What Can You Do to Help Save
the Tropical Rainforest?
Preserving
tropical rainforests involves more than just deciding not to cut trees.
Social, political and economic factors all need to be taken into consideration.
The following are some suggestions about how you can contribute to the
solution.
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Learn more about tropical rainforests and the plants and
animals, including people, which live there. Investigate the complex issues
surrounding deforestation and possible solutions through further reading.
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Write letters to your congressional representatives or your
local paper to express concern about the destruction of the tropical rainforests.
The more you know about the topic and issues, the more specific you can
be in suggesting actions you would like your elected officials to take.
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Visit tropical countries to see the rainforest. Gaining firsthand
experience is one of the best ways to develop a an understanding of and
commitment to an issue.
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Work to protect tropical rainforests and their indigenous
peoples.
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Think globally and act locally. Practices at home, like the
ones listed below, can have an impact on the preservation of rainforests.
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Recycling aluminum cans reduces the need for bauxite, which
must be mined from the ground in tropical countries. Bauxite is the source
of aluminum.
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Buy only pets which were captive bred here in the United
States. Those which were not bred here may have been taken from the wild
and imported illegally from tropical countries.
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When purchasing tropical woods for furniture or construction,
investigate the source of the wood to determine whether it was grown in
a sustainable manner.
In all things you do, practice the environmentally sound
use and reuse of our resources. This will not only have a positive impact
on the tropical rainforest but on all the ecosystems of the world.
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