Gilbert 1 Shawnee Gilbert English 2010 Section 018 Professor Holly Guile March 26, 2014 he Green !

antern Sa"es the #ainforest wo$thir%s of the worl%s &lants an% ani'als are locate% within forests( )'a*ingly, these forests only ta+e u& thirty &ercent of Earths surface area( he 'a,ority of that nu'ber falls into the category that is +nown as #ainforest( -t is consi%ere% a rainforest if it gets an a"erage annual rainfall of fifty to two hun%re% an% si.ty inches( /#ainforest 0io'es1 hese ,ungles are 'ainly locate% along the e2uator because the te'&erature stays war' an% the hu'i%ity high 3 ninety to one hun%re% %egrees 4ahrenheit, an% se"enty$se"en to eighty$eight &ercent hu'i%ity( Millions of s&ecies of &lants, ani'als, an% insects thri"e within these ecosyste's, it is esti'ate% that 'illions 'ore re'ain un%isco"ere% or un%ocu'ente%( #ainforests are a necessity in the &lanet5s o.ygen regeneration, as well as being the 'ain source of 'e%icinal &lants use% all o"er the worl%( hey &lay a critical role in Earth5s water cycle, an% e"en su&&ly us with things we use, see, or touch e"ery%ay, li+e lu'ber or rubber( Many %ifferent foo%s also co'e fro' these tro&ical woo%s6 "arious fruits, li+e 'angoes an% bananas7 coffee7 sugarcane7 chocolate7 nuts, li+e &eanuts an% cashews7 an% s&ices, inclu%ing cinna'on, ginger, an% clo"es( 0eef is a huge e.&ort fro' he )'a*onian #ainforest( 8attle far's are "ery co''on on rainforest lan%( he far'ers will slash an% burn the trees to 'a+e roo' to &lant grass for the cows to eat then, they butcher the' an% sen% the 'eat out to beco'e "arious beef &ro%ucts throughout the worl%( 4or e"ery ha'burger eaten, fifty$fi"e s2uare feet of rainforest is %estroye%( /Stu%ent 4act Sheet1 9hen first learning about this &articular to&ic, it felt li+e a &unch to the gut( -t was utterly shoc+ing to really get into the nitty$gritty %etails about what5s really going on( How coul% anyone

Gilbert 2 %o this: )cres an% acres of rainforest are being %estroye% each %ay( S'all sections of forest are cleare% to 'a+e roa%ways 3 these being &ut in &lace to 'a+e shi&&ing of goo%s across lan% easier, or ,ust create access to isolate% areas( he &lace'ent of the roa% itself %oes not cause too 'uch %eforestation( -t5s when these areas of untouche% lan% are now accessible to 'ore &eo&le that the real forest clearings ha&&en( he logging begins 3 they ta+e the best lu'ber that will fetch the 'ost 'oney an% lea"e the rest( his ha&&ens both legally an% illegally( )fter the loggers ha"e &ic+e% through that section an% gone, far'ers 'o"e in an% finish the %eforestation by ;cutting an% burning< /a &rocess also +nown as ;slash an% burn<1 the area to 'a+e roo' for cro&s or cattle( )nother e.tre'ely sa%%ening issue the rainforest is facing is the cocaine tra%e out of 8olo'bia( he areas the coca &lants are grown begin in &ristine con%ition( he 'anufacturing of cocaine re2uires &eo&le to %o it an% a lot of che'icals so that the lea"es fro' the coca &lant can be turne% into the infa'ous white &ow%er( )lso, &eo&le co'e into the lan%sca&e an% re'o"e the surroun%ing "egetation in or%er to 'a+e roo' for the cro&s they eat while they are li"ing an% wor+ing in that area( )fter these wor+ers &ro%uce cocaine, the che'ical by$&ro%ucts are either %u'&e% onto the groun% or into the ri"ers( his &oisons all &lant, ani'al an% insect life in the area, ruining the &erfect terrain that once e.iste% there( )ll of the &re"iously 'entione% issues lea"e us to feel ho&eless towar%s the con%ition of the rainforest( 9hy ha% no one ste&&e% in an% starte% trying to hel& change the situation: here ha% to be a way to use sustainable sources, or so'ething that woul% be less trau'atic to the lan%s( he goal of this &a&er is not only to infor' but also to gui%e( here are ways of co'bating these issues( hey are si'&le, an% attainable for e"eryone( herefore we all shoul% ta+e the necessary ste&s to hel& sa"e the rainforest( =ur &lanet5s rainforests are %isa&&earing at an alar'ing rate of one football fiel% e"ery se"enty$eight secon%s( /4ollow the 4rog( 20121 -n or%er to hel& you %on5t ha"e to ha"e a lot of 'oney or start a rally( -t can start with s'all things( 4or

