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This region was once entirely covered with rainforest, but large areas have been cleared for cattle ranching and for sugar cane plantations. Extensive rain forest tracts are found in Belize, where 65% of the frontier forest (large tracts of relatively undisturbed, old growth forest) remain. This is the highest percentage among Central American countries, and while only 800 acres of Belize's forests are protected, it is 12.7% of the country's total land base, the second highest in Central America.
El Salvador, on the other hand, with one of the most dense populations in Central American (6,000,00+ in only 8,009 square miles) has experienced deforestation on a catastrophic scale, and its rainforests, once abundant, have all but disappeared. Guatemala has also lost extensive rain forests, with over 98% of its original undisturbed old growth forest disappeared. It is home some of the most threatened tropical rain forests in the world. The cutting of forests for firewood, agriculture and timber sales, exacerbated by the extreme poverty among the rural population, have been the driving forces for this forest loss. Honduras is also home to some of the most threatened forests in Central America. Both temperate and tropical rain forests have been cleared to support urban development and huge banana plantations, operated by United States corporations. Only a very small percentage of the country's land is protected, just under 5%. Mexico, with both extensive temperate and tropical rain forests, is one of the most biologically diverse of the world's countries. Nicaragua has some of the largest remaining rainforests in Central America, but unfortunately, this country too is experiencing rapid deforestation. The Indio-Maiz Biosphere and the Bosawas Biosphere Reserves in southeastern and northeastern Nicaragua are large protected tracts of intact rain forests. Panama, with over 30% of its original old growth forests still intact has the second largest percentage of such forests of any Central American country. It does have the largest protected percentage (17%) but in spite of this, many species of plants and animals are still threatened.
Rain Forest Web. Org
Amazonia.Org The island of Madagascar off the coast of Africa also has tropical rainforests, and home to over 50 species of indigenous Lemurs, one of the world's most exotic mammals. 75% of the original old growth forest however, is gone and here, as in other parts of Africa, the remaining rainforests are under attack from many directions.
Mongabay.Com: Congo Rainforest
The rainforests of Asia stretch from India and Burma in the west to Malaysia and the islands of Java and Borneo in the east. Asian countries that are home to train forests are Bangladesh (which has the largest area of mangrove forests in the world), Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
Rain Forest Web. Org The area near north-eastern Queensland is known as the "Wet Tropics", with the city of Cairns at its center, is where Australia's highest rainfall occurs, and where the continent's main tropical rainforest is found.
Typically, temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the mid-latitudes in areas of high rainfall and are distinguished from other forests by higher rainfall (minimum is usually 2.000 mm/year), relative proximity to the ocean which supply moisture laden winds and coastal mountains. These mountains typically increase rainfall on the ocean facing slopes and it is here that the temperate rain forests most often occur. Temperate coniferous rain forest have the highest levels of biomass in any terrestrial ecosystem and many are distinguished by trees of epic proportions, including the famous Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) As with their tropical cousins,
temperate rain forests throughout the world are also under assault,
primarily from logging, and many are endangered.
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Costa
Rica, another Central American country with
extensive tropical rain forests, has made great efforts to conserve its
natural environment and over 12% of the country's total land mass is
protected. It also has one of the largest national park systems in
Central America. However, even with these efforts, many of Costa Rica's
rain forest plant and animal species are still threatened.
Central Africa,
home to the Congo Basin, holds the world's second
largest contiguous rainforest. This vast forest runs through six African
countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo and Zaire)
stretching from the Mountains of the Moon in the eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo to the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. Second only to the
Amazon Basin in size, the Congo Basin covers more than 1,000,000 square
miles. Logging and agricultural clearing are the two major threats
to this biologically diverse and rich region and deforestation is
happening at an alarming rate. Since the 1980's, this region the one of
the highest loss of forest rates in the world, if not the highest. Other
threats include the bushmeat and wildlife
trades, Ebola, poaching, climate change and population growth.
The
tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia are among the most biologically
rich in the world. Here again, deforestation of the rain forests
in Southern Asia is a serious environmental problem, with over 85% of
original rain forests already gone and more being destroyed daily.
