SAWSP Expeditions Team 13 and the Rainforest Rescue!

Rain Forest Threats Information and Facts. (2019, June 18). Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/rainforest-threats/. Why are rainforests important? (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://www.rainforestconcern.org/forest-facts/why-are-rainforests-important. We hope you liked this project! Here are some details about the Amazon Rainforest, and what you, an honorary member of Team 13, can do to help: What is happening to the Amazon rainforest? Climate change and man-made destruction continue to affect the Amazon Rainforest. A lot of trees are cut to make empty land to grow crops or raise animals, but this also leads to a lot of the forest dying. Since 1970, at least 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down. Additionally, rain is important to keep the rainforest growing and healthy. When trees are cut down, there is less rainfall, and together with hotter temperatures, the ground becomes drier. To raise healthy forests, people should not cut down trees in large scale areas. If any part of the forest is cut down, it should be replanted. There should also be places like parks where people won’t be allowed to cut forestry or hunt. There are a lot of animals brought from rainforests to other countries illegally, such as parrots or iguanas. This is not good for the animals, because these animals can become endangered or extinct, and putting them into places they did not originally come from can cause a lot of damage. The Amazon rainforest is very important in keeping our planet healthy. It is one of the largest rainforests on Earth, and it absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen that we breathe! The absorption of this CO2 also helps to manage our climate. Rainforests also help to maintain the world's water cycle by adding water to the atmosphere through transpiration (by creating clouds). Water generated in rainforests travels all around the world. Rainforests serve as habitats for animals and plants. Tropical rainforests contain over 30 million species of plants and animals. That's half of the Earth's wildlife and at least two-thirds of its plant species! These forests are also often Indigenous people's ancestral territory, who have often lived there for years. When oil and logging companies come to remove large areas of