The Rainforest cREMedia 1994 All Rights Reserved. INTRODUCTION What are Rainforests? Tropical rainforests are warm, humid places which provide shelter and sustenance for an enormous variety of animal species. Tropical rainforests are also important components in the fragile ecology of our planet, giving the oxygen we need to breath and absorbing the waste gases in the atmosphere. This CD ROM describes the rainforests of our planet, from both the biological and environmental perspectives. You'll learn how rainforest ecosystems work, where the rainforests are, and what are the major threats to the integrity of the world's rainforests. You'll also find out about the wide diversity of animal and plant life in the rainforests. There are many different types of tropical rainforest, classified according to temperature, the annual amount of rainfall, the soil type, altitude, and whether they are evergreen forest or semi-deciduous forest. This warm, wet, stable environment fosters a wealth of biological richness. Although tropical rainforests cover less than 7% of the earth's surface they are home to approximately 50% of all living things on earth. There is greater diversity, per acre, of animal and plant species here than anywhere else on earth. Rainforests which have remained completely undisturbed for centuries are called primary rainforests. They are often also called pristine or virgin forests. Primary forests are relatively easy to walk through because very little sun reaches the forest floor thus keeping it almost clear of vegetation These true rainforest areas are now in the minority, secondary rainforests now accounting for a much greater area. Secondary forests, or 'jungles' are created by cutting down trees. The sun reaches the forest floor giving rise to thick, tangled undergrowth which makes walking through them extremely difficult. Most botanists and biologists broadly categorise tropical rainforests as being of three different types; montane (also known as cloud) rainforest, lowland rainforest, and swamp (or mangrove) rainforest. Forests above 10,000 ft are known as subalpine forests. Rainforest Layers Rainforest vegetation is often divided into layers. The very top layer, the emergent layer is so called because trees emerge randomly from the main forest roof. Most of the trees at this level reach 160 ft but some reach heights of 200 feet or more. These so-called pavilion trees are able to withstand burning sun, strong winds and torrential rainshowers. The next layer is called the canopy. The crowns of the trees in the canopy form an almost closed roof on the forest below, and the canopy is often divided into the upper and lower canopy. Because the top of the canopy basks in almost constant sunlight and can absorb light more easily, trees tend to have smaller leaves than those at a lower level. Usually trees in the canopy are very straight and reach heights of between 100 and 150 feet. The lower canopy is the richest layer in terms of animal and plant life. Most of the mammals that live in the canopy are nocturnal. These higher levels offer a profusion of orchids, bromeliads, ferns and mosses. The understory extends from the forest floor up to about 80 feet and contains a mix of saplings, tall shrubs, vines and palms. Leaves are often long and pointed, and their ends form 'drip tips', allowing excess water to run off quickly. Little sunlight filters into the understory, which makes it dark and humid. The forest floor is the lowest level. Plant growth on the ground is limited, because only 1-2 percent of sunlight filters down to this level. Because the soil is so poor, trees do not send deep roots into the ground but instead they form a root mat, zig-zagging across the forest floor. This mat immediately soaks up nutrients as they become available. The forest floor of pristine rainforest is remarkably uncluttered save for small plants, leaves and the decaying plant and animal matter which feed moulds and fungi. Lowland rainforests Lowland rainforests cover a greater land area than other types of rainforest - the two largest such regions are in Africa and South America. Life is so abundant in lowland rainforests that a single acre may hold as many as 15,000 separate plant and animal species. Trees in lowland rainforests can grow to heights of 150 ft or more, and are often supported by enormous buttress roots. Montane rainforests Montane forests are given the name 'cloud' forest because they are constantly shrouded in mist. Tropical tree species at these higher elevations give way to those more commonly found in temperate forests - like oak, beech and conifer. Most animal species at the higher altitudes different from those that thrive in lowland rainforests and there is a lower density of animal species. Custodians of the Forest Rainforest deforestation affects each and every one of us. We need rainforests to help stabilise our climate, to provide us with medicines, food and a host of resources, many of which remain to be discovered to this day. This potential knowledge is in danger of being lost forever as rainforests are irreversibly destroyed. The people of the rainforests have suffered, and continue to suffer the consequences of greed, corruption, thoughtlessness, ignorance and bad management at the hands of outsiders. Interference, even some that has been well-intentioned, has cost many tribes their homes, their livelihood, their religion and their lives. 