Everything has a day, and apparently June 22nd is simultaneously National Chocolate Eclair Day and National Onion Rings Day in the US, and Rainforest Day around the world.
Tropical rainforests are the most astounding, important and magnificent ecosystems on our planet and here are a few ways you can get into the rainforest spirit right now.
- Journey to the centre of a rainforest from the seat of your chair by listening to the sounds of the mountain gorillas in Uganda, booming orangutans in Borneo or oropendolas in the Brazilian Amazon on the amazing global Nature Soundmap.
- Support great journalism about rainforests on Mongabay; because surely the world needs more Mongabay and less mindless mainstream media clickbait and drivel. (You can also listen to the founder of Mongabay, Rhett Butler, mediate a discussion on forest restoration today at 5pm (BST); register here.
- Check out other events on the Rainforest Day livestream.
- Watch a solid documentary featuring a good dose of rainforest restoration. Here are some good docs, including some exhilarating rainforest expeditions, straight off the bat.
- Spend 1 minute and 39 seconds watching a new species of giant rat being discovered in the heart of New Guinea.
- Podcasts about rainforests are massively underrated. Here are two of my favourite ever podcast episodes: the story of a journalist’s perilous journey through West Papua in the 1980s, and some tales from a rainforest canopy climber.
- Buy and read a good rainforest-related book. One of my favourites is Notebooks from New Guinea by Vojtech Novotny. For some reason, this list has ended up very New Guinea heavy, so sod it, go watch a video about the 39 species of birds of paradise.
- Register now to listen to one of the all-time greats in tropical ecology, John Terborgh, give a free talk about how giant herbivores such as elephants and rhinos forge rainforest ecosystems. The event is between 4-5.30 pm (BST) on June 25. (You can now watch the talk online here).
- Browse some awesome rainforest photos here.
- Follow Pagolino–a new effort by the great Charles Emogor to bring a bit of art into the world of pangolins.
- Help support the Amazon COVID relief fund, which is helping communities living in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon experiencing severe hardship as a result of the COVID-19.
- Read a cool rainforest-related paper that will make you think about rainforests in a new light. I really like this one: The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation...how humans have manipulated tropical forests over the past 45,000 years.
- This interactive article about three species of gigantic rainforest tree, and how they can help us fight climate change, are well worth reading.
Think that’ll do for now. Happy rainforest day. And enjoy the chocolate eclairs.
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