# data[].attributes.body
What is fairtrade

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Fairtrade? | Fairtrade Foundation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With Fairtrade you have the power to change the world every day. With simple shopping choices, you can get farmers a better deal.

# data[].attributes.body
How can we prevent deforestation?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tips on how to help conserve forest resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Everyone can help preserve our forests, and help fight deforestation. Forest conservation interventions are best applied at government levels, but individuals can help too.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The main threat to the survival of orangutan populations in the wild is the massive expansion of palm oil plantations in Borneo and Sumatra.

Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world, having even surpassed soya in terms of usage. Surging global demand for palm oil has fueled massive forest destruction throughout Indonesia and Malaysia, countries that together account for 85% of the world's palm oil production. Palm oil is ubiquitous! Half the packaged food (and other) products found on supermarket shelves now contain palm oil. Palm oil and palm kernel oil are found in all manner of baked goods, such as cookies, bread, and potato chips, as well as in chocolate and milk (where it adds Vitamin A). Palm oil has also replaced coconut as the main cooking oil traditionally used in Indonesia as well as replacing peanut oil in Myanmar. Palm oil is also extensively used in cosmetics and toiletries where it adds creaminess and/or foam to the product. Palm oil is an important ingredient in the manufacturing of soaps, shampoos, detergents, and toothpaste. Increasingly, palm oil is used as a biofuel.

Oil palms only grow in the tropics and need much water. Originally native to South America and West Africa, palm oil plantations have now spread throughout the wet tropics to Papua New Guinea, parts of Asia, Kenya, and also back to countries in West Africa and South America where the palms are native. The problem with palm oil is that vast areas of virgin tropical rain forest are clear cut to open up land for cultivation. Palm oil is a huge industry. Palm oil accounts for 11% of Indonesia's export earnings and is the most valuable agricultural export. Overall, it is Indonesia's third largest export earner.

The recent expansion of vast monocrop oil palm plantations in Asia, the Neotropics, and Africa threatens large areas of tropical rain forests. The two most affected countries in this expansion are Indonesia and Malaysia, home of the imperiled orangutans. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) indicated in 2007 that oil palm plantations are the leading cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia. Another study by Princeton and a Swiss institution reported that between 1990 and 2005, up to 60% of palm oil expansion occurred at the expense of primary tropical rain forest. The establishment of palm oil plantations has been a disaster not only for endangered wildlife such as orangutans and tigers (in Sumatra) but has also exacerbated conflict with local communities in Indonesia over traditional land rights. Local people have been evicted from their customary land holdings and local communities impoverished, leading to much conflict with palm oil concession companies.

Help the displaced and orphan orangutans in OFI's care get a second chance at the life they deserve.

In Sumatra at least 10.8 million hectares have been opened up for palm oil plantations. The situation in Borneo is similar. Large scale conversion of tropical rain forests has had an absolutely devastating impact on biodiversity in both Borneo and Sumatra. In addition, deforestation may cause soil erosion and, because most forests have been cleared through the use of fire, massive air pollution from smoke. Much of the land on which palm oil plantations have been established consists of peat swamp forest. The draining, burning, and conversion of peat swamp forests to palm oil has been especially damaging to the world's climate as it has led to Indonesia being the third largest contributor of carbon to the world's atmosphere after China and the United States.

Palm oil companies prefer to clear primary forests, rather than degraded areas or grasslands, for economic reasons. They don't need to utilize or add as much chemical fertilizer (which is expensive) to forest land cleared by fire and fertilized from ash produced by the fire. In addition, the cost of clearing peatswamp forests is subsidized by the sale of commercially valuable timber taken from concession areas as part of the conversion process. After palm oil plantations are established, displaced starving orangutans are frequently killed in the most brutal ways as agricultural pests when they try to obtain food in the plantation areas.

The establishment of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)in 2004 set up voluntary guidelines for "greener" palm oil production and has tried to encourage palm oil expansion in a "sustainable" way that doesn't ruin primary rain forests or violate the land rights of local people. However, while this seems like a promising development, it is debatable whether it has had much influence on what actually has been happening in the field as forests continue to be torn down and local people shunted to jail for protesting the taking of their land.

How can you help?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The main threat to the survival of orangutan populations in the wild is the massive expansion of palm oil plantations in Borneo and Sumatra. Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world, having even surpassed soya in terms of usage.

# data[].attributes.body
·       Find and make a list of products we use from the rainforest.

·       Describe the products.

·       Explain what each product is commonly used for.

·       What effect does producing these products have on the rainforest?

·       What is the effect on the world?

·       What can be done to change this?

# data[].attributes.body
10 Rain Forest products

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Amazon is much more than simply a beautiful, far-off tropical rainforest. It's also a source of everyday items we rely on. Do you recognise these familiar products and ingredients?

Did you know that your favourite chocolate originates from the cacao plant? This grows wild in Central and South America and cultivating it can be a forest-friendly source of income for people who live in the Amazon.

Next time you lather on your moisturiser take a look at the ingredients. Lots of Amazonian plants - like Brazil nut and coconut oil - work wonders on your skin!

Not only do ingredients in Amazonian plants make us smell nice, they can save lives too. 70% of the plants that have proven anti-cancer properties are only found in tropical rainforests.

You can thank the Amazon for your luscious locks! Lots of ingredients found in shampoo, like the passion fruit, are grown in rainforests too.

We all love a nutritious snack but did you know that your packet of dry roasted cashew nuts started out in a faraway tropical climate such as the Amazon?

Vanilla is used in lots of our favourite foods and cosmetics because it tastes and smells so good! And you guessed it; the vanilla orchid, which produces these powerful little vanilla pods, grows in rainforests too.

We all need a caffeine fix from time to time. And did you know that shade-grown coffee can help local people earn a living while keeping the rainforest standing?