Gilbert > e.a'&le, when buying orange ,uice choose a bran% that uses oranges grown here in the ?nite% States, that way you +now there wasn5t a rainforest %a'age% to &lant the oranges use% in your ,uice( he easiest way to +now you are buying goo% foo%s that ca'e fro' sustainable sources is to ;follow the frog<( ) little green frog logo has beco'e a shining sy'bol of ho&e, lighting the way for us all( 0y loo+ing for he #ainforest )lliance frog logo on the &ro%ucts you sho& for at the store, you can hel& to sto& the loss of these beautiful won%ers( his organi*ation was starte% in 1@86 by foun%er Aaniel Bat*( He was %ee&ly concerne% with the issue of %isa&&earing rainforests an% "owe% to 'a+e a %ifference( Cow al'ost thirty years later, his co'&any has hel&e% tons of co''unities in o"er se"enty %ifferent countries( hey are teaching ways to use the forests that hel& &rotect an% &reser"e the' an% their inhabitants( ) lot of the resi%ents aroun% an% a'ong the forests were beginning to notice that the wil%life was beco'ing al'ost non$ e.istent, when in &re"ious years it was &lentiful( )reas that ha% been cleare% an% use% for cro&s an% far'ing were %ying an% not co'ing bac+( 9hat they %i%n5t reali*e is that by ta+ing &recautions an% following certain gui%elines, they coul% ensure the sur"i"al an% return of wil%life an% "egetation( 9ith the hel& of he #ainforest )lliance they are beginning to see the ree'ergence of so'ething they thought was lost( he #ainforest )lliance is hel&ing to &reser"e an% &rotect not only the trees an% ani'als, but si'&le things( hey ha"e change% the way coffee is grown( he %etri'ental way is flattening an area an% &lanting coffee beans( 9ithout sha%e co"er, the coffee &lant struggles to grow an% &ro%uces an o+ay$tasting coffee bean( 9ith hel& fro' he #ainforest )lliance they ha"e taught the coffee far'ers that by lea"ing sha%e trees it hel&s the coffee &lants grow bigger an% better( he coffee that co'es fro' these sha%e% &lants tastes better an% reaches a higher &rice( Cot only that, but the ani'als of the surroun%ing area ha"e a ho'e to hi%e in a'ong the sha%e trees( his also hel&s tree nu'bers, 'ore trees 'eans 'ore o.ygen for us( 8offee is not the only &ro%uct

Gilbert 4 that has been co'&letely change%, but also tea, bananas, big na'e chocolate, an% lu'ber( Each &ro%uct has ha% a new &roce%ure set so that it is sustainable an% healthy for e"erything li"ing aroun% it( he #ainforest )lliance has o&ene% %oors to all sorts of new &ossibilities 3 to each of the co''unities it has gi"en its hel&ing han% to( Each e'&loyee has a ho'e to li"e in, they ha"e access to a hos&ital an% healthcare( -f they ha"e chil%ren, they get to go to school( Cot only are they all wor+ing together to sa"e the en"iron'ent but they are also assuring that the future is ta+en care of( =ne &erson can 'a+e a %ifference, but e"eryone wor+ing together can change the worl%( So start s'all, an% re'e'ber6 follow the frog(

Gilbert D 9or+s 8ite%

;4ollow the 4rog(< YouTube. he #ainforest )lliance, 16 Se&t( 2012( 9eb( 26 Mar( 2014( ;#ainforest )lliance(< www.rainforest-alliance.org, he #ainforest )lliance, n(%( 9eb( 26 Mar( 2014( ;#ainforest 0io'es(< Rainforest Biomes. E%( 0rynn Schaffner( C(&(, n(%( 9eb( 26 Mar( 2014( Student Fact Sheet. San 4rancisco, 8)6 #ainforest )ction Cetwor+, n(%( PA4( ; ro&ical Aeforestation 6 4eature )rticles(< Tropical Deforestation : Feature rticles. C)S), n(%( 9eb( 26 Mar( 2014(