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Beyond the Tropics: All the World’s Rainforests at Risk

A global look at the urgent threats facing not just tropical but also temperate and boreal rainforests—vital for the planet's survival.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 26, 2025

A global look at the urgent threats facing not just tropical but also temperate and boreal rainforests—vital for the planet's survival.

When people think of rainforests, visions of lush, steamy jungles filled with vibrant wildlife often come to mind—those stretching across the Amazon, Congo, and Southeast Asia. While these tropical rainforests are unrivaled in biodiversity and ecological significance, they are not the only forests at risk. All types of rainforests around the world — from misty temperate groves to the frozen expanses of northern boreal forests — face escalating pressure, placing the planet’s climate, water cycles, and wildlife in jeopardy.

What Is a Rainforest?

Rainforests are forests that receive a high amount of rainfall, typically more than 80 inches (about 2000 mm) annually. These forests are characterized by dense canopies, complex ecosystems, and tremendous biodiversity. Rainforests can be classified into three main types:

Tropical Rainforests: Near the equator, warm and humid year-round.
Temperate Rainforests: In cooler coastal regions, with heavy rainfall but milder temperatures.
Boreal Rainforests: In higher latitudes (e.g., Pacific Northwest of North America, parts of Russia), combining coniferous trees and temperate rainforest conditions.

Each offers critical ecosystem services—carbon storage, water purification, climate regulation, and habitat for countless species.

Rainforests Under Threat: A Global Snapshot

While tropical rainforests, especially the Amazon, have dominated headlines, all rainforest types worldwide are facing unprecedented danger. The drivers are varied but interconnected—climate change, deforestation for agriculture and commodities, illegal logging, mining, infrastructure expansion, and wildfires.

Rainforest Type	Main Regions	Primary Threats
Tropical	Amazon, Congo, Southeast Asia	Fires, agriculture, illegal logging, mining
Temperate	Pacific Northwest (USA & Canada), Chile, New Zealand	Logging, development, invasive species
Boreal	Canada, Russia, Scandinavia	Fires, logging, oil and gas extraction, climate change

Tropical Rainforests: The Epicenter of Crisis

Tropical rainforests contain half of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity and are vital carbon sinks. Yet 2024 marked one of the worst years for tropical forest loss ever recorded:

Global loss of 6.7 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest — nearly double the previous year’s total.
Fires were responsible for nearly half of this loss, a dramatic increase from the 20% average of recent years.
Brazil accounted for 42% of global loss, with Bolivia and Colombia following due to land grabs, illegal agriculture, and drug crop cultivation.

In addition to fire, other key drivers include:

Expansion of cattle ranching and soy cultivation, especially in the Amazon.
Illegal logging and mining, often orchestrated by organized crime.
Infrastructure projects like roads and dams, fragmenting habitats.
Weak governance and lack of protection for Indigenous land rights.

As the forests shrink, so does their ability to sequester carbon, regulate rainfall, and sustain local and global biodiversity. Alarmingly, some stretches of the Amazon are now emitting more carbon than they absorb due to deforestation and drought, pushing the ecosystem towards a tipping point where recovery could become impossible.

The Congo Basin: Africa’s Green Heart Under Assault

The vast Congo Basin rainforest is the world’s second-largest and a crucial store of carbon. But deforestation rates are rising fast, due to:

Conversion of forest land to agriculture.
Charcoal production and logging—often illegal.
Poor governance and inadequate forest management.

Though it receives less attention than the Amazon, the Congo Basin is seeing record deforestation, with consequences for Africa’s climate, water security, and unique wildlife.

Southeast Asia: Palm Oil, Timber, and Vanishing Forests

Indonesia and Malaysia’s rainforests are rapidly vanishing, mostly for palm oil plantations, timber, and pulp. These forests are home to endangered orangutans, elephants, and rhinos but are being fragmented at an alarming pace. Efforts to shift to sustainable agriculture and halt illegal logging have met with mixed success, as global demand for inexpensive commodities continues to rise.

