Rainforest
Conservation - A Personal Statement
Throughout the tropical world, rainforests
are being cut down and burned at a staggering rate - each year rainforest
acreage the size of the state of Ohio disappears.
My native country of Costa Rica is a beautiful land of mountains,
forests, lowlands, rivers, sandy beaches and more than a half-million
species of plants and animals. Maybe you have visited there and
experienced the beauty.
During the last 50 years, much of the country's once lush forest
cover was destroyed for timber exploitation and cattle ranching.
But fortunately, the Costa Rican government has made a strong commitment
to halt further loss and has set aside remaining rainforest as parks
and reserves. These efforts have put Costa Rica at the forefront
of growing international conservation awareness. Unless efforts
like this succeed in Costa Rica and elsewhere, tropical rainforests
are in danger of disappearing soon.
Even though distant, rainforests directly impact our lives. The
world's tropical rainforests are critical links in the ecological
chain of life. The rainforests contain over half the world's wild
plant, animal and insect species. One in four phamaceuticals comes
from a plant in a tropical rainforest. About 70 percent of the plants
identified by the National Cancer Institute as being useful in cancer
treatment are found only in rainforests. Rainforests produce oxygen
and consume carbon dioxide. The Amazon rainforests, for instance,
produce about 40 percent of the world's oxygen.
I regard the endangered creatures and plant life that I paint as
spokesmen, as visions of hope, for conservation efforts...and a
reminder of our duty to respect nature if we want to enjoy its bounty.
Rosita Gottlieb
For more information, Gottlieb can be contacted at: rositagottlieb@sbcglobal.net |
