattered emergent trees, 130 feet or higher, that make up the level known as the overstory. Below the canopy ceiling are multiple leaf and branch levels known collectively as the understory. The lowest part of the understory, 5-20 feet (1.5-6 meters) above the floor, is known as the shrub layer, made up of shrubby plants and tree saplings.

RAINFOREST BIODIVERSITY

Tropical rainforests support the greatest diversity of living organisms on Earth. Although they cover less than 2 percent of Earth’s surface, rainforests house more than 50 percent of the plants and animals on the planet.

THE RAINFOREST CANOPY

In the rainforest most plant and animal life is not found on the forest floor, but in the leafy world known as the canopy. The canopy, which may be over 100 feet (30 m) above the ground, is made up of the overlapping branches and leaves of rainforest trees. Scientists estimate that more than half of life in the rainforest is found in the trees, making this the richest habitat for plant and animal life.

The conditions of the canopy are markedly different from the conditions of the forest floor. During the day, the canopy is drier and hotter than other parts of the forest, and the plants and animals that live there have adapted accordingly. For example, because the amount of leaves in the canopy can make it difficult to see more than a few feet, many canopy animals rely on loud calls or lyrical songs for communication. Gaps between trees mean that some canopy animals fly, glide, or jump to move about in the treetops. Meanwhile plants have evolved water-retention mechanisms like waxy leaves.

Scientists have long been interested in studying the canopy, but the height of trees made research difficult until recently. Today the canopy is commonly accessed using climbing gear, rope bridges, ladders, and towers. Researchers are even using model airplanes and quadcopters outfitted with special sensors — conservation drones — to study the canopy.

The rainforest floor

The rainforest floor is often dark and humid due to constant shade from the leaves of canopy trees. The canopy not only blocks out sunlight, but dampens wind and rain, and limits shrub growth.

Despite its constant shade, the ground floor of the rainforest is the site for important interactions and complex relationships. The forest floor is one of the principal sites of decomposition, a process paramount for the continuance of the forest as a whole. It provides support for trees responsible for the formation of the canopy and is also home to some of the rainforest's best-known species, including gorillas, tigers, tapirs, and elephants, among others.

Rainforest waters

Tropical rainforests support some of the largest rivers in the world, like the Amazon, Mekong, Negro, Orinoco, and Congo. These mega-rivers are fed by countless smaller tributaries, streams, and creeks. For example, the Amazon alone has some 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are over 1,000 miles long. Although large tropical rivers are fairly uniform in appearance and water composition, their tributaries vary greatly.

Rainforest waters are home to a wealth of wildlife that is nearly as diverse as the biota on land. For example, more than 5,600 species of fish have been identified in the Amazon Basin alone.

But like rainforests, tropical ecosystems are also threatened. Dams, deforestation, channelization and dredging, pollution, mining, and overfishing are chief dangers.

Rainforest people

Tropical rainforests have long been home to tribal peoples who rely on their surroundings for food, shelter, and medicines. Today very few forest people live in traditional ways; most have been displaced by outside settlers, have been forced to give up their lifestyles by governments, or have chosen to adopt outside customs.

Of the remaining forest people, the Amazon supports the largest number of Indigenous people living in traditional ways, although these people, too, have been impacted by the modern world. Nonetheless, Indigenous peoples' knowledge of medicinal plants remains unmatched and they have a great understanding of the ecology of the Amazon rainforest.

In Africa there are native forest dwellers sometimes known as pygmies. The tallest of these people, also called the Mbuti, rarely exceed 5 feet in height. Their small size enables them to move about the forest more efficiently than taller people.

There are few forest peoples in Asia living in fully traditional ways. The last nomadic people in Borneo are thought to have settled in the late 2000's. New Guinea and the Andaman Islands are generally viewed as the last frontiers for forest people in Asia and the Pacific.

Deforestation

In recent decades there has been an important shift in deforestation trends. Today export-driven industries are driving a bigger share of deforestation than ever before, marking a shift from previous decades, when most tropical deforestation was the product of poor farmers trying to put food on the table for their families. There are important implications from this change. While companies have a greater capacity to chop down forests than small farmers, they are more sensitive to pressure from environmentalists. Thus in recent years, it has become easier—and more ethical—for green groups to go after corporations than after poor farmers.

Rainforests are also threatened by climate change, which is contributing to droughts in parts of the Amazon and Southeast Asia. Drought causes die-offs of trees and dries out leaf litter, increasing the risk of forest fires, which are often set by land developers, ranchers, plantation owners, and loggers.

