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Rainforest saved

The US based Cargill corporation burns large areas of rainforest to prepare for soya plantations. Enlarge Image

Deforestation

Deforestation and forest degradation are both a cause and a result of climate change. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and use it to grow, but when they decay or burn the carbon dioxide is released again. Decaying plants also produce methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide.

Bleached coral, Great Barrier Reef. Effects of climate change. Enlarge Image

Habitat loss

"Most of the world's endangered species -- some 25 percent of mammals and 12 percent of birds -- may become extinct over the next few decades as warmer conditions alter the forests, wetlands, and rangelands they depend on, and human development blocks them from migrating elsewhere." -- UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Nomadic Penan leader Along Sega and his grandchild examine a tree stump near their village in the Sungai Nyakit area of the Sarawak rainforest in Malaysia. He is 60, a father of nine and grandfather of 30. Enlarge Image

Protect ancient forests

Forest destruction produces about one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than that emitted from all the cars, planes, and trains in the world.

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North America

The Ancient Forests of North America are extremely diverse. They include the boreal forest belt stretching between Newfoundland and Alaska, the coastal temperate rainforest of Alaska and Western Canada, and the myriad of residual pockets of temperate forest surviving in more remote regions.

Clearcutting of Canada's temperate rainforest, Tofino Creek, Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island. Enlarge Image

Threats

Eight thousand years ago, large tracts of ancient forest covered almost half the earth's land area. Today, only one fifth of the original forests remain as large areas of ancient forest, the rest having been destroyed, degraded or fragmented by relentless human activity.

Rubber tappers in Jurua Extractive Reserve, Amazon, Brazil. Enlarge Image

Solutions

Few can dispute the irreplaceable damage caused to forests from illegal and destructive logging around the world, but what can be done to effectively address the problem and reverse the increasing trend of ancient forest destruction?

Go to your national site

World websites

General media enquiries:
+31 (0)20 718 2096.

Hotline:
+31 (0)20 718 2470

For EU related:
Mark Breddy
+32 2 2741 903(p)
+32 496 15 6229(m)
mark.breddy@greenpeace.org

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