Picture yourself walking through a lush
green forest. The heat is intense; sweat beads up on your skin
and trickles down your back. Moisture is everywhere- dripping
off the leaves, forming pools on the forest floor, and creating
a mist in the air. The ground is soft and spongy, covered with
decaying leaves and branches. The silence is occasionally broken
by the buzz of an insect or the trill of a bird- none of the
howls and grunts you’d expect from a Tarzan movie!
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This verdant and serene place is the
rainforest, and its quiet is deceptive- it teems with a greater
diversity of life than anywhere else on the planet. Biologists
estimate that just one hectare (about 2.5 acres) of the
rainforest along the Rio Dulce in Guatemala, for example,
contains around 250,000 species! These include rare animals like
the jaguar, tapir, iguana and scarlet macaw. There are two kinds
of rainforests. Temperate rainforests can be found in cool,
moist places such as along the northern Pacific coast of the
United States and some parts of Chile, Japan and the United
Kingdom. They usually contain ten to twenty different species of
trees, and plants like mosses and ferns. Tropical rainforests,
on the other hand, can contain hundreds of different kinds of
trees and plants. You can find tropical rainforests near the
equator. Over half of all tropical rainforests are in Latin
America; one third of the world’s tropical rainforests are found
in Brazil. Other tropical rainforests are located in Southeast
Asia, the Pacific Islands and West Africa. The largest remaining
tropical forest on the continent of North America lies in the
six million acre Peten region of northern Guatemala and southern
Mexico. Next to the Amazon, the Peten is the largest tropical
rainforest in the Americas. Sapodilla trees are found in the
forests of the Peten. These trees produce a sticky sap called
chicle, the original substance from which all chewing gum was
once made, and the basis for Glee Gum!
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The ecological stability of the Peten is
severely threatened by the increased development in the region.
Outsiders are attracted by the natural beauty and by the
potential for commercial exploitation of the natural resources
there. But the increased population and infrastructure are
contributing to serious regional deforestation. Although
rainforest soil is rich and productive, it is not good farmland.
That’s because in the rainforest, the good topsoil only extends
downward about 12 inches. After that, the ground becomes
impermeable clay. The Maya, indigenous people who for centuries
have lived in and depended upon the forest for sustenance,
developed successful adaptive techniques for growing food.
Unfortunately, their traditional way of life is being abandoned,
replaced instead by the destructive techniques of monoculture
and cattle raising. To illustrate the difference between
rainforest soil and farmland, consider this: when you look at a
crop growing on good farmland, the crop is only a small fraction
of the biomass in the system. Far more biomass lies buried in
the soil down to a depth of several feet. In contrast, when you
look at the trees in a rainforest, you are looking directly at
most of the biomass. It is all up in the air, and very little is
in the soil.
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Only the top few inches of rainforest soil
is fertile. When the forest is clear cut or burned in order to
plant food crops, the soil remaining can only function for a
season or two before it is depleted. Once the rainforest is
cleared off, the soil is exposed to the direct sun; the sun
destroys the bacteria and fungi, leaving just the meager
nutrients in the top few inches of soil in which very little can
grow. The heavy rains will wash away the remaining topsoil if
there are no roots to hold it in place. The land is left
practically unusable, barren where it was once teeming with
life. In addition to the conversion of rainforest to cropland,
increased tourism and the extraction of natural resources (such
as timber) have led to major construction and infrastructure
projects which continuously threaten the natural ecological
balance needed for such rich biodiversity. Where there was once
undisturbed forest, there are now roads with cars and trucks.
They not only pollute, but also represent a serious disturbance
to the traditional lifestyles of the Maya and the entire
ecosystem. The loss of the rainforest affects all of us around
the world. We often don’t realize just how dependent we are on
plants for supporting our lifestyle- particularly those plants
that grow exclusively in the rainforest. Products such as
rubber, oils, fruits, nuts, and chocolate are all harvested
commercially from the great biodiversity found in tropical
rainforests. Many commercial medicines are made from rainforest
plants. The wood and pulp of trees cleared from the rainforest
are used for lumber, as well as to make furniture, homes, and
paper. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface;
now, less than 50 years later, they cover only 6%. Over 150
acres are lost every minute of every day. Experts estimate that
every day we also lose 130 species of plants, animals and
insects (including species we may not even be aware of!), as
they become extinct due to the destruction of rainforest land
and habitats.
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Our global ecosystem is fragile, and the
destruction caused with our machinery, infrastructure, and
careless stewardship have created serious ecological problems
worldwide. Glee Gum alone is not going to prevent the massive
destruction in the rainforest, but there are lots of other
companies and organizations dedicated to sustainable product
development. There are many ways of making small changes in our
lives that, in the long run, can help to alter the
helter-skelter course we are on now. Below are links to other
websites about rainforest conservation, sustainable development,
and other sustainable products. By living thoughtful,
responsible lives, we can make a difference. And on that note,
we’re going to climb off our soapbox and pop a piece of Glee
Gum. Mmm… helping the environment tastes great!
