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The Importance of
Rainforests
By Maria Ximena Arteaga, Daniella Blanco, Carolina
Fuchs, Marie Claire Garnier and Maria Itziar Aguilar
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Biodiversity and impacts in
rainforests
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Biodiversity has become a major environmental issue this
last decades since environments are being degraded at an
accelerating rate.
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In many parts of the world much diversity is being lost by the
destruction of natural habitats
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The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
Red List (animals in danger) stated that a third of amphibians,
23% of mammals, 12% of birds and around 20% of plants and
fish are threaten with extinction.
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Causes
Some of the reasons researchers have found are:
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Habitat loss
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Overexploitation
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Destruction by invasive alien species
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Climate change
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Living dead species are reffered to the species which are low in numbers
in which they cannot maintain a viable populatio
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Current species loss has been about 1000 times the ‘background’ rate
experienced before the Industrial Revolution
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Predictions that alarm everyone is that as many as a half of all current
species could be lost.
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Biodiversity hotspots
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This are areas of particularly high biodiversity within
countries.

It has been estimated than 25 land-based hotspots which
only cover 1.4% of the Earth’s surface is distributed this way:
- 25% of all birds
- 54% of amphibians
- 30% of mammals
- 44% of plants
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Ecological value
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Makes ecosystems more stable
and less vulnerable to extreme
events
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Strength of natural cycles:
energy, water, carbon, oxygen
and nitrogen cycle.

Help to maintain humid
environment and more variety of
species.
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Example: Amazon rainforest
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provides essential environmental service of continuously
recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen.
20% of world’s oxygen
Known as the lungs of the planet.
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Economic value

bologically diverse natual
environments prodive
human population with the
necessities of life and forms
the basis for the economy
(food, primary goods, etc.)
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evrything we use and trade
comes from the natural
world
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Crops and plantations
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1650 known tropical forest
plants have the potential grow
as vegetable crops, which
increments the varitety of crops
grown now a days.

30 crops supply about 90% of
the calories in the global
human diet
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Health and Medicine

rainforest flora is an important resoure of medicines
and drugs.
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25% of western pharmaceiticals are derived from
rainforest ingredients
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3000 plant species are active combaters against
cancer cells and 70% of them are found in the tropical
rainforest
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25% of the active ingredients in cancer-fighting drugs
come from the tropical rainforests exclusively.
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Cultural Value
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most people feel connected to nature in
varying degrees
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some people feel strong spiritual bonds
thant may be rooted in our common
biological ancestry
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the cultural diversity in inextricably linked
to Earth's biodiversity
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thousands of cultural groups around the
world each have distinct traditions and
knowledge for relating to the natural world
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in rainforests indigenous people who have lived in these
environmentt for thousands of years usually place very
different values on the rainforest envoronment in contrast to
outside groups coming into the biome
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because of its intrinsic characteristics, many people from
other environments now visit or want to visit areas of
rainforest
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Rainforest Uses…
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direct use values( goods): food, medicines, building
materials, fibre and fuel
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indirect use values (servieces): atmospheric and climate
regulation, pollination, nutrient recyclying. cultural, spiritual
and aesthetic.
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non-use values: potential value ( future value either as a good
or a servie), exitence value (value of knowing something
exists), bequest value ( value of knowing that something will
be there for future generations)