Timber Flooring? Think Again...

The subject on destruction of rain forest is an old story that most would have heard of long ago, most reports would mentioned the seriousness of the issue and the impact it will have on our earth, but not many say anything on the other byproduct from the forest harvesting, slavery.



This blog touches not only these two issues, it also include facts on the importance of preserving the rainforest, benefits the rainforest provides for the human race and others, these is a whole lot of enriching reads.



Some of the facts we should know about the rainforest,

The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.

At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like 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.

Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rainforest. Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest.

The blog also include these links on child slavery in Burma for harvesting teak, and slavery in Brazil here and here on cherry wood harvesting.