Imagine a place where there are more kinds of plants and animals than anyone has ever seen, a place filled with mysteries and marvels, surprising sights and strange sounds. Such a place really exists. It is called a tropical rainforest, and it is found in many countries around the world. Tropical rainforests are where you come across armies of ants, bird-eating spiders, giant earthworms, and squawking parrots, along with snakes gliding through the air. How exciting it would be to explore. Such a thing could only be possible that is, if there are any tropical rain forests left to explore on earth! Many people all over the world believe that the tropical rainforests are in danger of being destroyed. Deforestation is a major global problem with serious consequences to the planet. The consequences of deforestation have negative effects on the climate, biodiversity, and the atmosphere, along with threatening the cultural and physical survival of indigenous peoples. The effects are too great to continue destroying the forests. These implications as a result have encouraged public outcry. Concerns have since grown to include other forest types as well. Congress has considered a variety of legislation to stem the tide of increasing deforestation and the United States has supported a number of bilateral and multilateral initiatives to assist other countries in managing their forest resources. In addition, the issue of deforestation has acquired increasing attention in international arenas, which has translated into a maze-like array of programs, principles, and policies regarding forests.
             In this world, there are tons of tropical forests in existence, ranging from the rain forests of the Amazon to the dry woodlands of Southern Africa, from the coastal mangroves of Southeast Asia to the alpine forests in the Andean highlands of South America. Deforestation is the permanent loss of forests to other land uses such as agriculture...