Benefits of

Rainforests
By Summer Diaz
Introduction
We all know what rainforests are, because we see them in many
movies, but do we know what they do for humanity? Rainforests
provide a lot of money for the world, and produces many medicines
from the plants found in them. What do rainforests do for us? Well,
rainforests can benefit many people and they supply clean air, and
drinking water to any inhabitants. Are rainforests helpful? Yes, they are
very helpful, to us and the economy.

Will we demolish rainforests all around the world? It has been seen
that the 14% of rainforests we had a while ago, have turned into a
mere 6%. Are we even close to saving the rainforests? There are many
save the rainforests activities going on, where people can donate and
contribute to saving rainforests. Does the rainforest provide food for us
all? Yes, it has 80% of the worlds developed diet.

Key Findings

Rainforest all around the world provide food, water, and fresh air
(wettropics.gov). A rainforest can provide many things to the
community around it, and can bring environmental benefits as well.
Rainforests also provide new foundings of medication. Rainforests even
have at least 300,000 fruits found in them. People are cutting down the
rainforest and the resources it brings are deteriorating. Raintree.com
saids,” Nearly half of the world’s species of plants, animals, and
microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next
quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.” They also say that,”
sustainable resources…are the true wealth of rainforests.”

Furthermore, medicine is also a huge product of the rainforest. The

rainforest has brought us all: cancer drugs, steroids, and muscle
relaxers (arborday.org). Vincristine is one of the most powerful anti-
cancer drugs. “The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3,000
plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are
found in the rainforest. 25% of the active ingredients in today’s cancer
fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest (rain-
tree.com).” Medicine is a big deal because over 100 pharmaceutical
companies and several branches of the government research the
rainforests plants in an effort to find more cures for diseases.

Also, there is many different species of animals and insects in the

rainforests as well. Animals eat pests and live in rainforests
(wettropics.gov). Animals help; along with insects, pollinate plants in
the rainforest. Animals such as: gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos,
orangutans, ocelot (wild cat), and of course the common toucan
(enchanted learning). Insects like: butterflies, beetles, and dragon flies;
are some of many different species of insects. The rainforest is a
refuge for rare species of animals and insects. Insect pests are also
eaten by animals, which is good.

Interpretation of Results
Many people try to suck the benefits out of rainforests, since
antediluvian, and many people try to save rainforests as well. We
shouldn’t be cutting down the rainforests when it brings us more
money and resources then being cut down. We all should work
together and make the rainforest even more beneficial then it is now.
The people native to the rainforest needs all the benefits it brings,
because they don’t have the things we do in countries such as
America. The rainforest provides its native people the foods, resources,
clean water, and fresh air it needs. It also provides so many different
foods for us to eat, from guavas to coconuts! Rainforests are cultural,
national, and bring a sense of history.

The medicine found in the rainforest is just as beneficial as the

rainforest itself. The rainforest benefits our help, because it provides
oxygen from all the plants, and we need oxygen to function as human
beings! Medicine founded can save many peoples lives! Simple
flowers, like periwinkle, can make a powerful childhood leukemia
fighting drug. Since the medicine men pass down their knowledge to
the next generation, it becomes hard when they die before they can
even teach! Valuable medicinal knowledge is wasted away! We need
to rectify the teachings once forgotten.

Animals are also important, and if we don’t have animals, then we

would some species might not exist. Some animals can’t be found
anywhere else! But,” Many species of rainforest animals are
endangered and many other have gone extinct as the number of acres
of rainforests on Earth decreases.” And,”Insects are the most numerous
animals in rainforests (enchanted learning).” If herbivores don’t eat insects or plants then
they have no food, so they perish. If there are no animals for carnivores to consume, they
will parish. With them perished, we will loose a large amount of animal and insect
population, so we need to make sure they stay in our rainforests safe and protected.

Bibliography
Adams, Adrian-the Rainforest and You: The Benefits we get From the Rainforest-
ABCarticledirectory- www.articledirectory.com -11 March, 2011

The Disappearing Rainforest- Pax Natura- www.paxnatura.org -10

March, 2011
Rainforest Animals-Enchanting Learning-www.enchantedlearning.com –
6 April, 2011

Rainforest Facts- Rain Tree-www.raintree.com -10 March, 2011

Wet Tropics Management Authority - Rainforest Explorer-

www.wettropics.gov - 11 March, 2011