Temperate Rainforests: Overlooked but Not Immune

Temperate rainforests, such as those along the Pacific coasts of North and South America, Chile, Scotland, Norway, and New Zealand, are less famous than their tropical counterparts but are some of the world’s most ancient and unique ecosystems. These forests:

Store vast quantities of carbon in their soils and massive trees.
Support a wide array of plants and animals, some found nowhere else.

But threats abound:

Industrial logging targeting old-growth forests for timber and paper.
Development pressures from urban expansion, roads, and hydropower.
Invasive species outcompeting native flora and fauna.

For example, the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada and the Valdivian temperate forests of Chile have both faced clear-cutting and fragmentation, leading to the loss of critical wildlife and shifting carbon balances.

Boreal Rainforests: The Burning North

Boreal or “snow forests” stretch in a vast belt around the northern hemisphere, encompassing much of Canada, Russia, and Scandinavia. Large swaths qualify as rainforests where oceanic influences bring abundant moisture. They are among the largest stores of terrestrial carbon on Earth.

Major threats include:

Wildfire: Driven by human activity and intensifying climate change, record-breaking fires are burning through the boreal zone, emitting massive carbon stores.
Clear-cut logging for paper, lumber, and biofuels.
Mining and oil/gas extraction, which disturb fragile ecosystems and pollute water sources.
Climate change leading to permafrost thaw and altered hydrological cycles.

The 2024 fire season saw boreal fires push global fire-related emissions to an extraordinary 4.1 gigatons, outstripping emissions from global air travel and further accelerating warming.

Why Rainforest Loss Matters for the Whole Planet

Climate Regulation: Rainforests absorb and store billions of tons of atmospheric carbon, helping buffer the world from runaway climate change.
Biodiversity Hotspots: They harbor more than half the world’s species, many of which are not found elsewhere.
Oxygen and Water Cycles: Forests drive rainfall, stabilize watersheds, and influence regional climates far beyond their boundaries.
Livelihoods: Hundreds of millions of people, including many Indigenous communities, depend directly on forest resources.
Pharmaceuticals and Innovation: Many modern medicines originate from rainforest plants and animals.

Not All Doom: Success Stories and Hope

Despite the dire trends, there are examples where robust action, international cooperation, and respect for Indigenous land rights are stabilizing or even restoring forest ecosystems. Solutions include:

Empowering Indigenous and local communities, whose stewardship often outperforms government protection.
Strengthening forest laws, governance, and prosecution of environmental crime.
Enforcing zero-deforestation commitments in supply chains for soy, beef, palm oil, and timber.
Restoring degraded lands and prioritizing reforestation using native species.
Increasing global investment in forest conservation and sustainable livelihoods.

Some countries have demonstrated that with the right political will, large-scale forest loss can be dramatically slowed, and in rare cases, reversed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Are only tropical rainforests important for the environment?

A: No. All rainforests—tropical, temperate, and boreal—play critical, interconnected roles in regulating climate, storing carbon, supporting biodiversity, and maintaining water cycles.

Q: Why are so many rainforests burning?

A: Fires are increasingly driven by human activities like land clearing, agriculture, and criminal arson, combined with droughts and higher temperatures caused by climate change.

Q: What is meant by a forest ‘tipping point’?

A: A tipping point is when the ecological damage becomes so severe that a rainforest can no longer regenerate naturally, potentially converting to a drier, degraded landscape permanently.

Q: What can individuals do to help protect rainforests?

A: Support responsible companies, reduce consumption of products linked to deforestation (like palm oil, soy, and beef), donate to conservation groups, and advocate for policy change and Indigenous rights.

Conclusion: The Urgency of Protecting All Rainforests

In the face of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, defending the world’s rainforests is no longer only an environmental issue—it is essential for planetary stability. The window for change is narrowing, but with concerted local, national, and international action, these priceless forests can remain vital engines of life.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

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