'Modernizing' indigenous people is not for the western world to decide. To retain or not to retain a traditional way of life is a decision which belongs firmly to the people of the forests. It is they who must decide their future. This choice becomes more difficult as the food and shelter of the indigenous peoples diminishes. Tribes who are eager to adopt the technology of Western civilisations should be given time to make this transition at their own pace, without loss of dignity, without disturbance to their ecology, without loss of their culture, and without fear of exploitation. ECOLOGY Climate In spring and fall, the sun is equidistant between the earth's poles. As winter approaches in the southern hemisphere, the earth's axis tilts so that the northern hemisphere is warmed by the summer suns rays. As the northern hemisphere tilts further from the sun, winter approaches and summer comes to the southern hemisphere. Because the area around the equator is almost directly under the sun throughout the year the constant rise of heated air brings moisture in from the north and the south. The rising moisture condenses into rainclouds and falls on the rainforests, which may experience up to 400 inches of rain each year. Photosynthesis Plants and trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and transform it back into the oxygen our lungs need so that we can breathe. This process is known as photosynthesis. The combination of carbon dioxide, water and chlorophyll, a chemical which gives leaves their green color, allows the sun's energy to be turned into the food energy plants need to grow, whilst at the same time releasing oxygen back into the air. Soil Temperate forests usually have a thick layer of soil which contains nutrients and minerals. Roots of temperate trees often go deep into the soil. But tropical rainforest soil is mostly very old and impoverished. This is because the constant rains leach important minerals from the soil. Trees in tropical rainforests often have shallow root systems. Soil is protected by the plants and trees growing in it. In areas where trees are cut down, the heavy rains wash away the topsoil, exposing clay soil, colored red by deposits of aluminum and iron oxides The new surface layer exposed after erosion becomes cracked and hardened and useless for any form of agriculture. This type of soil is called lateritic soil Global warming The air around our planet is a mix of 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, plus a few trace gases such as methane, ozone, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). About 70% of the sun's energy reaches the earth's surface - the remainder is reflected back into space. As the energy is reflected, some of the heat is captured by the trace gases and retained in the atmosphere. This is known as 'the greenhouse effect'. Without this action, the earth would be a very cold place to live. Burning rainforests releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere adding to the greenhouse gases already present. Scientists now warn us that the increase of carbon dioxide is warming the planet up. This may lead to melting of polar ice, causing severe flooding to coastal areas around the globe. Many big cities sited on coastlines could suffer severely from the predicted rise in sea levels of between 1-3 feet. Biodiversity Tropical rainforests cover only 2% of the earth's land surface area but the diversity of life here is truly overwhelming. It is estimated that nearly 50% of the world's plant and animal species live in the rainforests. Some experts say this figure could be as high as 90%. The sheer abundance and diversity of life in the rainforests is almost impossible to imagine. Sixteen per cent of all bird species nest in the rainforests of Indonesia alone, and over 90% of the world's fern species are found in tropical rainforests. Over 300 different kinds of butterflies were found In just one square mile of African rainforest and most of the world's apes and monkeys live in the rainforest. The forests are also home to more than three fourths of all types of wild cats. Tragically, two species of animal or plant become extinct every single hour. Unless the rainforests are protected, a potential 20 million living species face extinction during the next 25-30 years. DEBATES Pressures on the rainforests Some third-world countries have enormous debts which amount in total to over one trillion dollars. The reduction of the rainforests is making this situation even worse. The profits from logging and other destructive activities like mining are short term - if the resources taken from the earth are not replaced, the available profits become less and less. Besides loss of profits, disruption of the