Rainforest importance

While rainforests may seem like a distant concern, they are critically important for our well-being. Rainforests are often called the lungs of the planet for their role in absorbing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and producing oxygen, upon which all animals depend for survival. Rainforests also stabilize climate, house incredible amounts of plants and wildlife, and produce nourishing rainfall all around the planet.

Rainforests:

• Help stabilize the world’s climate: Rainforests help stabilize the world’s climate by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Scientists have shown that excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human activities is contributing to climate change. Therefore, living rainforests have an important role in mitigating climate change, but when rainforests are chopped down and burned, the carbon stored in their wood and leaves is released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.
• Provide a home to many plants and animals: Rainforests are home to a large number of the world’s plant and animals species, including many endangered species. As forests are cut down, many species are doomed to extinction.
• Help maintain the water cycle: The role of rainforests in the water cycle is to add water to the atmosphere through the process of transpiration (in which plants release water from their leaves during photosynthesis). This moisture contributes to the formation of rain clouds, which release the water back onto the rainforest. In the Amazon, 50-80 percent of moisture remains in the ecosystem’s water cycle. When forests are cut down, less moisture goes into the atmosphere and rainfall declines, sometimes leading to drought. Rainforests also have a role in global weather patterns. For example researchers have shown that forests in South America affect rainfall in the United States, while forests in Southeast Asia influence rain patterns in southeastern Europe and China. Distant rainforests are therefore important to farmers everywhere.
• Protect against flood, drought, and erosion: Rainforests have been compared to natural sponges, moderating flood and drought cycles by slowing run-off and contributing moisture to the local atmosphere. Rainforests are also important in reducing soil erosion by anchoring the ground with their roots. When trees are cut down there is no longer anything to protect the ground, and soils are quickly washed away with rain. On steep hillsides, loss of forest can trigger landslides.
• Are a source for medicines and foods and support forest-dependent people: People have long used forests as a source of food, wood, medicine, and recreation. When forests are lost, they can no longer provide these resources. Instead people must find other places to get these goods and services. They also must find ways to pay for the things they once got for free from the forest.

Rainforest conservation

Rainforests are disappearing very quickly. The good news is there are a lot of people who want to save rainforests. The bad news is that saving rainforests will be a challenge as it means humanity will need to shift away from business-as-usual practices by developing new policies and economic measures to creative incentives for preserving forests as healthy and productive ecosystems.

Over the past decade there has been considerable progress on several conservation fronts. Policymakers and companies are increasingly valuing rainforests for the services they afford, setting aside large blocks of forests in protected areas and setting up new financial mechanisms that compensate communities, state and local governments, and countries for conserving forests. Meanwhile, forest-dependent people are gaining more management control over the forests they have long stewarded. Large international companies are finally establishing policies that exclude materials sourced via deforestation. People are abandoning rural areas, leading to forest recovery in some planes.

But the battle is far from over. Growing population and consumption means that rainforests will continue to face intense pressures. At the same time, climate change threatens to dramatically alter temperatures and precipitation patterns, potentially pushing some forests toward critical tipping points.

Thus the future of the world's rainforests in very much in our hands. The actions we take in the next 20 years will determine whether rainforests, as we currently know them, are around to sustain and nourish future generations of people and wildlife.

The Latest News on Rainforests

Act now or lose the Pantanal forever (commentary) (Oct 15 2024)
- This year, over two million hectares of the world’s largest wetland, the Pantanal in Brazil, have burned, as agribusiness drains it and climate change dries it, reducing river flows and allowing fires to spread.
- Many species rely on a healthy Pantanal to survive, including 2,000 species of plants, 580 bird species, 271 kinds of fish, and 174 mammal and 57 amphibian species, many of which are endangered or threatened.
- “To truly protect it, we need an immediate halt on further agricultural expansion, major restoration projects for the land which has already burned, and bold global action to slash carbon emissions,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Delays in land titling threaten the conservation success of quilombos in Brazil (Oct 15 2024)
- Titled quilombo territories — traditional Brazilian communities originally formed by runaway enslaved people — have significantly lower deforestation rates, making them crucial for conserving Brazil’s natural biomes.
- However, only 4.33% of all Quilombolas in Brazil have been granted proper land rights.
- Quilombola communities in Alcântara have fought for their land rights since the 1970s, facing displacement and government neglect, but the Brazilian Air Force is pushing for an expansion of the local space center, delaying the recognition of Quilombola land claims.
- Brazil has admitted to human rights violations against the Alcântara Quilombolas, but progress on land titling remains slow and uncertain.

