It was an exhilarating feeling to walk on the
forest canopy and the view was breathtaking.
I felt like floating on the treetops experiencing the nature in its
imposing magnificence. I was walking on
the canopy walkway of the Kakum National Park of Ghana. Kakum, located in the
central region of Ghana, is one of the best preserved Rainforest reserves in
the world.
The walkway composed of 360 meters of seven swinging
bridges and six connecting wooden platforms reaching heights of around 40
meters. The walking above the treetops offered a spectacular view of the rain
forest ecosystem. Though I found it incredible, it was a slightly unsettling
experience to walk along the swaying suspended walkway connected to the platforms
built around the tall trees by thick ropes.
Several hundreds of species including plants,
animals, insects and birds live in the level of the forest canopy. These
species could not be seen on the forest floor. Kakum forest has around 300
identified kinds of birds living above the canopy. The sight of these colourful
birds gliding through the forest canopy was really fascinating.
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| Photographs by the author |
In
a rainforest most of the plant and animal life exist in the forest canopy and
not in the forest floor. Typically the canopy of tree tops will be at least 30
meters above ground. According to the biologists 60 to 90 percent of the flora
and fauna of the forest live in the canopy.
In addition to the plants, insects and birds, larger animals such as
frogs, sloths, monkeys and lizards also are found in the canopies.
The
greatest diversity of living organisms are seen in the tropical rain forests.
In fact more than 50% of all biological species on the earth are endemic to the
tropical rain forests. As the name conveys the rain forests have very high
rainfall, with an annual rainfall from 250 to 450 centimeters. World’s
rainforests are seen in the
geographical regions of Amazon river basin of Central America, Africa,
Malaysia, Australia, and India. Assam and Western Ghats of Southern India have
rainforests with ecosystems of large biodiversity.
More
than 20% of world’s Oxygen, comes from these rainforests. Poet Pablo Neruda
describes them as the “Lungs of the world”. Recently I read in an article
that “Rainforests are world’s largest pharmacies”. The reason is more than a
quarter of natural medicines are discovered in rainforests.
My
nervous and slow progress on the swaying rope-bound walkway was interrupted by
a monkey sitting on the wooden platform and staring at me. It was small, dark grayish
and with a long tail. Throat, front side and upper part of its forehead were
while. Both my hands were holding the
rope-railings on both the sides of the hanging bridge. I tried to free one hand
to retrieve my camera from its case and in the process, the bridge started
swaying wildly and I gave the effort. The monkey with a contemptuous look
jumped to the nearest tree and by the time I reached the platform, it
disappeared from my sight.
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| Photo courtesy Wikipedia |
Later
I came to know that it was an extremely rare sighting and the monkey was called
“Diana Monkey”, which was classified as one of the most endangered monkey
species. I remembered another endangered primate specie called “Lion tailed macaque”
in Silent Valley rainforest of Western Ghats of Southern India.
Destroying the
Rainforests
Globalization
and market based economic planning pose the biggest threat for our forest
wealth. Deforestation is taking place all over the world at a very fast pace
and this will have a catastrophic impact on the ecological balance.Destruction
of rainforests is the result of various factors, such as political, social and
economic compulsions. The reason for deforestation may vary from place to
place. In a globalized market there are demands for timber and other forest
products. Need for farming and agricultural products are also increasing. Farmers
cut down forests for creating farming land. Another major factor is the requirement
of additional land for new infrastructure development. The so called drivers of the economic
development are also responsible for initiating the process for the destruction
of our rain forests. Apart from the impact on ecology, deforestation displaces
indigenous people and deprives of their livelihood. It also destroys the wild-life.According
to the UN environment program, animal populations of earth, now, are 30%
lesser than in 1970. This is an alarming situation.
Two
Major segments of industry responsible for the destruction of rainforests are
identified as the “Oil production” companies of two different categories. They
are – the oil industries involved in the exploration and refining of fossil
fuel and the second are the oil companies that produce normal plant-based
cooking oils.
Rainforest
ecosystems are being destroyed for the oil exploration. The exponential growth
in global demand for the fossil fuels is the result of the industrial
development. Moreover, the burning of Petrol and other such fuels result in the
emission of Carbon Dioxide, which in turn contributes to global warming. The
exploration for fossil fuel in Africa and the Amazon region of Latin America is
being aggressively pursued by several multinational companies from the
industrialized countries. Almost one-third of the rainforests are in danger of
getting destroyed once large scale production starts taking place. In Congo the
Virunga national park is almost on the verge of destruction. Virunga region
being the last habitat of Mountain Gorilla, an endangered ape, the destruction
of forests will seriously imperil their existence.
Palm
oil is a key ingredient used in processed food and other food products
including chocolates. Palm oil is used as the primary cooking oil in most part
of the world. Palm oil is also used for making cosmetics, detergents etc. Oil
palms need a rainforest climate with a high humidity and temperature. Mass
production of palm oil resulted in the devastation of rainforests. Several
multinational companies are waiting for setting up new oil palm plantations in
various parts of Africa, Asia and South America. In Congo alone 275 million
acres of rainforest land is identified for palm oil industries.
Recently,
Ecuador Government approved the oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park in
Amazon rainforest. This region contains more biological species in one hectare
area than all the wild life in whole of North America. This decision came as a
rude shock for the ecology activists all over the world who were fighting
against such a move. The debt and the poverty of the nation had forced to take
this step. This implies that the big oil companies of China and USA may be
given opportunity to destroy millions of acres of the pristine rainforests of
the amazon basin. The Wauroni tribes, who live in the forests of Ecuador are challenging this decision of the government. They look towards the rich
countries for help.
But
the support promised by the developed countries never materialized. The
President of Ecuador expressed his helplessness saying “The world has failed
us”. He blamed the lack of foreign support.
He added “We don’t ask for charity. It is also the responsibility of the
international community in the face of climate change”
“Rainforest Alliance”, an international NGO
functioning from more than 100 locations all over the world, is working hard
spreading the message and creating consensus among the concerned countries to
take steps for protecting the remaining rainforests. All rich countries must
come forward to support this initiative, since this is not for any particular
region but for the whole of humanity.