ecosystem also leads to an increase in major disasters like flooding and famine: if there are no trees, the soil can be swept away by heavy rains, severing any remaining chance of renewed forest growth. More catastrophic are the mud slides and flooding caused by forest destruction on mountain slopes, for example along the River Ganges in Bangladesh. Flooding in this region regularly causes millions of acres of farmland to be lost, as well as claiming both human and animal life. More than 6000 people have been killed by the results of deforestation in the Philippines in recent years, and flooding in October 1993 alone left over 200 people dead in Honduras. Clear cutting Clear cutting, or logging, takes place 24 hours a day, every day. The demand for good quality tropical wood from foreign countries is high. In the process of extracting marketable hardwoods many non-commercial trees are destroyed. Clear cutting devastates the rainforests and many logging companies have no conscience about the devastating results of their actions. Heavy equipment ploughs through the forest opening up wide pathways. When felling begins, all the trees in a designated area are brought down but only a few are removed. The remainder are either burned or simply left to rot. The bulldozers and log-hauling vehicles or skidders compact the soil which eventually leads to complete degradation of the forest floor because the compacted soil cannot absorb water. Some logging companies will resort to intimidation of the forest communities, forcing them off their land or sometimes to work for the companies for minimal earnings. Japan is still the prime consumer of tropical timber, the majority of the wood coming from the island of Borneo. Europe and the United States are the second and third largest importers of rainforest woods respectively. Plantations Millions of acres of rainforest have been turned into tree farms, much of it once pristine forest. Half of the world's supply of rubber now comes from plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Oil palm plantations in many parts of Malaysia and Indonesia offer little hope of any forest regeneration. Once the plantations are established, there is an increased risk of pest attacks and further loss of soil fertility. In the past, oils obtained from palm plantations were extracted for use in cooking, but they are now mainly used in cosmetics and hair products. Mining Some tropical forest regions have very rich deposits of minerals like gold, iron, copper, and bauxite. The extraction of these minerals gives rise to serious health hazards to native peoples, flora and fauna. Highly toxic liquid mercury is used to separate gold from ore. - it runs into streams and rivers, poisoning fish and making the water unfit for human and animal consumption. Factory furnaces are fired with charcoal produced from rainforest trees. It requires one acre of rainforest to be cut down to fuel these smelters for only 90 minutes. The Grande Carajas mining program in Brazil covers a 300,000 sq mile area of former rainforest. This project alone may destroy up to 900 square miles of rainforest every year. Oil Many oil companies are responsible for clearing large areas of rainforest. As with logging and mining, exploration for oil, discovery of oil, and subsequent drilling means wide trails have to be carved out of the forest so that machinery can to get to the site of the petroleum facility. Rivers become polluted as unprocessed waste is dumped into them. Miles and miles of ugly pipelines are laid above ground through once pristine rainforest. Newly opened areas encourage the migration of settlers which in turn means further ravaging of the rainforest in that area. Dam building Flooding thousands of acres of rainforest has meant many tribes have been forced off land they have lived on for generations, and many animals have drowned. Trees are not removed before flooding because of the time and expense involved in doing so. As the vegetation decomposes it causes a great deal of environmental damage; gases are produced by decaying timber which affect the water's oxygen supply, killing many fish. The decimation of the rainforest continues when new settlers and those forced off the drowned land move into surrounding areas to farm. Cattle ranching In 1988, 300 square kilometers of rainforest in South America were destroyed by burning. Poor soil means that forest areas ear-marked for cattle pasture deteriorate quickly and become weed-ridden, toxic to cattle and therefore useless in only 5-10 years. The ravaged area is abandoned and a further section of rainforest is then cleared. Cattle ranchers are powerful people, some of whom intimidate and harrass indigenous people, peasant farmers and rubber tappers. During the 1980s over a thousand of these people were killed by gunmen hired by cattle ranchers. They were responsible for the murder of Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper who successfully organised peaceful protests against forest destruction before his death. Ranchers control large areas of land and often encourage