Facts about Rainforests
- 07
Rainforest soils lose nearly 90 percent of their nutrients within two years after deforestation, as the ecosystem's rapid nutrient recycling system collapses without vegetation cover.
- 06
Indigenous peoples have inhabited and sustainably managed rainforests for at least 11,000 years, with their territories currently covering approximately 28 percent of the Amazon basin.
- 05
Over 2.5 million insect species inhabit rainforests, with scientists estimating that roughly 10 percent of all known animal species on Earth live in these ecosystems.
- 04
Rainforest canopies absorb approximately 25 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions annually, making them crucial carbon sinks in combating climate change.
- 03
A single rainforest hectare can contain up to 300 tree species, compared to roughly 30 species in temperate forests of equivalent size.
- 02
In tropical rainforests, over 80 percent of flowering plant species exist nowhere else on Earth, with an estimated 390,000 plant species distributed across these ecosystems.
- 01
The Amazon rainforest produces approximately 20 percent of the world's oxygen through photosynthesis by its 390 billion individual trees.