VOICES FOR THE AMAZON
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FACTS ABOUT THE AMAZON RAINFOREST

  • The Amazon holds the highest numbers of species in the world.
  • Rivers of the Amazon carry approximately 20% of the world’s freshwater to the Sea.
  • The Amazon stores around 120 billion tons of carbon.
  • The Amazon moderates local and global weather patterns releasing approximately 20 billion ton of moisture into the atmosphere daily.
  • The Amazon is home to thousands of indigenous peoples.
  • One quarter of all medicinal plants, many from the Amazon, are derived from tropical forests, with as many as 4 billion people served.

There are more trees in the Amazon than stars in the Milky Way.

No other type of ecosystem provides more benefits for biodiversity, food, weather patterns, fresh water, and human health than tropical rainforests. Research has shown that in 50 years, one tree can recycle approximately $37,500 worth of water, create $62,000 worth of air pollution control, mitigate $31,250 worth of soil erosion and produce $31,250 worth of oxygen. Trees are one of the world’s most valuable assets.

Through the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen we breathe. Trees shade us from the heat, protect us from the rain and wind, conserve water, preserve soil, clean the air of pollutants. Each tree is its own majestic ecosystem that is filled with activity and energy -pollinators and seed dispersers, predators and the preyed upon-biodiversity-a giant intertwined web- that brings more trees to the area to slowly become lush, moist, resilient, forests teeming with abundance. Trees in the forest rely on each and have evolved to live in cooperative, interdependent, relationships that protect each other from heat, winds, storms, and predators.

Forests in the Amazon took thousands of years to evolve. It can take only a short period of time, sometimes days and weeks, to cut them down.

For the past 10 years a new species has been discovered every 3 days in the Amazon. Humans benefit from the amazon’s plant and animal species and rely on the diverse natural resources of the Amazon for a variety of products including fresh water, oxygen, minerals, and food. With the destruction of the Amazon, we reduce our access to these resources.

COOL FACTS ABOUT BIODIVERSITY IN THE AMAZON

AROUND 80% OF THE FOOD WE EAT ORIGINALLY CAME FROM RAINFORESTS. SOME OF THE MORE POPULAR EXAMPLES INCLUDE COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, RICE, TOMATOES, POTATOES, BANANAS, BLACK PEPPER, AND CORN.

THERE ARE NEARLY 1 MILLION INSECTS KNOWN TO SCIENCE IN THE AMAZON BASIN.

MANU NATIONAL PARK, IN PERU, CONTAINS AT LEAST 1,307 SPECIES OF BUTTERFLIES- TWICE THE NUMBER FOUND IN THE U.S.

THE BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY’S WINGS ARE SO IRIDESCENT THAT THEY CAN BE SEEN UP TO ONE-HALF A MILE AWAY.

70% OF PLANTS FOUND TO HAVE ANTICANCER PROPERTIES ARE FOUND IN THE RAINFOREST.

THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED 80,000 PLANT TAXA WITHIN THE AMAZON KNOWN TO SCIENCE.
THERE ARE TWO TIMES THE NUMBER OF MAMMAL SPECIES IN THE AMAZON AS THERE ARE IN THE UNITED STATES.
IN A 60 ACRE PLOT IN THE AMAZON, SCIENTISTS FOUND 1,104 DIFFERENT SPECIES OF TREES, JUST UNDER WHAT IS FOUND IN ASIA, EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA COMBINED.
A LARGE KAPOK TREE CAN PRODUCE AN ESTIMATED 650,000 FLOWERS WHICH CONTAIN 200LITERS OF NECTAR WHEN BLOOMING

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