small farmers to burn the forest so that when the soil cannot support crop farming, the cattle men can convert it into cattle pasture thus obtaining cleared land at no cost. Grazing cattle reduces areas once covered in lush vegetation to wasteland. Slash and burn farmers Countries with tropical rainforests are often poor and their Governments owe enormous debts to foreign banks. Some of these governments offer their poor incentives to move into the forests from the crowded slums of the cities. Promises of free land and seeds to grow crops are sometimes not fulfilled. For others, no job, no land to farm, and therefore no means to support their families, forces them to seek land to farm in the forest. The network of roads built by governments, the access roads into the forests by logging contractors, mining companies and others enable poor migrant settlers to gain a toehold into previously inaccessible rainforest. Poor quality soil and lack of farming experience only permits two or three years crop growth. After this time the novice farmer and his family must move on to convert a further area of rainforest for agriculture, or they end up in shanty towns set up in areas that were once virgin rainforest. This cycle of slash/burn/subsistence farming continues over and over again. Many experts believe that slash-and-burn farmers are the dominant cause of deforestation, accounting for as much as 70% the world's deforestation problem. Certainly, their numbers have increased dramatically over the years and continue to rise. Some migrants have been successful in establishing a better way of life. Others, however, have not been so fortunate and still live in dreadful poverty. Population In 1830 the world's population numbered under a billion. Rapid growth since then has increased the number of people on our planet to around 5.3 billion people. It is expected that this number will double in the next 35 years. Until population growth can be brought under control through education and use of birth control products, and until sustainable jobs and markets can be created to provide a source of income for some rainforest inhabitants, the problem of deforestation can only get much worse. Creating markets both at a local level and further afield for sustainly extracted resources is seen by many environmentalists as a big step in the right direction. RAN INTERVIEW/BEN COHEN/JASON CLAY. Selective logging In an effort to minimize environmental damage, attempts are being made in some rainforest areas to fell only valuable trees that fulfill a given criteria for sustainable and ecological removal. However, logging contractors still need to use heavy equipment to cut paths through the forest so that collection sites for the logs can be established. These roadways permit the arrival of new settlers to the area and cause the same irrevocable soil erosion problems as clear cutting. Strip felling Felling strips of forest upto 100 feet across leaves a gap that is often no wider than a natural gap formed by storm damage. When all the trees have been removed and the loggers have moved on, the migration of birds and animals back and forth across the cleared area helps to disperse tree seeds and eventually the gap is closed. If left untouched, the area regenerates naturally. Debts-for-Nature swaps Debts accrued by developing Third World countries need to be paid for and some countries with rainforest do this is by over-exploiting their forests - this offers a small amount of relief in the short term. Long term rewards can only be obtained by protecting the rainforests natural resources. Dr Thomas Lovejoy's proposal of swapping debts for nature is just one strategy helping to conserve the rainforests. Studies have shown that sustainable harvesting of forest resources is more profitable than many of the destructive activities employed today for quick profit. Swapping Debts-for-Nature has resulted in nearly $100 million worth of debts being purchased at a cost of under $20 million over a period of four years. Reserves and Parks Extractive reserves, National Parks and other protected areas now cover nearly 5% of the surface of the earth. Many more are needed, as is the money required to manage them properly. Often many parks are referred to as 'paper parks' meaning that although they are declared protected wildlife areas, illegal farming, logging and mining activities still take place because the governments do not have money for rangers and guards to patrol them. The success of such parks in the future depends on having adequate staff numbers to manage them properly. Agroforestry Agroforestry is particularly effective in areas where soils are not totally sterile and compacted. Re-using degraded deforested areas will slow down, and sometimes halt, the further destruction of primary forest. Fast growing trees and crops provide the farmer with his essential daily living requirements. In addition, these eucalyptus trees also provide income from the sale of furniture which has been crafted by the farmers themselves. (explanation on emphasis required). Floresta - a case study Ecotourism Travel is often said to be the best form of education. Raising environmental awareness can result in both moral and financial support for the protection of the rainforests. 