A comprehensive plan for the protection of this most valuable natural treasure also needs to be put in place. It needs to be realized that all of us, irrespective of where we live and what we do, would be the beneficiaries of a scheme that preserves the rainforest.
Discussion.
The benefits of the rainforest are multifarious. For example, the biggest Rainforest in the world "The Amazon- has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet." It produces more than 20 percent of the world oxygen by recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin. More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the rainforest, and more than 80 percent of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest. But the importance of the rainforest as a "pharmacy of the world- may also prove to be the key to its survival. .
Pharmacy of the World.
It may not be commonly known that Rainforests currently provide sources for one-fourth of today's medicines, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources, and 70% of the plants having anti-cancer properties are found only in the rainforest. The most interesting thing is that scientists have so far tested less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants. (Rainforest Facts, n.d.).
This means that there is immense potential of discovering countless life saving compounds and ingredients from the rainforest plants. However, we will only be able to gain access to these materials if we study and conserve the species that contain them. Luckily, such studies that had almost come to a standstill until the early eighties have picked up. In 1983, there were no U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers involved in research programs to discover new drugs or cures from plants. Today, over 100 pharmaceutical companies including giants like Merck, Abbott, Eli Lilly, SmithKline Beecham and even the US government's National Cancer Institute are engaged in plant-based research projects for possible drugs and cures for viruses, infections, cancer and AIDS.
