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Richard: 2011 is the UN International Year of Forests so for this week's podcastsinenglish.com we're talking about the world’s biggest rainforest, the Amazon.
Jackie: Yes, the Amazon rainforest is special for many reasons. Firstly, it’s size. The majority, 60%, is in Brazil. 13% is in Peru and the rest is in another seven countries.
Richard: So how big is it? Five and a half million square kilometres.
Jackie: Yes, if the Amazon rainforest was a country it would be the ninth largest in the world.
Richard: Never mind how big it is. Scientists also believe the Amazon may contain half of the world’s species.
Jackie: Yes, amazingly 2 and a half million insect species, urrhh.
Richard: Tens of thousands of plants, and that’s at least 40 thousand plant species.
Jackie: Yeah, two thousand birds and mammals and, apparently, one in five birds live in the rainforest of the Amazon.
Richard: And also 3,000 fish.
Jackie: Mmm, but it’s not just the animals, it’s the plants. One square kilometre can contain almost a hundred tonnes of living plants.
Richard: Yes, and that’s possibly the most important factor or fact about the Amazon because it’s an extremely important source of medicine.
Jackie: Yes, cos… cos Richard, many drugs come from plants, don’t they? I mean aspirin is an example.
Richard: Aspirin is the… is the biggest example, comes from the bark of a tree, I think, originally.
Jackie: Mmm, yeah, I mean, 25% of drugs have ingredients that come from the rainforest.
Richard: Wow. Yes, so many um… medicines come from Amazon plants but fewer than 5%, they reckon, of the tropical trees and plants have actually been tested so there could be many, many, many more medicines to come.
Jackie: Yeah. So it’s a real problem if the… if the trees go because if the trees go, the medicine goes too. And apparently today an area the size of three football pitches is destroyed every minute.
Richard: Yes, lots of facts today. Possibly that is the most important one so let’s all hope that this year, the UN Year of Forests, is going to be a successful one and we can save these important rainforests.
Jackie: Absolutely
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