'Green' tourists vary from the volunteer working on a local project to the sightseer. Belize was the first country to incorporate ecotourism into a national policy but unless nature tourism is monitored and carefully controlled, it could damage the very ecosystem it is trying to protect. Nature tourism on its own is not going to save the rainforests but managed properly it will make a small, but very significant, contribution. How can we help save the rainforests? At the current rate of loss it is almost impossible to believe that anything can truly save our rainforests. The picture is bleak but there are many organisations throughout the world who are working extremely hard to save the forests, but they cannot do it all by themselves. They need the help of each and every 9ne of us. (Over heading 'Support organisations committed to protecting rainforest peoples, plants and wildlife' Rainforest Action Network, a friendly, dedicated group in San Francisco, provides several Fact Sheets on many issues concerning the world's rainforests. Write to them today. (Over heading 'Write to your political representatives' Ask local and federal representatives to support initiatives aimed at rainforest conservation. (Over heading 'Consider shopping for sustainable rainforest products'. Check that the companies producing these products are paying a fair price for labour or are returning a significant portion of their profits back to the people who gather them. The list of products available on the market is growing all the time. Rainforest Action Network produces a Fact Sheet outlining retail outlets and products available. (Over heading **Check that furniture and lumber by-products crafted from rainforest woods have been ecologically extracted. Look at alternative hardwoods.' Ask if the furniture and lumber by-products you are buying have been removed by companies committed to ecologically sound logging practices. Never buy a product made from an endangered species of tropical wood. Look at alternative tropical woods such as Santa Maria which is similar to mahogany, or Granadillo which is similar to Rosewood. Check out hardwoods sustainably extracted from our own forests here in the United States. Rainforest Action Network publishes a list of such companies. (Over heading 'Recycle'. Newspapers, computer paper and white paper are all recyclable. By recycling, you will not only help to reduce the number of trees which have to be destroyed you will also be saving the homes of many living creatures and the habitats of indigenous people. Recycle aluminum cans. Aluminum cans are 100% recyclable yet one billion are thrown away each day. Millions of trees are destroyed by opening up mines to extract the mineral bauxite, used to make aluminum. (Over heading 'Do not eat rainforest beef'. It takes 18 square yards of rainforest to raise enough beef for one hamburger. Ask your local fast food restaurants where their beef comes from? If in doubt, don't buy from them. (Over heading 'Read about rainforests' Your local library will carry many fascinating, educational and entertaining books. (Over heading 'Tell your friends why you are making this commitment'. Spread the word. Let your friends and family know about the bleak future facing our tropical rainforests. We cannot go on destroying 80 acres of rainforest per minute or 115,000 acres in one day. That adds up to nearly 50 million acres of rainforest being destroyed every year. Who lives in the rainforests? It is now believed that tropical rainforests could be home to as many as 500 million people, a figure that has more than doubled since 1970. Only 50 million of these are tribespeople. The rainforest provides indigenous people with food, medicine and shelter, but people too are disappearing along with the plants and animals. Since the Second World War the destruction of our rainforests has accelerated considerably and many areas are now nothing more than barren wastelands without any chance of recovery. Primary rainforests are burned to provide grazing land for cattle, and huge tracts of forests are cleared to build highways making it easier for mining, dam building and logging activities to flourish. Hunter-gatherers Hunter-gatherers live deep in the forest. They often lead a nomadic existance and live in small family groups. They hunt, fish and gather fruits, nut and berries. To catch their prey, hunters often mimic the animal's call to draw it closer. Bows and arrows are the hunter-gatherer's main weapons. The arrows are dipped in poison, which comes from a variety of sources including plants, tree bark and the toxic skin of tree frogs. Another weapon used is the blow pipe. Made from bamboo, a pointed dart is forcibly ejected from the pipe by blowing hard into one end of the pipe. Shifting cultivators Shifting cultivators practise a type of farming which makes the best possible use of the rainforests