Q6. What Can We Do to Help Rainforests Survive?

Question 6 – What can we do to help rainforests survive?

Firstly, you need to ask yourself, do you want the rainforest to survive? What benefits does a rainforest give you – a human being? How does the rainforest directly or indirectly impact on your life? Do you need rainforests for recreation? What about for jobs? Do you need rainforests for medicine, for clean air and water? What about this notion of biodiversity?

While, of course, it’s important to think about ourselves (as individuals and as a part of a greater human community), some people are also concerned with the fate of other living species – cute and cuddly ones like the Mahogany Glider and other species that never make the tourist brochures (I bet you’ve never seen a nematode in a tourist brochure!). What can we do to help them go on existing?

Finally, some people even think about living things (like humans and plants) that aren’t even born yet! This can be quite a challenge. Imagine thinking about the welfare of your grandchildren – before they’re even born! And yet, if you’ve got it in you to think that way, then perhaps there are some things you can do now to help the rainforest.

Focus Questions

How can you and your family make a difference?
One of the great things about the future is that it hasn’t been decided. Of course, global warming and feral species, roads and tourism could all have negative impacts on the Wet Tropics! However, the beauty is that you, as an individual, can do things to ensure the survival of this amazing World Heritage area. The first two activities 6.1 and 6.2 give you the chance to build on everything you’ve learnt so far to come up with practical things that will help our forests survive.

How can your school and your community make a difference?
The more people involved in saving the rainforests, the better our chances of success. You can probably imagine that if the rainforests were destroyed it would be the local communities that would suffer the most. Activities 6.3 and 6.4 will help you work on practical thingss that your school and community can do to help our forests survive.

Are you ready to start on the First Learning Activity? (6.1)