TROPICAL RAINFORESTS: World Rainforests
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Rainforest on the island of Borneo

Section 1:
TROPICAL RAINFORESTS OF THE WORLD


Tropical rainforests are a world like none other; and their importance to the global ecosystem and human existence is paramount. Unparalleled in terms of their biological diversity, tropical rainforests are a natural reservoir of genetic diversity which offers a rich source of medicinal plants, high-yield foods, and a myriad of other useful forest products. They are an important habitat for migratory animals and sustain as much as 50 percent of the species on Earth, as well as a number of diverse and unique indigenous cultures. Tropical rainforests play an elemental role in regulating global weather in addition to maintaining regular rainfall, while buffering against floods, droughts, and erosion. They store vast quantities of carbon, while producing a significant amount of the world's oxygen.  
 
 
Despite their monumental role, tropical forests are restricted to the small land area between the latitudes 22.5° North and 22.5° South of the equator, or in other words between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. Since the majority of Earth's land is located north of the tropics, rainforests are naturally limited to a relatively small area.  
 
 
Tropical rainforests, like so many other natural places, are a scarce resource in the 21st century. The vast swaths of forest, swamp, desert, and savanna that carpeted Earth's land surface a mere five generations ago have been reduced to scattered fragments; today, more than two-thirds of the world's tropical rainforests exist as fragmented remnants. Just a few thousand years ago, tropical rainforests covered as much as 12 percent of the Earth’s land surface, or about 6 million square miles (15.5 million square km), but today less than 5 percent of Earth's land is covered with these forests (about 2.41 million square miles or 625 million hectares). The largest unbroken stretch of rainforest is found in the Amazon river basin of South America. Over half of this forest lies in Brazil, which holds about one-third of the world's remaining tropical rainforests. Another 20 percent of the world's remaining rainforest exists in Indonesia and Congo Basin, while the balance of the world's rainforests are scattered around the globe in tropical regions.  
 
 
The global distribution of tropical rainforests can be broken up into four biogeographical realms based roughly on four forested continental regions: the Ethiopian or Afrotropical, the Australiasian or Australian, the Oriental or Indomalayan/Asian, and the Neotropical.


Rainforest cover by biogeographical realm
RealmPercent share of
world rainforest cover
Million
square miles
Million
hectares
Ethiopian/Afrotropical30.0%0.72187.5
Australasian9.0%0.2256.3
Oriental or Indomalayan16.0%0.39100.0
Neotropical45.0%1.08281.2
Total2.41625.0



More on forest cover

charts & tables | primary forest | forest area


Review questions:
  • Where are rainforests located?
  • How much land area rainforests do cover?
  • What percentage of Earth is covered by rainforests?
  • How many rainforest biogeographical realms are there?
  • What biogeographical realm has the most rainforest?
  • True or false - less than 5% of Earth's land is covered with rainforests.

[print version | spanish | french | chinese | japanese]


Continued: Biogeographical Forest Realms





Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]


Other pages in this section:
Tropical Rainforests of the World
Types of Rainforest
- - - - -
References
Biogeographical Forest Realms

- - - - -
Kids version of this section
- What are rainforests?
- Where are rainforests found?




Recent news

Papua signs REDD carbon deal to generate income from rainforest protection
(5/14/2008) The government of the Indonesian province of Papua has entered into an agreement with an Australian financial firm to establish a forestry-based carbon finance project on the island of New Guinea.

Al Gore's investment firm bets that rainforest conservation will be profitable
(5/14/2008) Al Gore's investment firm has signaled an interest in the emerging market for ecosystem services by taking an equity position in an innovative Australian financial company.

Brazil's environmental minister resigns after losing Amazon fight
(5/14/2008) Marina Silva, Brazil's environmental minister, resigned Tuesday after losing several key battles in her fight to rein in destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

After acquittal, fear of open season on activists in the Amazon rainforest
(5/14/2008) Bishop Flavio Giovenale was crushed by the acquittal last week of a rancher accused of ordering the killing of a crusading American nun — and not just because he admired Dorothy Stang. Giovenale, who spends much of his time battling child prostitution, police corruption and drug abuse, fears the verdict means it's open season again on activists in the Amazon jungle state of Para.

Convicted nun-killer freed in the Brazilian Amazon
(5/14/2008) Charges against a Brazilian rancher convicted of arranging the 2005 murder of a 73-year-old American nun in the Amazon rainforest have been dismissed.




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Copyright Rhett Butler 1994-2007

"Rainforest" is used interchangeably with "rain forest" on this site.
Same for "rainforests" and "rain forests". "Jungle" is generally not used.