The rainforests are very important to the world for many reasons, most of them being very simple.
             One major reason is that the plants in the forest turn carbon dioxide into clean air, which helps us
             fight pollution. Also, by absorbing carbon dioxide, the rainforests help deter the greenhouse effect.
             The trees of the rainforest store carbon dioxide in their roots, stems, branches, and leaves.
             The plants and animals of the rainforest also provide us with food, fuel wood, shelter, jobs, and
             medicines. "Image losing the potential cure for cancer or AIDS that might have been found in an
             undiscovered plant from the rainforest." (Tropical Rainforest Coalition, 1996)
             "The vine Aucistrocladus koropensis may be effective in treating AIDS; we can only guess what
             other beneficial plants may be destroyed before we find them." (Allo, 1996) It is repeated often
             that the rainforest contains important plants that will cure the worst diseases of today. Although
             there is scientific proof of its value, the rainforest continues to disappear.
             "In ever sense, a standing rainforest supplies more economic wealth then if it were cleared... ...yet
             deforestation continues at an alarming rate." (Tropical Rainforest Coalition, 1996)
             According to the National Forest Association of Forest Industries (1996), "there are about 4
             billion hectares of forest in the world, of which about 25 percent is tropical rainforest."
             The rainforest is full of diversity when it comes to the plants and animals that inhabit it... many of
             them are found no where else on Earth. These species have extremely valuable medical
             properties... the only known cure for certain diseases come from species of the rainforest.
             As an example of the rainforest's diversity, "a single hectare in Kenya's Kakamega Forest may
             host between 100 and 150 different tree species, compared to only about 10 different species in a
             hectare of the ...