The Amazon rainforest is home to 10 million different species of animals. It is often referred to as the “lungs of the planet” as it accounts for more than 20% of the world’s oxygen. 

The rainforest is the world’s biggest rainforest and stretches around 5.5 million km2 across Brazil, Columbia, Peru and other South American countries. More than 30 million people of 350 different ethnic groups live in the Amazon rainforest itself. The trees are extremely diverse and it is estimated that the rainforest can be divided into around 390 billion individual trees split over 16000 species. 

This incredible rainforest which has been in existence over 30 millions years has in recent years been subject to deforestation due to human settlement and development and farming of land. In 2018, about 17% of the Amazon rainforest had been destroyed.

Furthermore, there have been around 72,843 fires in Brazil in 2019 with more than half within the actual region of the Amazon rainforest. These fires are having a devastating effect on the rainforest itself but also on the animals inhabiting it. 

Scientists say that the destruction of the Amazon rainforest is having a major impact on the Earth and its atmosphere. As more trees are being destroyed, less and less Carbon Dioxide is being absorbed leaving it in the air around us. Furthermore, the large amount of trees in the Amazon contributes to the moisture released in the air and in turn the formation of clouds – the Amazon is responsible for around 70% of rainfall in southern Brazil. 

It is clear that the Amazon rainforest is extremely important not only for South America but due to its size, the whole world. The Amazon is home to rare animals and by destroying the trees, we are taking away their natural environment. 

The world we live is in our home but also the future home of our children and generations to follow. It is our duty to ensure the preservation of the Amazon rainforest by re-planting trees to conserve the habitat for wildlife, local inhabitants and to stabilise the climate.  

YE STATE will continue to support this cause and are proud to announce that since launching the STATE collection, YE STATE have been involved in the planting of 500 trees within the Amazon rainforest through One Tree Planted.

Let us know your thoughts below and be sure to visit https://onetreeplanted.org/ for more information. 

The YE team