One half of Earth's biodiversity resides in the Amazon rainforest.
One hectare (2.47 acres) of land can contain over 480 species of trees.
One square mile of rainforest houses more than 50,000 insect species.
Over 2,000 species of fish have been identified in the Amazon Basin
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants with anti-cancer properties, 70% of these are found only in the rainforest.
The "living lungs of our Earth," the Amazon rainforest generates over 20% of the world's oxygen.
Some Tragic Realities . . .
1.5 acres of rainforest is lost every second.
Over 34 square acres of rainforest are burned every 23 seconds.
Up to 78 million acres of rainforest are destroyed every year.
80-90% of Earth's remaining rainforest is predicted to disappear by the year 2020.
137 species of plants and animals go extinct every day.
50,000 species of plants and animals go extinct every year.
It was only 500 years ago that the indigenous population was in the millions.
Deforestation is the second principal source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, contributing 25% of carbon emissions to our atmosphere.
The Rainforest
Sanctuary Initiative:
A Crucial Investment in Planetary Survival
Saving the Amazonian rainforest is a moral obligation for all of us. It is no longer simply a romantic idea of protecting an exotic place witnessed in IMAX films. The Amazon is a life-generating ecosystem vital to our species-wide survival. Rainforest conservation means preventing the extinction of hundreds of thousands of plant and animal species, as well as protecting the cultural heritage and sacred lands of innumerable indigenous people. Protecting the Amazon is literally a matter of saving our Earth, ourselves and our children.
In fulfillment of our earth stewardship vision in service to future generations, The Heart of the Healer (THOTH) Foundation has formed the Rainforest Sanctuary Initiative. This earth stewardship program is designed to ensure the preservation of Amazonian biodiversity and the protection of threatened indigenous cultures. Our intent is to create a model of sustainable development that provides for the economic well-being of local communities while supporting the health of our earth mother.
The Rainforest Sanctuary Initiative consists of two phases. Phase I includes the purchase of land for environmental conservation and sustainable development focused on permaculture and reforestation. Phase II involves the creation of a residential center, where individuals will come to visit, volunteer, learn, or commune with the sacred heart of the Amazon and her people. We will offer hands-on education on rainforest sustainability, alternative energy living, indigenous medicine, art and language. All components will be developed, initiated and maintained as cooperative endeavors with the local indigenous people.
THOTH envisions working side by side with the people who have stewarded this land with their hearts and souls for untold generations. Teaching by example, experience and observation, we will demonstrate that their long held ways of living in harmony with the Earth and each other continue to be the most economically valuable, as well as providing the greatest hope for our planet. We will incorporate the best of what has worked traditionally-the knowledge, the wisdom, the experience of the millennia-with the conscious use of modern technology and information sharing. By weaving the past with the present and the future, traditional farm products, medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, oil and other sustainable resources of the Amazon can be grown in ways that make the land even more fertile. This, in turn, improves economic well-being by providing a sustainable way of living for the people.
As an example, it is known that rainforest land converted to cattle operations yields $60 per acre, and if timber is harvested the land is worth $400 per acre. However, if the renewable and sustainable resources are harvested, the land will yield $2,400 per acre. Communities and tribes can earn five to ten times more in wild-harvesting medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, and oils than they can by chopping or burning down the rainforest. Many plants, such as acai, una de gato and pau d'arco, are found only in the Amazon and can be marketed to the growing global population seeking the health providing qualities of organic products, or products grown in sustainable ways. THOTH will advance the use of these sustainable and renewable resources to stop the destruction of the rainforest by making conservation a comfortable and economically attractive reality for Peru's indigenous people.
THOTH has purchased our first 40 hectares (98.8 acres) of endangered rainforest
in the Community of La Torre, located on the Tambopata River in the department of Madre de Dios in the southeast Amazon of Peru. We urgently need your help to prevent more tragic realities. THOTH is committed to putting over 14,000 acres into conservation in 2008-2009. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to THOTH's Rainforest Sanctuary Initiative. In the time it took you to read this article, approximately 270 acres of rainforest was lost to the world. Please act now!
we will demonstrate that their long held ways of living in harmony with the Earth and each other continue to be the most economically valuable, as well as providing the greatest hope for our planet. We will incorporate the best of what has worked traditionally-the knowledge, the wisdom, the experience of the millennia-with the conscious use of modern technology and information sharing. By weaving the past with the present and the future, traditional farm products, medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, oil and other sustainable resources of the Amazon can be grown in ways that make the land even more fertile. This, in turn, improves economic well-being by providing a sustainable way of living for the people. 
in the Community of La Torre, located on the Tambopata River in the department of Madre de Dios in the southeast Amazon of Peru. We urgently need your help to prevent more tragic realities. THOTH is committed to putting over 14,000 acres into conservation in 2008-2009. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to THOTH's Rainforest Sanctuary Initiative. In the time it took you to read this article, approximately 270 acres of rainforest was lost to the world. Please act now! 
