5 Ways to Help Protect Rainforests

Rainforests are extremely important to us because they produce almost one-fifth of the world’s oxygen supply, which we need to breathe. The Amazon rainforest is the richest place in plant species on Earth. Almost 400 billion trees belonging to 16,000 different species grow in the Amazon rainforest. Sadly, every year, an area of tropical rainforest the size of England and Wales is cleared. If people continue to destroy rainforests at this rate, all tropical rainforests will disappear within 100 years.

Here are 5 simple steps in what you can do to help:

1. Each sheet of paper is made from a tree in a forest. Use paper products that have been produced in a responsible way (look for an FSC logo).

2. Only buy products that use sustainable palm oil (look for an RSPO label on the packets of snacks you eat and the shampoo and soap you use). It isn’t always easy to work out whether products contain palm oil. There are lots of different names used in the labelling, such as PKO, Palmitate, Stearic Acid and Steareth 20. However, you can check which brands in the UK contain 100% certified sustainable palm oil. Use the Act for Wildlife 'Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping List' here.

3.Eat more Brazil nuts! They don’t grow on farms – every single Brazil nut sold in a shop was collected directly from the Amazon rainforest. 

4. Talk to your family and friends. Ask them to buy only bananas, cocoa, orange juice, coffee and tea with environmental certification labels. Look for Rainforest Alliance certification.

5. Eat more locally-grown food, and choose apple juice instead of orange. Ask adults around you to drink less coffee.