With the tapestry of life untangling at its fastest in the wildlife-rich tropics, purposeful adventures in rainforests have never been more important. I’m a big believer that the more people that get to experience the wonder of Earth’s greatest ecosystem, the more will choose to defend it.
So whether you’re wanting to do fieldwork as part of a degree, are looking to join a volunteering experience, go an expedition, or just want to support a good ecotourism operator, here are a few reasons why visiting a rainforest might be a good idea.
- To contribute to conservation efforts. Really, this should be number one, two, three, four and five. The pace of change in tropical regions is astounding. While a lot of it is bad (see point three), there’s also a tonne of great projects out there chiselling away at seemingly intractable problems, restoring rainforests, and making a real difference on the ground. Do your research properly and then get involved.
- To understand the big picture. With tropical forests covering just 16% of our planet’s land surface, but hosting over half of all life on Earth, a walk through a rainforest thrumming with sounds and movement can really put into perspective other conservation problems at home.
- To see how other cultures live. You can learn so much from people that live in and around rainforests every day and that depend on them for their livelihood. Plus, you get to eat amazing food.
- To see what’s at stake. In 2018, we lost an area of old-growth tropical forest the size of Belgium, an area of tropical tree cover the size of Nicaragua and an area of the Amazon 134 times the land size of Manhattan. Although these are the kind of statistics most of us interested in the environment are used to hearing, it can be hard to connect with the numbers alone. Seeing the coalface of deforestation and degradation in person can be a real eye-opener.
- To find something new. The exciting thing about rainforests is that there is so much that is still unknown about these ecosystems. Tropical rainforests are one of the few places on Earth where it’s still possible to get the buzz of what it must have been like to be part of the era of Victorian discovery. Countless species remain undescribed. You can find a whole new genus of frog in a roadside puddle in the Western Ghats. Or a GIANT rat on a volcanic plateau in PNG.
- To shine a spotlight on something important. With the mainstream media largely ignoring the issues of biodiversity loss, and with the people most affected by its impacts and by forest loss more generally rarely having their voices heard, maybe you can do important work to point eyes towards an issue. Here’s a great example.
- To have your mind changed. There are few things more satisfying (although usually retrospectively) than realising you were completely wrong about something and changing your mind. Conservation is bloody complicated. You can go out thinking one thing and come back with a whole new mindset, informed by what you see and hear, and by nuances you learn about.
- To challenge yourself. It can be tough living somewhere sweaty and muddy for long periods of time. But you can learn a lot from setbacks and hardships, and there are always those rewarding moments that make it all worth it.
Things always go wrong in the rainforest
Fieldwork Flops: from collapsed bridges to cloud forest cults
- To discover a passion and purpose. One of my all-time heroes, Rhett Butler of Mongabay fame tells of how the origins of his outlet and his obsession with tropical forests came from seeing Orangutan in Borneo, and hearing about the destruction of a forest river ecosystem in Ecuador. So many of today’s conservationists can point to similar inflection points in their lives, where a visit to a rainforest set them on the conservation path. Although I will never be a Rhett Butler of the world, I will forever be grateful for my first visits to Tanzania and Borneo, which got me hooked on rainforests and dedicated to making whatever small difference I can in helping them.
- For the sheer experience. Because it will be an experience.
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