Ecosystem: The Rainforest is like a living pharmacy

Tropical rainforests are among the most bio-diverse habitats on the planet. They are located around the equator - Brazil, central Africa and Madagascar, Southeast Asia, Northern Queensland and numerous islands. They are characterised by their warm temperature and high humidity. Whilst tropical rainforests cover less than 6% of the planet, they account for more than 50% of the world's terrestrial plant and animal species, and there are more that have yet to been discovered (mainly in the form of invertebrates).

There are four layers to the rainforest: the forest floor, where little light penetrates and leaves and dropped fruit decay very fast; the understory, which mostly consists of large leafed plants, trying to capture what light filters through; the canopy, which forms a roof above the forest, and is abundant with life and epiphytes and the emergent layer, where the tallest trees stick out. Considered the "lungs of the planet", rainforests are not responsible for as much oxygen as was originally thought, but they are sort of like a living pharmacy. Some of the most popular foods and flavours originate from the rainforest: chocolate, coffee, vanilla, as well as fruit, like bananas.

Rainforests are a highly threatened environment. Deforestation - where trees are cleared for mining, farming or for fuel, charcoal or paper - removes large portions of forest that will never fully recover. Madagascar, for example, has lost 90% of its original forest and contains hundreds of animals found nowhere else in the world.