Right now, tropical rainforests are being detroyed at a faster rate than any other habitat. More than fifty million acres of rainforest are seriously degraded-if not cleared-every year. We are wiping out the world's tropical rainforests.

Slash-and-burn agriculture accounts for much of this loss. Logging, cutting down trees for firewood, and clearing land for cattle also contribute to the destruction. Although these activities are not intrinsically wrong, their combined effects can be catastrophic.

The importance of rainforests is immeasurable. Remove forests, and what can happen? Lands erode. Rivers fill with silt. Floods and droughts occur. Firewood becomes scarce. People and animals starve. Hundreds and thousands of species are lost. The earth's climate patterns may even change permanently.