MAJOR RAINFORESTS

Central America
Central America was once home to large rainforests but today large areas have been cleared for cattle ranching and for sugar cane plantations. Costa Rica was the first Central American nation to cultivate coffee and bananas. The Meseta Central of Costa Rica is one of the richest fertile lands used for cultivating coffee. Ranching is one of the biggest industries here and most of the beef consumed in North America originates from here. Costa Rica's climate is mild in the central highlands, tropical and subtropical in coastal areas. 65% of Central America is used for grazing cattle and over 2,000 ranching families own more than 50% of the productive land.
“The industry breakdown is as followed: a. Industry: food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, petroleum refining b. Agriculture: bananas, coffee, beef, sugarcane, rice, vegetables, ornamental plants and fruits c. Commerce and tourism: hotels, restaurants, stores, tourist services d. Major exports: ($2.1 billion) bananas, coffee, beef, textiles and clothing, sugar, fruits, flowers and ornamental plants e. Major Imports: ($2.9 billion) manufactured goods, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, fuel, foodstuffs, fertilizer.”
Central America: Maya Biosphere Reserve www.cet.edu/earthinfo/camerica/maya/MBtopic2.html
Where are the Rainforests?
www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/ rainforest/Edit560s6/www/where.html
http://planeta.com/ecotravel/center/ccarchive.html
Africa African RainforestFrom Steve Nix,
Your Guide to Forestry. http://forestry.about.com/cs/rainforest/i/african_rforest.htm
Deforestation of African Rainforests Josh Branson http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/Africa/03/bransom/branson.html

Africa
The Africa rainforests located from Senegal to the eastern part of Somalia. About 80% of the forests in Africa are mainly in the central region, especially in Zaire. The Congo River Basin, houses a tropical rainforest area that is the second largest in the world. Just like every rainforest, the raw goods the African rainforest provides is plentiful. In Dominca, the banana trees are widely used. Rainforest clearance is also prevalent because the need for timber and fuel is so great.

Australia
Australia has 2.3 million hectares of rainforest, 5.6% of the total native forest estate.(ABARE 1995). Rainforests in Australia are mainly found in Northern Queensland (tropical), and Western Tasmania (temperate), but there are also pockets of rainforest along the Great Dividing Range.
Because Australia is essentially a desert continent, it has very little rainforest. So it’s rainforest has mostly been a source for trees. Australian timber importers have adopted a policy of importing only from suppliers using the best logging methods.(Australian Timber Importers Federation 1992).
Australia's imports of rainforest timber decreased from 132,400 m3 in 1991-92 to 86,500m3 in 1997-98.(ABARE 1998). This reflects the decreasing availability of timber exports from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Rainforest timber is used to make doors, mouldings, panels, window frames, furniture and decking.

The Amazon
The Amazon jungle is the world's largest tropical rainforest and home to the longest river in the Nile. Because of it’s vast size and most unique climate, this rainforest is home to
about 1/5 of all the world's plants and birds and about 1/10 of all mammal species. The fertile land areas in the Amazon have become plantations. These plantations produce crops as bananas, pineapples, sugarcane and rice. The plantations are owned by huge billion dollar companies. The Amazon region is also famous for its soy production, known to be one of the largest producers. Livestock grazing and logging are also prevalent in this area.
Dr. Michael J. Balick
Mark Plotkin
Vasco von Roomsmalen
Journey into Amazonia- http://www.pbs.org/journeyintoamazonia/
Southern Asia
"Rainforests", http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/GEOsystem/Maps/se_asia.html, (3/18/02).
"[Biome - Living Worlds] :: Rainforest :: Plants", http://library.thinkquest.org/C0113340/text/biomes/biomes.rainforest.plants.html, (3/18/02).
"[Biome - Living Worlds] :: Rainforest", http://library.thinkquest.org/C0113340/text/biomes/biomes.rainforest.animals.html, (3/18/02).

Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is a 3,100 mile long chain of about 20,000 islands strung between Asia and Australia. The area is as vast as it is diverse. The area is about 1,112,000 square miles, almost twice the size of Alaska. The average daily temperature varies from 70°F to 90°F with extremely high humidity.
Indonesia is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that is experiencing loss of its rainforests. Indonesia consists of about 13,667 islands. In addition to the rainforests, Indonesia possesses savannah grasslands, snow-capped peaks, mangrove swamps, turquoise seas, and coral reefs. All which are being threatened into extinction. Much of this is due to mining, oil exploration and deforestation by both legal and illegal logging. The land is being used for agriculture, such as oil palm plantations that produce vegetable oil for export.(Passport to Knowledge)Vietnam, Lao PDR, and Cambodia are also countries in Southeast Asia in danger of losing its rainforests. “The Mekong River, which starts in China, tracks through evergreen forest in Laos and reaches the sea in Vietnam where the delta has been largely developed for agriculture. In Cambodia the river is linked to a huge lake - the Tonle Sap - which, together with surrounding swamp forests, acts as a natural sponge to control floods during rainy seasons.”