The tribal leader dedicating his life to protect Philippine’s critically-endangered national bird (Oct 15 2024)
- Tribal leader Datu Julito Ahao has dedicated nearly 40 years of his life to protecting Philippine eagles, a critically endangered national bird, in the wild.
- Considered an “unsung hero” by conservationists, he has ensured the survival of 16 juvenile eagles in the wild and founded the Bantay Bukid forest guard program to conserve the raptor’s habitat around Mount Apo, the country’s tallest peak and frontier of the bird’s conservation.
- There are an estimated 400 pairs of Philippine eagles left in the wild, with their existence under persistent threat from deforestation and hunting or trapping.
- Ahao is a trusted partner of the nonprofit Philippine Eagle Foundation, a leading conservation organization in the southern Philippines that hatches and breeds the eagles in captivity.

Africa’s little-known golden cat gets a conservation boost, with community help (Oct 15 2024)
- Mwezi “Badru” Mugerwa is a Uganda-based ecologist and conservationist whose work is focused on biodiversity monitoring using camera traps in East Africa’s rainforests, and specifically the African golden cat.
- In 2013, Mugerwa started his conservation nonprofit called Embaka, the local Rukiga name for the golden cat, to work with hunting communities around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
- The organization provides alternative livelihoods to communities through various initiatives to steer them away from hunting and snaring in the national park, which has impacted golden cat numbers there.
- This year, Mugerwa is leading a pan-African monitoring program for the species to assess its distribution, population density and threats, with an eye to replicating Embaka’s activities in other countries.

As 25 Earth vital signs worsen, scientists warn of ‘irreversible climate disaster’ (Oct 15 2024)
- Earth is inching closer to irreversible climate change according to a recent report by an international group of climate researchers and Earth System scientists.
- Tracking 35 planetary vital signs — used to gauge Earth’s response to human activities — researchers found 25 are at record risk levels, including greenhouse gas concentrations, fossil fuel consumption, rising temperatures, forest loss, and biodiversity decline.
- The authors underline the immediate need for wide-ranging climate action to rein in fossil fuel use and control emissions, alongside other measures to stave off a deepening climate crisis. “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,” they wrote.

Indonesia civil society rallies behind student investigated over nickel protest (Oct 15 2024)
- On Aug. 27 and Sept. 9, student advocates Christina Rumalatu and Thomas Madilis were called in for questioning by the Indonesian police following a demonstration linking floods to nickel mining in North Maluku province.
- The August demonstration in Jakarta blamed the deadly flash floods on land-use changes caused by the nickel mining boom underway in eastern Indonesia.
- The nickel mining complex in Halmahera “should not overreact to protests and try to criminalize people who are angry about the damage the nickel industry is doing to their land and water,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Climate Rights International.
- In a significant display of combined action, civil society organizations, legal advocates, youth groups in eastern Indonesia and the country’s human rights commission are rallying behind the Halmahera demonstrators, who may face prosecution under Indonesia’s widely criticized defamation law.

As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist (Oct 14 2024)
- The world’s oceans could play a role in supporting the clean energy grids of the future. But that possibility hinges on the successful rollout of tidal stream and wave technology. Tidal stream energy taps into the power of run-of-river or ocean movements, while wave energy generates electricity using windblown waves.
- Years of hype and failed projects have bedeviled the tidal stream industry, which is the more progressed of the two technologies. But with demonstration projects in the U.K. seeing success, momentum is now building toward commercialization.
- Tidal stream technology — using river mouth, seabed-mounted or floating turbines — could offer reliable renewable energy for island communities, cutting their current reliance on costly imported fossil fuels. But technological, environmental and supply chain hurdles remain on the path to scaling up.
- While tidal and wave power will never dominate the global grid, they could play a valuable niche role in the global energy transition.

Why biodiversity credits cannot work (commentary) (Oct 14 2024)
- Byron Swift, a conservationist with over 40 years of experience working across Latin America, argues that biodiversity credits are fundamentally flawed and not a viable solution to the extinction crisis.
- He contends that while market mechanisms like carbon and biodiversity credits aim to address conservation and emissions reduction, they face significant challenges that undermine their effectiveness.
- Swift believes biodiversity credits are promoted primarily for the benefit of financial intermediaries rather than for their genuine potential to conserve biodiversity, and he advocates for other funding mechanisms.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

New tourism restrictions to protect Bangladesh’s unique wetlands and coral-rich island (Oct 14 2024)
- Since 1999, Bangladesh has declared 13 biodiversity-rich areas as Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) under the country’s environment protection act.
- However, the government has failed to conserve the ECAs over the years other than a few project-based protection measures undertaken in some of the areas like Saint Martin’s Island, Tanguar Haor, Hakaluki Haor, Cox’s Bazar Beach and Sonadia Island.
- Now, the current civil society-led government plans to limit tourism in biodiversity hotspots to ensure the health of the ecosystem.
- The coral-rich Saint Martin’s Island and one of the country’s largest wetlands, Tanguar Haor, will see the first through tourism restrictions.

