DHS_Y2_Deforestation_Solution.docx

The Economic value of rainforests One of the biggest threats to the rainforests is their destruction for commercial gain. For example, the Amazon and rainforests in Asia are largely threatened by commercial logging, incineration, agriculture and industrial activity such as growing palm oil and livestock. However, their survival is worth more to modern economies than their destruction. Controlling climate change is the most substantial contribution made by rainforests. According to the United Nations climate scientists, the world spends $300 billion at present to stop the rise in greenhouse gases and buy up to 20 years to mitigate the climate crisis. The very existence of rainforests will help regulate climate change and minimize the amount spent on lowering CO2 emissions. Rainforests absorb approximately 2.4 tonnes of CO2 per year, which accounts for one-third of CO2 generated by fossil fuels annually, while releasing oxygen to the atmosphere, acting as a natural air purifier and controlling toxic emissions. More than 25% of modern medicines originate from rainforests as well. That is even more astounding considering it consists of only 1% of flora discovered in rainforests so far. As Professors Robert Mendelsohn and Michael Balick argue, tropical plant species could be worth as much as $147 billion to society as a whole, treating critical diseases such as HIV and cancer. The loss of rainforests will cost the pharmaceutical industry billions of dollars. Rainforests are key sustainers of water bodies around the world. Large tree covers increase precipitation in the air, providing and regulating a healthy rainfall and nourishing all water bodies including fresh water. The depletion of rainforests will not only jeopardize a sufficient water supply to cumulative populations but further risk their contamination. Rainforests are also home to 30 million known species of flora and fauna, which is nearly half of the earth’s wildlife and two-thirds of plant species. The loss of biodiversity incurred by deforestation breaks the equilibrium of all ecosystems. No matter how small or of how little significance a species is, they all have a vital role to play collectively, to sustain life on earth. The loss of biodiversity will decimate economies by affecting pollination and food sources, increasing irregular rainfall and exacerbating climate catastrophes.

Conservation of rainforests 1) Reforestation The most co