Description:

The widespread destruction of tropical rainforest ecosystems and the consequent extinction of numerous plant and animal species is happening before we know even the most basic facts about what we are losing.

Covering only 6 percent of the Earth's surface, tropical moist forests contain at least half of all species. The abundant botanical resources of tropical forests have already provided tangible medical advances; yet only 1 percent of the known plant and animal species have been thoroughly examined for their medicinal potentials. Meanwhile, 2 percent of the world's rainforests are irreparably damaged each year. Scientists estimate that, at the accelerating rate at which rainforests are now being destroyed, as much as 20 or 25 percent of the world's plant species will be extinct by the year 2000.

Approximately 7,000 medical compounds prescribed by Western doctors are derived from plants. These drugs had an estimated retail value of US$43 billion in 1985. Seventy percent of the 3000 plants identified by the United States National Cancer Institute as having potential anti-cancer properties are endemic to the rainforest. Tropical forest species serve Western surgery and internal medicine in three ways. First, extracts from organisms can be used directly as drugs. For maladies ranging from nagging headaches to lethal contagions such as malaria, rainforest medicines have provided modern society with a variety of cures and pain relievers.