Most of us won't have visited a rainforest but a large part of our diet either originates from or is grown there - including foods such as avocados, coconuts, grapefruit, bananas, guavas and pineapples to name but few.

- Cinnamon and Pepper

You'll recognise both of these from your spice rack. No matter what kind of cuisine you're in the mood for, chances are it will be seasoned with spices found in rainforests, as they provide a wide range of spices.

Heralded as the super fruit of superfoods, açaí is already a massive health food hit. The açaí palm tree grows naturally in the Amazon rainforest and its berries, rich in protein and minerals, can be harvested without harming the forest or the species that live there.

The Amazon might seem like a very faraway place, but it affects us all.

Unfortunately, some products are grown in a way that causes harm to the rainforest and the people and animals that live there. You can make sure you're making a positive impact by choosing products that contain one or more of the following labels:

Fairtrade

Organic

Rainforest Alliance

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil)

Want to learn more about the Amazon and what it has to offer? Check out blogs from our South American experts Karina Berg, Damian Fleming, Sarah Hutchison, and Jamie Gordon.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ten products and ingredients that come from the Amazon. - WWF UK Blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Amazon is much more than simply a beautiful, far-off tropical rainforest. It's also a source of everyday items we rely on. Do you recognise these familiar products and ingredients? Did you know that your favourite chocolate originates from the cacao plant?

# data[].attributes.body
Rainforests are often called the lungs of the planet for their role in absorbing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and producing oxygen, upon which all animals depend for survival. Rainforests also stabilize climate, house incredible amounts of plants and wildlife, and produce nourishing rainfall all around the planet.

# data[].attributes.body
Biodiversity

Tropical forests cover only 6 percent of the land-area of the Earth, yet they are home to between 50 and 90 percent of the world's species. Because of tropical deforestation, at least one species is disappearing every day. This rate of extinction is now 400 times faster than at any other period in the history of the planet.

Medicines

Rainforests are a vital source of medicines. Today, less than 1 percent of the worlds tropical forest plants have been tested for pharmaceutical properties, yet a quarter of all modern medicines came originally from rainforests. Most were first discovered and used by indigenous people.

Food Diversity

Rainforests also offer a bounty of foods. Foods that we use today which originated in rainforests include coffee, cocoa, many fruits and nuts, spices, rice, and other products such as rubber, gums, resins, dyes, tannins and cane. Of an estimated 75,000 edible plants found in nature, only 150 enter world commerce and only 20 (mostly domesticated cereals) stand between human society and starvation. This makes modern agriculture extremely vulnerable to pests, diseases and changes in climate. Genes from wild plants can be used to fortify modern varieties against this vulnerability. Without rainforests, this opportunity is lost, as is the chance to develop entirely new food plants.

Climate

Tropical forests regulate global and regional climate-systems by acting as heat and water pumps. They release moisture into the atmosphere which returns to the ground as rain. When the forest is cleared, the water cycle is disrupted, temperatures increase, droughts become common, and eventually deserts may form. Estimates suggest that tropical deforestation currently contributes at least 19% of greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical forests have been described as "the lungs of the Earth". However in mature primary forest, storage and release of carbon is in balance. Carbon-dioxide consumed during photosynthesis is equalled by that released when organic matter decays. A standing forest acts as a store or sink of carbon. On the other hand, when forests are burned or logged and the debris left to decay, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

Prevention of Flooding, Soil Loss and Siltation

Tropical rainforest soils are very old and have been impoverished by eons of high rainfall leaching away their mineral nutrients. The forests have evolved to cope with this by rapidly recycling nutrients. Forest litter, and the droppings and remains of animals are quickly decomposed, releasing nutrients for uptake. Most nutrients are only available from this decomposing layer, so many rainforest trees are shallow-rooting and have buttresses for support.

Rainforests act like giant sponges, soaking up moisture, and then releasing it slowly. This moderates the flow of rivers thus preventing flooding and ensures that rivers and creeks continue to flow during periods of lower rainfall.

When the forest is cleared, rain falls directly onto the compacted soil, often resulting in serious soil-erosion, siltation and flooding. Major floods in southern Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines have been attributed to forest clearance.

Once the nutrient recycling-system is broken down, the land can't support human activities such as cattle ranching for more than a few short years.

Tropical Rainforests are Absorbers of Carbon Dioxide

Scientists now say that the rainforest ecosystem in the Brazilian Amazon is a net absorber of carbone dioxide, and therefore helps to protect the earth against the greenhouse effect. This means that primary forests may be more important as carbon sinks than either young secondary forests or plantations. Over the past few years, the forest industry has argued that plantations are needed to absorb carbon dioxide, and plantations are still being established in place of natural forests in countries such as Indonesia and Chile.

# data[].attributes.body
Plants in the rain forest grow very close together and contend with the constant threat of insect predators. They have adapted by making chemicals that researchers have found useful as medicines. Bioprospecting, or going into the rain forest in search of plants that can be used in foods, cosmetics, and medicines, has become big business during the past decade, and the amount that native communities are compensated for this varies from almost nothing to a share in later profits.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 70 percent of the anti-cancer plants identified so far are rain forest plants. A new drug under development by a private pharmaceutical company, possibly for treating HIV, is Calanolide A, which is derived from a tree discovered on Borneo, according to NCI.

Many trees and plants, like orchids, have been removed from the rain forest and cultivated. Brazil nut trees are one valuable tree that refuses to grow anywhere but in undisturbed sections of the Amazon rain forest. There, it is pollinated by bees that also visit orchids, and its seeds are spread by the agouti, a small tree mammal.

# data[].attributes.body
1.

an expert on environmental problems.

2.

any person who advocates or works to protect the air, water, animals, plants, and other natural resources from pollution or its effects.