Tropical rainforests are found between latitudes 10° N and 10° S. This includes the Amazon Basin of South America, the Zaire Basin of Africa and the islands and peninsulas of South-east Asia.
In Southeast Asia, the tropical rainforests are found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Burma and Papua New Guinea. The rainforests found in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in small patches and strips, while on the other hand, Indonesia contains one-tenth of the world’s rainforest and 40% of all Asian rainforests! However sadly, as Indonesia is progressing further into modernisation, it is losing its rainforests to commercial logging and human settlements. Malaysia too has lost about two third of its lowland forest to plantations. On a brighter side, Papua New Guinea still has areas of rainforest yet to be disturbed, due to its mountainous terrain. Papua New Guinea is home to many amazing animals, one being the largest butterfly in the world; the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing. Its wing span can reach up to 10 inches wide!
MORE INFO ON THE WEB
| http://forests.org/pngforest.html Efforts to conserve the rainforests, biodiversity, and indigenous cultures of Papua New Guinea |
| http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/3678/ A virtual tour of the Indonesian Rainforest |
Australia’s tropical rainforest are distributed along the coast of Queensland, where the weather conditions there is more or less hot and wet, due to its proximity to the equator. The rainforest there take up about 10,500 kilometre square. In the past, there was loss of rainforests to plantations, but now, policies have been introduced to promote conservation and better appreciation on the rainforests.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB
| http://www.rainforest-australia.com/ Contains numerious pictures of the Tropical Rainforest in Queensland |
Zaire basin in Africa contains the largest patch of Tropical Rainforest in Africa and about one-tenth of the world’s rainforest. Compared to the Amazon Basin in Brazil, they both have a record level of diversity. Madagascar, also a part of Africa, is the fourth largest island in the world and is one of the places in the world that has the richest plant species. It is home to 30 species of lemur and reptiles and amphibians that is found no where else in the world, one of them being the Aye aye. Its unique rich diversity is probably due to its remoteness from the mainland Africa. This has called for the conservation of the island by many naturalists.