Johnald Chaffinch
Well-known member
what can be done, and how can we help?
Conservation of Rainforests
- Thread starter Johnald Chaffinch
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Jesse
Well-known member
You can start by becoming a more eco-friendly consumer (a difficult thing to do for most people). You can also support such organizations as the Nature Conservacy and the WWF to name a very few.
Hi.
If you have a lot of money (I heard there should exist people who do, however, I do not know anyone...) you can buy forested land, which is relatively cheap (which again shows us how less natural resources are appreciated), preferably in neighborship to already existing NP or reserves. The larger a forest, the better the ecossytem is to function. One large patch is better than several small ones of comparable size. Only large patches can sustain large mammals and birds.
Alternatively, there are instititions buying land, so every donation improves their finances and thus the amount of land being bought.
There are some problems existing with this method, but, unfortunately, only human-free forests are safe forests. It is a fact that the slogan "use it or lose it" went wrong regarding primary forests and applies just to already disturbed ones. It is important to realize that there must be drawn a line between the remains of primary forests, which are most diverse and have to be left untouched, and forests that are designated to human usance by means of wood, fruits and medicine. A secondary or disturbed primary forest can be very species rich and sustain generations of people when used adequately (not cut off), but only when there are undisturbed forests left to act as a refuge and source for the species inhabiting the used patch.
Used patches standing alone lose most of their species over time (plants and animals).
By the way, this does not apply to tropical forests alone...
Regards,
Christian
If you have a lot of money (I heard there should exist people who do, however, I do not know anyone...) you can buy forested land, which is relatively cheap (which again shows us how less natural resources are appreciated), preferably in neighborship to already existing NP or reserves. The larger a forest, the better the ecossytem is to function. One large patch is better than several small ones of comparable size. Only large patches can sustain large mammals and birds.
Alternatively, there are instititions buying land, so every donation improves their finances and thus the amount of land being bought.
There are some problems existing with this method, but, unfortunately, only human-free forests are safe forests. It is a fact that the slogan "use it or lose it" went wrong regarding primary forests and applies just to already disturbed ones. It is important to realize that there must be drawn a line between the remains of primary forests, which are most diverse and have to be left untouched, and forests that are designated to human usance by means of wood, fruits and medicine. A secondary or disturbed primary forest can be very species rich and sustain generations of people when used adequately (not cut off), but only when there are undisturbed forests left to act as a refuge and source for the species inhabiting the used patch.
Used patches standing alone lose most of their species over time (plants and animals).
By the way, this does not apply to tropical forests alone...
Regards,
Christian