poor soil. Small areas of forest are cleared. The vegetation is left to dry out which usually takes about one month, after which it is burned. The resulting ash contains valuable plant nutrients and serves as fertiliser. Crops are immediately planted to decrease the chances of the rains washing away the nutrient rich ash. A large variety of crops are grown to reduce the risk of loss from possible disease or pest attacks. Rubber tappers There are still approximately 500,000 rubber tappers in Brazil who depend on the rainforests to make a living. The majority live in Acre, near the Peruvian and Bolivian border. Rubber is a sustainable rainforest resource. Approximately one cup of latex is obtained from each tree per day and a single rubber tree can provide latex for many years during which time no harm is done to the tree. Airplane tires are often made from 100% natural rubber because of its heat resistant quality and its elasticity. Besides extracting rubber, tappers also gather brazil nuts for use in a variety of food items. Oil extracted from the brazil nut is used commercially in hair conditioner. Rubber and brazil nuts are both good examples of the many renewable resources rainforest trees provide. There has been much conflict over the years between rubber tappers and cattle ranchers who burn down trees to turn the land into grazing areas for cattle. The results of such conflict have often been bloody. Several rubber tappers and their leaders have been murdered, the most notable being Chico Mendes the founder of the rubber tappers union who was murdered in 1988. Shaman The shaman knows how to use plants to treat many illnesses, from a simple ear infection to blood disorders. Although most healers are men, women also fulfill this role. Cures for modern day incurable illnesses such as the common cold, cancer and AIDS may well be found in tropical vegetation. But time is running out. At the current rate of deforestation, 115,000 acres a day, it is estimated that all rainforests will disappear in less than 40 years together with the extinction of a vast array of potential new disease treatments. ANIMAL AND PLANT NARRATIONS Ants Black - 10 secs Leafcutter - 18 secs Ants are found in most regions of the world and there are many kinds found in the rainforests. These black ants are similar to those found in temperate regions, while the more exotic leafcutter ants shown in this movie clip are restricted to tropical regions. Leafcutter ants do no eat the leaves they cut - instead they use the leaves to cultivate a special kind of fungus that they use for food. Butterflies Morphid - 15 secs Heliconids - 30 secs As with many kinds of insects, the largest most colorful butterfly species are found in tropical rainforests. These morphid butterflies are found in Central and South America. The smaller heliconid butterflies shown here are also an American species. This species is called the Zebra because of its wing patterning - heliconid butterflies are poisonous to protect them against predators. Orthoptera slide show The insects belonging to the order Orthoptera mainly live in the tropics and are large, short bodied insects including cockroaches like the giant cockroach and the hissing cockroach. This group of insects also includes leaf insects and stick insects as well as the mantises. Few members of this group are good flyers. Fish - introductory narration Pacu - 16 secs Rainforests are wet places, and contain many rivers, streams and lakes. A host of freshwater fish species live in these environments, often typified by muddy, brackish conditions with low visibility. The pacu shown in this clip is an Amazon fish prized for its food value. Characins Piranha - 20secs Piranhas are fish belonging to a group called characins. They grow up to 14 inches long and have a voracious appetite - a hungry school of these fish will quickly eat an injured animal, using their extremely sharp teeth to bite off chunks of flesh. Cichlids 16 secs Cichlids are perch-like fish found mainly in Africa and South America. They usually have deep flattened bodies and live in still or slow moving waters where they hide and pounce on smaller fish. Ray-finned Arapaima, Arawana - 24 secs This group of primitive fishes includes the arapaima, a giant that eats small fish and grows to 7-8 feet long. The arawana is a 2 foot long bony tongued fish that can leap out of the water to catch insects from overhanging branches. Birds - introductory narration Birds feeding, 30 secs Tropical rainforests are home to a variety of bird species, from the brightly colored parrots to the huge birds of prey that eat fish, frogs and mammals. Hummingbird 40 seconds There are 330 species of hummingbird, and they all live in the Americas. Hummingbirds hover in mid-air, beating their wings up to 80 times a second. They suck nectar from flowers. Parrot 30 secs Parrots are noisy, highly social birds that eat fruits and nuts, which they crack open with their powerful hook-shaped bills. Because of their unique intelligence and ability to mimick human speech, parrots are much prized as pets, and the