Tropical rainforests provide resources and opportunities in 2 different ways
○ Goods = products by the rainforest in its natural state → can be obtained directly from the rainforest
■ Native food crops
■ Wild meat/fish
■ Building materials (eg/ timber)
■ Energy from HEP
■ Water
■ Medicines
○ Services = benefits that the rainforest can offer to both people and the environment
■ Air purification (removal of CO 2 )
■ Water and nutrient cycling
■ Protection against soil erosion
■ Wildlife habitats
■ Biodiversity
■ Employment opportunities
Goods supplied by the tropical rainforest:
● Plants of the rainforest include cocoa, sugar, bananas, cinnamon, vanilla and other spices
● Useful products such as rubber, rope and baskets
● Chemicals from rainforest leaves, flowers and seeds → used to make perfumes/soaps
● New medicines from the rainforest
○ Pharmaceutical companies find new ingredients to help treat/cure disease
■ Over 120 prescription drugs come from plant sources
■ ¼ of drugs are derived from rainforest ingredients
■ 25% of active ingredients for cancer-fighting drugs can only be found in rainforest
○ Indigenous tribes have used these for a long time
○ Now over 100 companies researching new drugs
■ Vital that these plants are not exploited
Services:
● Services help maintain the general health of the rainforest (eg/ water and nutrient recycling)
● Forests’ biodiversity/wildlife habitats are benefits that people enjoy
● Air purification is most valuable to people and environment (globally)
○ Trees absorb CO 2 → lower emissions
○ Deforestation needs to be reduced so that Earth has more trees to reduce CO 2 /global warming
