World Rainforest Day was June 22, 2023
Explore your connections to rainforests around the globe.
World Rainforest Day has come and gone for another year. It recognizes the importance of safeguarding rainforests for future generations; however it’s not widely recognized.
Tropical rainforests are stunning places. They support half of the world’s biodiversity. They’re found in just a few regions, such as the Amazon, the Congo River Basin in Africa, and Indonesia. The variety of birds stands out visually — like the rainbow feathers of the Scarlet Macaw.
The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest. The Amazon rainforest, which includes parts of nine countries and covers nearly 40% of South America, accounts for just over half the primary forests found across the tropics.
The scale of the Amazon extends beyond its forest cover. The Amazon Basin has the world's largest river. While there is some debate over the world's longest river, there is no doubt that the Amazon River is the largest river: it carries more than five times the volume of the Congo or twelve times that of the Mississippi.
The Amazon is thought to house more than half the world’s “uncontacted” tribes living in voluntary isolation from the rest of humanity. There have been hundreds of Indigenous tribes living there for millenniums and up until the past hundred years or so kept the Amazon in check and thriving. Unfortunately, Deforestation and Illegal Wildlife Trafficking have devastated the lives of mankind, flora, fauna and fungi, throughout the Amazon.
The relationship between people and rainforests runs deep. Indigenous communities continue to steward large areas of rainforests, and these ecosystems store roughly 40 percent of the world’s carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere where it would contribute to climate change. So keeping rainforests healthy means keeping people and wildlife safe too, not only in the Amazon but worldwide.
Many populations of the beautiful birds in the Amazon are at peril and are heading into extinction. By donating Parrot and Macaw molted feathers we can make a difference. See our Blog article “The Amazon Connection April 2023” for more details.
Thank You for your all your help in saving these beautiful Birds.
Steven James
Adapted from article in Mongabay By Rhett A. Butler June 22 & July 11, 2020.