Rainforest habitats are lost at an alarming rate — an area equal to five football fields every minute!  Most of this is due to palm oil plantations and to supporting livestock for human consumption.

Orchid societies have been supporting efforts to preserve the rainforests. Why? We know that by keeping native habitats intact, we ensure the survival of thousands of species of animals and plants, including the orchids we love. In fact, we are ensuring the survival of all living things on earth, because the rainforests are known as “the lungs of the earth”. It is in the rainforests that much of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere becomes part of the process of the plants’ photosynthesis, during which our food is produced, and during which the plants release the oxygen we need to breathe.