The five largest rainforests in the world

13.10.2024

In the following article, we will introduce the five largest rainforests in the world. They play an important role in sequestering carbon and influencing precipitation and weather on a planetary scale. They are also home to a huge variety of animals and plants. Despite their importance all primeval forests are constantly facing deforestation.

Photo:Pixabay

Amazon rainforest

The largest forest in the world with an area of ​​six million square kilometers is located in the territory of Brazil and ten other South American countries. More than 40,000 species of plants grow in the Amazon Basin, and 1,300 birds, 1,000 amphibians, 3,000 fish, 430 mammals and 400 reptiles live here.

Congolese rainforest

The second largest rainforest in the world is located in Africa mainly on the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and covers an area of ​​around two million square kilometers. The main river here is the Congo, which drains an area of ​​3.7 million square kilometers. The primeval forest also covers the territory of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. Deforestation has been accelerating here since 2010.

Australian rainforest

It includes the tropical forests of the island of New Guinea and northeastern Australia. Most of the primary rainforest is found on the island of New Guinea. A large number of marsupials and sea crocodiles live here. The total area of ​​primeval forest in Australia is 3.6 million hectares and is characterized by the lowest rate of deforestation of all primeval forests. Conversely the rainforest on the island of New Guinea is facing an ever-increasing trend of deforestation.

Sundaland

This forest is found on the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Java including Malaysia. Toda the most forests remain on the island of Borneo. Between 2002 and 2019 the rainforest faced massive deforestation rates with Sumatra losing 25 percent of its forests. Sundaland is politically shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Indonesia accounts for seventy-five percent of the total deforestation. The rainforest is home to tigers, elephants, orangutans and two species of rhinoceros.

Indo-Barma

The Indo-Burma rainforests comprise a mix of tropical forests including mangroves lowland rainforests and seasonal forests. The primeval forests are significantly fragmented as a result of logging and the largest continuous area is in Myanmar. Other parts of the forest can be found in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Cambodia and India. The rainforest is inhabited by rhinos, tigers, leopards, gibbons and elephants. Cambodia contributes the most to forest loss.

Source:Earth/Editorial