ABSTRACT
Tropical forest originally covered about 16 million sq. kms. throughout the world; today, probably less than half remains. Although tropical forest (including rainforest) accounts for only a third of the world’s total forest, it contains four-fifths of the world’s vegetation: a single hectare of primary forest may support plant material weighing anywhere from 300 to 500 tonnes. More than that, it provides the habitat for about 50 percent of all animal and bird species. As tropical forest is destroyed, so other plant and animal life will disappear too. The recent recognition that tropical forests influence the global climate, and in particular may slow down the effects of global warming, has raised the stakes around tropical forest protection. However, to put an end to tropical deforestation will require strict regulation of multinational agricultural and logging industries. Although sustained international cooperation is essential, as well as a radical shift in the primaryresource economies of many countries, as of early 1990 there is still no international coordinating body.