Angkor Plywood, the ‘timber cartel’ shipping Cambodian forests internationally (Oct 14 2024)
- A year-long Mongabay investigation shows that one of Cambodia’s most notorious logging companies likely illegally exported rare tree species to Vietnam and China for years.
- We found evidence Angkor Plywood has been illegally logging timber from protected areas and violating various laws by exporting sawn logs — and doing all this with impunity, in part thanks to its well-connected founders.
- Shipping records from 2021-2023 show Angkor Plywood exported a type of timber coveted in the furniture trade from a species it should never have been allowed to log or trade, according to a government source.
- A veteran activist calls Angkor Plywood a cartel and “driving force” behind the extensive logging and forest destruction taking place Cambodia.

Deforestation remains low, but fires surge in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest (Oct 12 2024)
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon remains near a six-year low, with 561 square kilometers cleared in September, a 30% decline from the previous year.
- Fires in the Amazon have surged dramatically, with an 18-fold increase in the area affected by fires, from 4,700 to 39,983 square kilometers, driven by a historic drought.
- Fire hotspots detected by satellite in the Amazon increased by 70%, rising to 145,357 compared to 85,670 the previous year.
- Scientists warn that deforestation, forest degradation, and climate change could destabilize the Amazon, affecting rainfall patterns and biodiversity across South America.

West Africa’s forgotten felines endangered by conflict and research gaps (Oct 11 2024)
- The WAP Complex of protected areas that straddles the border region of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger is one of West Africa’s most important protected areas and a haven for many iconic endangered species.
- Servals, caracals and African wildcats are also found in the WAP Complex, but almost nothing is known about their status, distribution, ecology or threats.
- Covert surveys of medicine markets in the region have found serval and caracal skins, though it’s not known if the skins originated within the WAP Complex.
- The presence of jihadist militants in the region severely impacts conservation and research, particularly in the Niger and Burkina Faso portions of the complex.

Hotel built without permits on disputed land riles neighboring Paracas reserve in Peru (Oct 11 2024)
- A controversial hotel opened its doors to the public in 2023 in the Paracas National Reserve’s buffer zone, which acts as a protective strip around the reserve to minimize any impact on the protected area.
- The Hotel Boutique Atenas is owned by a former police officer with a history of land ownership conflicts. The hotel does not appear to have the required permits from Peru’s National Service of Natural Protected Areas, Mongabay Latam found.
- It was also built on a property currently subject to a land dispute. Marine farmers who work there claim to have been forcefully displaced from this area.

With Europe’s move to delay tropical forest protections, everything burns (commentary) (Oct 10 2024)
- Last week, the European Commission flip-flopped and announced it wants to delay a new law designed to reduce tropical deforestation (EUDR) for a year, instead of allowing it start in January 2025. 
- This decision isn’t just destructive for forests, it’s also bad for business — it flies in the face of hard efforts by thousands of companies who did everything to get into compliance on time — and is also bad for democracy, a new op-ed argues.
- “For the millions of EU citizens who supported the law, here is a message of hope. We lost a battle with the Commission’s effort to delay the EUDR, but the war for our climate still hangs in the balance, and the fight is on. European elected representatives can yet stand firm in support of the global forests and millions of people who depend on them, and reject the Commission’s proposal.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

U.S. court approves historic settlement for Honduran farmers’ case against the World Bank’s IFC (Oct 10 2024)
- A Delaware Court has approved a settlement between the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and several Honduran land defenders who faced violence at the hands of security forces allegedly linked to Dinant Corporation, a Central American palm oil corporation to which the World Bank had loaned $30 million dollars in 2009. The IFC has agreed to settle and to pay nearly $5 million in reparations, without any admission of liability.
- The IFC, one of the most influential lending institutions in the world, lost its “absolute immunity” granted by the U.S. government that protected it from prosecution after the Supreme Court heard a case regarding its financing of energy project in India — but until now, it has not moved to pay reparations to a community allegedly adversely affected by its investments.
- Violence continues in the Aguán Valley region where Dinant plantations are concentrated, and land defenders who denounced alleged links between the Dinant Corporation and illegal armed groups have been killed in a resurgent wave of killings of land and water defenders.