Thought of as the oldest ecosystem on Earth, Rainforests are made up of densely populated trees, continual rainfall and very high concentrations of animals and plants.
The most common type of Rainforest is Tropical which has a high humidity and a near constant temperature. Tropical Rainforests are mainly found on the Equator between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.
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An amazing 50% of worlds plants and animals live in Rainforests and a quarter of the world's natural medicines are made out of them.
DID YOU KNOW
It rains nearly every day in the Rainforest, hence its name. It's also really hot so gets very very humid.
A rainforest has a series of layers that make it up from the top of the trees all the way down to the ground.
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Emergent Layer (65m)
At the top of the Rainforest is an exposed layer of tree tops. Birds can get a great view from here like the Scarlet Macaw.
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Canopy (40m)
Sitting underneath the Emergent Layer is where you'll find the most animals. The canopy get's lots of sunlight perfect for growing lots of fruit and nuts.
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Understorey (20m)
It starts to get warmer here as there is very little sunlight or air getting through the canopy above creating a greenhouse effect.
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Forest Floor (0m)
It's really hot and humid down at the bottom. Lots of dead leaves and plants cover the floor. Perfect for insects and fungi to thrive!
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RAINFORESTS OF THE WORLD
Amazon
Bosawas
Congo
Daintree
Madagascan
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Monteverade Pacific
Papua New Guinea
Santa Elena Cloud Forest
Sapo
Sinharaja
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Southeast Asian
Sundarbans
Tongass
Kinabalu
Valdivian
WHO LIVES IN THE RAINFOREST?
Archie here! Here I am with the Papuans, indigenous people from the rainforest highlands of Papua New Guinea. You can find out more about them HERE.
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Many people live in the Rainforest due to its plentiful resources including water, food and shelter. It's also a great place to make medicines. Tribes and communities that live in the Rainforest have, over many hundreds of years, found remedies from toothache all the way up to forms of anaesthetic in the forest. In fact nearly 25% of the worlds medicines are developed using plants from Rainforests.
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The most famous Rainforest in the world is the Amazon in South America. There are over 400 different tribes and communities living in and around the Amazon each with their own distinct traditions and ways of living. There are even some tribes that have never had contact with the modern world and rely on their traditional teachings and ways of life to succeed. Ls
Harpy Eagle
Type of animal - Bird
Wingspan - 2m
Region - North and South America
Diet - Rodents, Monkeys and Lizards
Blue & Yellow Macaw
Type of animal - Bird
Wingspan - 1.4m
Region - South America
Diet - Fruit and Nuts
Scarlet Ibis
Type of animal - Bird
Wingspan - 30 cm
Region - South America
Diet - Fish and Crustaceans
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ORANGUTANS OF THE BORNEO JUNGLE
Orangutan's are native to only Borneo and Sumatra in the Indonesian Rainforests. The way to tell the difference between the two species of Orangutan is that the Sumatran ape has characteristically longer hair than the Bornean.
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With their populations suffering a great decline. Many sanctuaries across the island of Borneo have been set up to protect the species, helping both young and adult apes.
RAINFORESTS ON FILM
Let's learn about the world's Rainforests.
Scroll down or click on the links below to learn more about these animal-packed environemnts
ACTIVITY
1. Look up one of the rainforests above.
2. What unique animals can you find there?
3. Draw a poster of the animal advertising what makes it so unique!
