Rainforest Facts

Rainforest plants are very important to us; over a quarter of Western pharmaceuticals contain ingredients that come from the rainforests.
Sadly, experts estimate that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day because of deforestation. That’s over 50,000 species a year!
The Amazon rainforest covers over a billion acres spread over Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Five centuries ago, there were an estimated 10 million indigenous people living in the Amazon rainforest. Today less than 2% remain.
There are an estimated 10 million species of plants and animals living on Earth. Of these, over 50% live in tropical rainforests!
If the Amazon rainforest was a country, it would be the 9th largest in the world. Only Russia, Canada, China, USA, Brazil, Australia, India and Argentina would be bigger.
One hectare (about the size of one football pitch) of tropical rainforest can contain over 750 different types of trees!
The Congo Rainforest contains 70% of Africa’s plants.
During the wet season, the rivers within the Amazon Basin can contain 20% of the entire world’s fresh water! That’s over 200 000 tonnes of water!
20% of the world's fresh water is held the rivers within Amazon Basin.
One quarter of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from living things found only in the tropical rainforests.

The Mother Earth of all adventures