Rainforest are not only being the lungs of the Earth, necessary for life in Earth in the long run, they are also contributing to the immediate preservation of human life. A total 121 prescription drugs are made from plants that can be found in rainforest.
Out of the 3000 plants that has been identified by the US. National Cancer Institute to be active against cancer cells, 2100 are found in rainforest.
One of the major ground breaking medicine, the Vincristine is extracted from the rainforest plant called the periwinkle. This is one of the world's most effective anticancer medication, which has dramatically decreased the number of victims taken by childood leukemia.
While 25% of western medication derived from the rainforest and over 100 pharmaceutical companies are researching new plants for possible new medications, only 1% of the rainforest plants are being researched for this purpose.
Moreover, rainforest are also key for keeping our healthy everyday diet. 80% of the developed world's food originates in the rainforest, including avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews. Yet out of the 3000 fruits that grow in rainforest, the western world cuisine only uses 200, in contrast of the local Indians who use over 2000.
The numbers speak for themselves. The real question remaining is when will the world realize that even our immediate interest is to preserve the rainforest and use them wisely.
JL