number in the wild has been drastically reduced in recent years. Reptiles Reptile and amphibian diversity Composite of 10 secs tree frog, 5 secs poison arrow frog, 5 secs basilisk etc. Reptiles are cold blooded animals dependent on atmospheric heat to raise their metabolism to a level at which the animals can be active. Unlike many reptiles that bask in the daytime sun to absorb heat, the constant warmth of the rainforest means that these animals can remain constantly active. This is why the largest, most exotic reptiles like huge snakes and lizards are often found in rainforest environments. Chameleon - helmetted 30 secs This helmetted chameleon is a slow moving insect-eater. It has a pair of domed shaped eyes which can be rotated independently to search for prey. Chameleons have long prehensile tongues which they shoot out to catch insects. Gecko 15 secs Geckos are found throughout the world's rainforests. They are usually between 2 and 12 inches in size and have feet like suction cups which help them climb on vertical surfaces. Geckos eat insects, and often live in houses in the tropics. Iguana 21 secs This common iguana filmed in Costa Rica grows to 5 feet long when adult. Iguanas are good swimmers and will often drop into streams and rivers to avoid predators. Although they look dangerous, iguanas eat mainly fruit. Monitor 16 secs Monitors are a unique group of OldWorld lizards characterized by their long necks and long narrow head containing rows of sharp teeth. Monitors often swallow their prey whole, like snakes. OW tree frog 11 secs Also called Rhacophorid frogs, these amphibians live mainly in trees and lay their eggs in foam nests. They have large disks on their toes to help them climb. Skink 30 secs This giant Solomon Island skink is a member of a group of reptiles found throughout the Old World and New World tropics. True tree frog 10 secs Tree frogs are adapted to living in trees, and have pads on their toes to help them cling to leaves and branches. They can leap to catch insects. Mammals - introductory narration The rainforests of the world are home to a rich variety of monkey species like the South American saki, the Madagascan lemur and the langur from southeast Asia. At ground level, big cats like the Sumatran tiger and South American jaguar hunt for prey - these cats are also agile climbers and often wait on branches for their prey to pass beneath. Bears like the insect-eating Indian sloth bear and Malayan Sun bear also live in the Asian rainforest. The sun bear eat small vertebrate animals and honey, and can also climb well. At ground level, some groups of mammals prefer a vegetarian diet. The bearded pig from Borneo is a forest plant-eater and large rodents also live in rainforests - this example is the South American capybara. Howler + Capuchin 7 secs + 15 secs There are over 60 species of monkey in the New World rainforests. The howler monkey is known for its roaring call, made by an enlarged throat sac. Like most monkeys, the capuchin monkey is an agile climber and feeds on fruit, leaves and insects. Babirusa 25 secs These babirusa are from the island of Sulawesi. The male has two pairs of curved tusks but the female has no tusks at all. Coatimundi 16 secs The coatimundi lives in Central and South America, amd looks rather like a racoon. Coatimundis live in small groups and eat a variety of foods including plants, roots and insects. Apes Gorilla - 34 secs Gorillas live in both lowland and montane rainforests of Africa. This juvenile will grow to weigh between 5 and 600 pounds when full grown. Orangutan means 'person of the forest'. There are two types, the Bornean and the Sumatran named after the islands on which they live. Orangutans from Borneo have broader faces, their hair is darker auburn and they are shorter than orangutans from Sumatra. The numbers of orangutans living in the wild has decreased by nearly 50% in just the past 10 years. Sloth 50 secs This three toed sloth, and its cousin the two toed sloth, lives in the rainforests of Central and South America. Sloths use their long claws to hang upside down from branches. They move very slowly - so slowly that green algae often grows in the animals' fur. Lianas Lianas are the coiled ropelike vines that hang down from the rainforest treetops and were made famous as Tarzan's favorite mode of transport. Lianas start life as shrubs on the forest floor, sending runners up tree trunks to grow into the canopy of the rainforest. Lianas can even stretch between two or more tall trees. Strangler animation Strangler figs seedlings encircle a rainforest tree and gradually grow up its trunk. The offshoots of the fig become so dense that they gradually 'strangle' the host tree so that it eventually dies. Orchids These brilliantly colored orchids show the wide variety of patterns and colors that has made them such prized greenhouse plants. Orchids are epiphytes or air plants, anchoring themselves to the moss, lichen or soil that accumulates on the branches of rainforest trees. Orchids are pollinated by insects and many store water in their bulb-like bases.