• The rainforest: a fantastic structure
• The wonders of nature
• The climate
• People in the forest
• The resources of the forest
• The importance of the forest for life
• The abuse of the forest resources
• How are these areas used?
• We have to solve this problem
• Rescue is arriving!

The rainforest is the most extensive coverage of the arboreal. It is located across the equatorial belt of the globe, between the two tropics. We find it in:
ASIA: India, Indonesia, Birmania,
Thailandia, China, New Guinea.
AFRICA : Nigeria and Congo.
AMERICA: Mexico, Brazil,
Venezuela,Colombia, Costa Rica,
Suriname, Ecuador, Perù and
Bolivia.
How they are distributed on the planet
SHOWN IN GREEN

The vegetation in the last layer isn’t deciduous too. Thanks to the high humidity, trees can reach the height of 70 meters.
In the third layer there are evergreen plants that can measure about 30 - 40 meters height.
The forest has a complex morphology, and so we distinguish the tropical forest in different layers:
The second layer is composed of woody plants that grow from 3 to 5 metres.
The lowest layer consists of plants that don’t exceed one meter height.

In the rainforest there is the biggest varieties of flora of the planet. It is rich in biodiversity compared to any other place. We find many species of plants such as giant plants like choker ficus, red cedar, Kapok and many other species.
THE KAPOK!
WHAT A WONDER THE
FOREST

In this case too there is a big variety of species.
We can find bugs, poisonous amphibians, snakes and crocodiles, colorful birds like parrots.
There are also fish like piranhas and finally mammals like monkeys and the frightening jaguar.
How various is this fauna?

The climate of equatorial zone is really particular.
There aren’t seasons similar to ours: we find only the rainy one so there isn’t any lack of water.
There are warm temperatures at about 30 degrees, with a constant humidity, that arrives at 90%.
Rains take away some ground nutrients, on the contrary the lush vegetation produces abundant humus.
When rains are particular abundant, rivers’ level increases of 10 meters, forests are completely flooded, and so we can find piranhas and very rare animals like the pink dolphin among trees.

The most important rivers are:
• Amazon river in Southern America
• Congo in Central Africa
• Mekong in the southeast of Asia
Amazon river
It has the biggest catchment area higher than 1000 km and it’s the second longest in the world.
Congo
It has the second catchment area in the world.
They are really important for the equatorial zones.
They have a regular and abundant regime all year long because of the rains.
Mekong
With his tributaries it wets all southeastern Asia.

The equatorial forest is one of the least populated in the planet, there is a lower density than in the other parts of the world. That is caused by the uncomfortable warmth and by dangerous animals.
Zambos : born from the African ethnicity and the local one.
The inhabitants are called
INDIOS and they are divided according to their ethnicity
Mulattoes: born from the African ethnicity and the European one.
Mestizos : born from the local ethnicity and the European one.

The rainforest isn’t a good and easy place to live in; to visit it you have to respect a lot of rules. It’s also true that it represents a great local touristic resource.
To get inside you have to land at Manaus, the most important city built in the heart of the forest.
After that, when you are settled you have to bring some sources of water and food and you have to be accompanied by an expert guide to go inside.
You must respect all the rules of the zone and you mustn’t turn on any fire.
It may flare up a fire.
It will even be difficult but in the end, the show will make you ecstatic.

The forest’s ecosystem is really fragile.
The rainforest provides a big quantity of resources.
There is a big deposit of minerals and much water and timber.
In Paraguay and Brazil it was built one of the biggest hydroelectric central of the planet.
These natural resources are really precious because they are fundamental for the life of the forest: in fact this ecosystem is also called the “green gold”.
It’s also important because in the deforested zones the warm climate makes it possible to grow many kinds of vegetables and food.

The rainforest has also the nickname of lungs of the Earth , because vegetation uses water and in particular carbon gas to produce carbohydrates and oxygen during the photosynthesis.
Finally :
Forest = Life
6CO
2
+ 6H
2
O + Solar Energy C
6
H
12
O
6
+ 6O
2
You can observe in the formula that when there is the sun light plants produce additional oxygen which goes into the atmosphere making it breathable by heterotrophic beings.
The plants always breath, but it isn’t true that they use only oxygen during the day and carbon gas during the night.
This fact happens minute by minute.

Inside the forest, these resources like the other natural resources in the world, aren’t used correctly; in fact we abuse of them.
Look at that disaster!
The damages provoked to the forest
!
To do space for the agricultural zones.
Use of fossil fuels and toxic substances
Deforested or burnt hettars of wood.
Many local people are banned from their lands
Many protected species are killed.
Pollution in the forest
Pollution in the rivers
Species endangered

These deforested areas are used in many ways:
Pastures Factories Agriculture
!
In particular they are used for growing food, such as soy, sugar cane, pineapples and coffee.
This causes an impoverishment of the land which isn’t grown “at fallow”: they don’t alternate old and new lands.
The intense rains prevent the vegetation from blooming again and so it causes a desertification. Finally the polluting substances from industries go into the ground.
To find solutions it’s absolutely necessary to put heavy taxes to the people who cut the trees and we will have to alternate the growing plants. But it’s only the beginning!.

Man has always needed Nature to feed himself, but there is a limit to everything!
The 80% of the forest is still unspoiled but the deforestation is increasing!
First it is necessary to do accurate controls, to find all the illegal activities that take place in this zone.
Authorities should help the institutions that keep this fantastic and delicate ecosystem alive.
We must rescue the endangered species

Fortunately we aren’t the first people who realize that the rainforest and so the global climate is in danger. Many institutions have taken some measures about this topic.
National parks
They welcome species in danger!
In the north of the forest in Brazil there is one of the most important and well equipped national parks in the world. We may call it the
“Yellowstone Park” of the Amazon: it’s Manu’s
Park.
W the biodiversity!
Manu’s park occupies a part of the forest of approximately 20000 squared km.
it’s really difficult to be classified as it is estimated that for every hectare of this region there are 500 different species of plants and about 400 species of animals live there.

Giulia Canepa
Valeria Parlato
Evelyn Ezzembergher
Anna Tarchetti