Rainforests are the world’s oldest land-based ecosystem and are home to over 30 million species of plants and animals. One quarter of our medicines originate from rainforest species - and we have used only 1% of them so far. Rainforests are a home for millions of indigenous people. Yet the world’s rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. The biggest single cause of this is slash-and-burn farming. An estimated 300 million desperately poor “shifting cultivators” feed their families by hacking down forest in order to clear space to grow crops there, then moving to new ground. Years ago, with more forest and fewer farmers, the practice was sustainable. But nowadays the process tragically results in poverty for the farmers and the permanent conversion of rich forest to grassland.

However, sustainable alternative solutions exist. It is now important for these techniques to be promoted before the remaining rainforests deteriorate further. This is a major focus for GreenCycle.

By Daniel Elkan, a True Volunteer who has published environmental features for The Ecologist, New Scientist, Geographical, The Guardian and The Sunday Times.