Who Cares About Rainforests?

Keeping rainforests standing could be our best strategy for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

I used to work for a non-profit dedicated to conserving the Amazon Rainforest. During that year, I learned much about the importance of rainforests as biodiversity hotspots, resources for local populations and indigenous people, and climate regulators. I learned how losing the Amazon could devastate the climate worldwide. But most importantly, I understood that halting deforestation and keeping rainforests alive could be our last and most important tool for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Climate change is one of the main threats to our planet and society. Rising global temperatures disrupt weather patterns, leading to more frequent and severe heatwaves, droughts, floods, and wildfires. These extreme events displace populations, threaten food security, and damage infrastructure. Melting glaciers and ice sheets cause sea levels to rise, inundating coastal areas and displacing millions. Urgent action is needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate.

Here’s how keeping rainforests standing acts as a powerful shield against a warming world.

Mitigation: Rainforests as Carbon Capture Champions

Rainforests combat climate change primarily by mitigating its effects through carbon capture. Trees and other plants act as giant carbon sinks. Through photosynthesis, they absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) — the main greenhouse gas driving climate change — from the atmosphere and convert it into organic matter such as leaves and wood, storing the carbon for centuries.

Studies estimate that the Amazon rainforest alone stores a staggering 200 billion tons of carbon. This immense capacity makes rainforests vital for reducing atmospheric CO2 levels and slowing global warming.

On the other hand, deforestation, often through slash-and-burn techniques, releases this stored carbon into the atmosphere in two main ways. Firstly, burning vegetation directly releases carbon dioxide into the air. Secondly, deforestation disrupts the natural cycle of decomposition and nutrient recycling within the rainforest. While some carbon is released as trees decompose naturally, healthy forests have a complex network of roots and soil organisms that help retain carbon for extended periods. Deforestation disrupts this system, accelerating decomposition and releasing more carbon dioxide.

Adaptation: Rainforests Building Resilience

Beyond carbon capture, rainforests play a crucial role in climate change adaptation, helping ecosystems and communities cope with the inevitable consequences of climate change. Here’s how:

1. Regulating Water Cycle

Rainforests act like giant sponges, absorbing rainwater and slowly releasing it into the atmosphere through transpiration. In a previous story, I discussed how the Amazon creates its own rainwater. This helps regulate regional rainfall patterns and mitigates the effects of droughts and floods, not just in the Amazon basin but worldwide.

2. Maintaining Soil Health

Soil is one of the most underrated parts of forests but probably the most vital. Vegetation protects the soil from erosion caused by many elements, including wind and rainfall. A healthy soil structure stores water and nutrients, which are critical for plant growth and overall ecosystem stability. For instance, rainforests store 25% to 40% of global soil carbon, occupying only 7% of Earth’s land area. This is known as a ‘carbon sink.’ It plays an essential role in how much carbon is released and when.

Without healthy soil systems, rainforests would die out.

3. Biodiversity Buffer

If you think about rainforests, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Many different species of plants and animals interacting with one another would be my answer.

Indeed, rainforests are biodiversity hotspots with complex relationships between species. This diversity allows the ecosystem to adapt and bounce back from sudden changing conditions. But species loss due to deforestation weakens this resilience, making rainforests more susceptible to severe weather events.

However, the benefits of rainforest protection extend beyond the ecosystem itself. Rainforests’ biodiversity also supports local communities by providing food, medicine, and building materials. Protecting these resources is key for their survival and cultural practices.

Threats to Rainforests

Rainforests face numerous threats from human-driven activities, including deforestation and climate change’s direct and indirect effects. And paradoxically, each of these threats accelerates the other.

Uncontrolled logging, agricultural and infrastructure expansion, and mining are the leading causes of deforestation. When trees are cut down, the stored carbon is released, accelerating climate change. However, climate change itself also poses a threat to rainforests. Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns can disrupt ecological balances established over centuries or millennia, increasing wildfires, droughts, and insect infestations. On top of that, road construction and other infrastructure projects can fragment rainforests — preventing species from moving freely in the landscape.

These threats create a destructive cycle. Deforestation contributes to climate change, which, in turn, threatens rainforests with further deforestation. We need a holistic approach to protect rainforests. This could be a story by itself, but these are some initiatives that are helping keep rainforests healthy and standing:

• Promoting sustainable practices that minimize deforestation and promote responsible logging.
• Establishing protected areas for conservation and implementing stricter regulations against illegal logging and mining.
• Supporting indigenous communities as stewards of the rainforest and incorporating their knowledge into conservation efforts. Several initiatives are currently working on incorporating this knowledge, which is helping scientists better understand rainforest ecosystems. For example, One Earth has partnered with the Baniwa people from a region bordering Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Using rainfall and drought patterns, together with the variation of the level of the waters of the rivers, these people have been able to mark the best times for pantry, preparation of the land, and harvesting for centuries. Keeping this knowledge alive is key to sustainable growth.
• Providing economic incentives for rainforest conservation, such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), that strengthen sustainable practices.

Rainforests serve as carbon sinks and natural defenses against climate change. Losing them could lead to faster global warming and unstable ecosystems. Thus, we need a unified global approach to address this challenge, such as adopting sustainability policies, committing to strong conservation programs, and working closely with indigenous peoples. Financial incentives like REDD+ can help Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities protect their lands. We need to remember that rainforests are key to achieving climate stability.