- Tropical rainforests provide essential ecosystem services — like water purification, erosion control, and food resources — particularly for rural and Indigenous communities.
- Loss of tropical forests triggers wildlife conflicts, increases disease risks, accelerates soil erosion, and disrupts regional and global climate patterns through reduced rainfall and increased carbon emissions.
- Tropical forest destruction is fueling a biodiversity crisis, with extinction rates far exceeding natural levels, resulting in the permanent loss of genetic resources, potential scientific discoveries, and the natural wonders that enrich human experience.
- By prioritizing conservation, sustainable development, and reforestation, humanity can protect rainforests’ ecological, economic, and cultural value — safeguarding the planet’s health for current and future generations.
A look at why rainforests are important
Rainforests around the world continue to fall. But does it really matter? Why should anyone care if some plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms disappear? After all, rainforests are often hot, humid, hard to reach, filled with insects, and home to elusive wildlife.
In truth, the concern isn’t just about losing a few species — it’s about what we stand to lose as a global community. Destroying tropical forests threatens our quality of life, destabilizes local and global climates, puts countless species at risk, and undermines vital ecosystem services that sustain human well-being.
While environmental degradation hasn’t yet triggered total system collapse in most places, we’re already seeing clear impacts. Continued loss of natural systems could leave human societies increasingly vulnerable to ecological disruptions.
Immediate consequences: Local communities hit first
The first to feel the impacts of deforestation are often the communities who live closest to the land. Tropical forests provide essential services like erosion control, water purification, flood regulation, fisheries support, and pollination — benefits particularly critical to rural and Indigenous populations who depend directly on nature for their livelihoods. Forest loss also depletes access to renewable resources such as timber, medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, and game. It eliminates the potential for sustainable ecotourism, which depends on thriving, biodiverse landscapes.
Wildlife Conflicts: As forests shrink, animals venture beyond their natural range, increasing encounters — and conflicts — with people. Crop loss and harm caused by wildlife are rising concerns in many tropical areas.
Emerging Diseases: Deforestation can increase the risk of disease outbreaks. As humans push deeper into forests, they encounter unfamiliar pathogens. Forest degradation also alters ecological balances, sometimes triggering the spillover of zoonotic diseases — like Ebola and Lassa fever — from wildlife to humans.
Erosion: Trees stabilize soil with their roots. When forests are cleared, the land becomes vulnerable to erosion. In Côte d’Ivoire, research found that forested slopes lost just 0.03 tons of soil per hectare per year, compared to 90 tons on cultivated slopes and 138 tons on bare slopes.
Climate and weather impacts
Rainforests regulate regional weather by releasing moisture into the air through transpiration. In the Amazon, up to 80% of rainfall is recycled this way. As forests are cleared, less moisture enters the atmosphere, leading to fewer rainclouds and drier conditions. NASA research has shown that during the Amazon’s dry season, deforested areas experienced hotter, drier weather than forested regions.
This drying trend can trigger a feedback loop, where rainforests transition to savannas — ecosystems that release less moisture and are more prone to fire. These changes can, in turn, further disrupt local and regional climate.
On a global scale, tropical forests play a major role in the carbon cycle. Through photosynthesis, they absorb atmospheric carbon. Forests and their soils store roughly 125% of the carbon currently in the atmosphere. When forests are cleared or burned, that carbon is released, contributing significantly to climate change. Forest destruction releases close to a billion tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Some of this can be offset by planting trees, restoring ecosystems, and letting forests regenerate naturally. Reforesting and restoring 10 million square kilometers could sequester 100–150 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 50–100 years.
The last goodbye: A more crowded but lonelier planet
Perhaps the most profound impact of tropical forest destruction is the loss of species. Extinction is a natural part of evolution, but today’s rates are 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than normal. Unlike climate impacts that may be partially reversible, extinction is permanent — especially for species not yet discovered or studied.
Most of the planet’s species remain undescribed. While we’re familiar with birds, primates, and reptiles, the vast majority of organisms — including those with potential for breakthroughs in medicine and technology — remain unknown. Their loss represents not only a diminishment of nature’s richness but a missed opportunity for humanity.
Ecologists use species-area relationships to predict biodiversity loss. A 90% reduction in habitat can result in the extinction of half the species in that area. Although we haven’t yet documented massive extinction at this scale, many scientists believe we are accumulating an “extinction debt,” where species lost due to past deforestation may vanish decades later. A study of West African primates found that more than 30% of species were projected to disappear due to historical habitat loss — a trend unlikely to be reversed by simply protecting what remains.
As species vanish, we lose genetic blueprints honed over millions of years. Each extinction is the disappearance of a unique set of traits that may have held solutions to medical, agricultural, or ecological challenges.
We also lose more intangible things: the creatures that inspired wonder as children — tigers, rhinos, macaws, and jewel-toned frogs. The erosion of biodiversity risks making our world biologically poorer and emotionally emptier — a more crowded planet, but a lonelier one.
Rebuilding global biodiversity would take millions of years — far beyond the scale of human history. Our actions now will shape the world not just for us, but for the countless generations to come.
The human case for rainforest conservation
Rainforests hold immense value: economically, culturally, ecologically, and spiritually. There is still time to act. With creativity and commitment, we can protect biodiversity and natural systems while supporting human development and well-being.
Conservation does not require sacrifice — it requires better choices. Protecting rainforests preserves options for the future and maintains the foundations of life itself. To do less would be to settle for a diminished world.
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