Preserve the rainforest

Rainforests have evolved over millions of years to turn into the incredibly complex environments that, by virtue of their richness in both animal and plant species, have contributed a wealth of resources for the survival and well-being of humankind.
The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. In fewer than fifty years, more than half of the world's tropical rainforests have fallen victim to fire and the chain saw, and the rate of destruction is still accelerating. More than 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners.
A Red-eyed Tree FrogMassive deforestation brings with it air and water pollution, soil erosion, malaria epidemics, the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the eviction and decimation of indigenous Indian tribes, and the loss of biodiversity through extinction of plants and animals. Experts estimate that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every day, equating to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases: currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.
The rainforests are also a vital carbon sink, the more we destroy the harder it will become to tackle climate change