One and one-half acres of rain forest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Rain forests are being destroyed because the value of rain forest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by shortsighted governments, multinational logging companies, and land owners. 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 rain forest deforestation.

There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rain forest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.

In Brazil alone, European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900's. With them have gone centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of rain forest species. As their homelands continue to be destroyed by deforestation, rain forest peoples are also disappearing. Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the Rain forests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rain forest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down. With them have gone centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of rain forest species.

The Amazon Rain forest covers over a billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.

At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rain forest Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.

At least 3000 fruits are found in the rain forests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indians of the rain forest use over 2,000 fruits from the rain forest Rain forest plants are rich in secondary metabolites and in particular alkaloids. Biochemists believe alkaloids protect plants from disease and insect attacks. Many alkaloids from higher plants have proven to be of medicinal value and benefit.

We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rain forests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rain forests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Most rain forests are cleared by chainsaws, bulldozers and fires for its timber value and then are followed by farming and ranching operations, even by world giants like Mitsubishi Corporation, Georgia Pacific, Texaco and UNOCAL.

Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rain forest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists. Vincristine, extracted from the rain forest plant, periwinkle, is one of the world's most powerful anticancer drugs. It has dramatically increased the survival rate for acute childhood leukemia since its discovery. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rain forest Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rain forest

One and one-half acres of rain forest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Experts agree that by leaving the rainforests intact and harvesting it's many nuts, fruits, oil-producing plants, and medicinal plants, the rain forest has more economic value than if they were cut down to make grazing land for cattle or for timber.

Promoting the use of these sustainable and renewable sources could stop the destruction of the rainforests. By creating a new source of income harvesting the medicinal plants, fruits nuts, oil and other sustainable resources, the rainforests is be more valuable alive than cut and burned. Sufficient demand of sustainable and ecologically harvested rain forest products is necessary for preservation efforts to succeed. Purchasing sustainable rain forest products can effect positive change by creating a market for these products while supporting the native people's economy and provides the economic solution and alternative to cutting the forest just for the value of its timber.

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 rain forest deforestation. If managed properly, the rain forest can provide the world's need for these natural resources on a perpetual basis.