Rainforests have been exploited for years for the high-value hardwoods like teak and mahogany to supply the timber markets in Europe, Japan and the USA.! An estimated 5 million hectares (50,000 square kilometres) of rainforest is lost each year to logging.!  Many logging companies are now trying to reduce the impact of logging by taking only ?selected? trees and allowing the forest to regrow naturally.

However, large, valuable trees do not tend to live close to each other, meaning that logging operations spread out over a wide area.! When a large tree is felled, it brings down many of the smaller trees around it, along with all the vines, lianas and climbers on it. !

Removing the felled tree causes further destruction, as the massive logging vehicles used in the process plough through areas of forest to get to the felled trees, destroying all the smaller trees in the way.! It is estimated that in South-East Asia, up to 75% of the trees remaining after logging has taken place have been damaged or destroyed.! The tracks left by the huge vehicles leave the soil exposed, so that it can be easily washed away by the rains, clogging rivers with silt and increasing the chances of flooding.

Each time trees are felled, habitat for the birds, mammals and other wildlife that lived there is lost.! Once their habitat is destroyed, the creatures that lived there have to move on or die.! They can?t wait for the forest to grow back.