Rainforests & Pharmaceuticals

In this reports, we show that rainforests, which are home to almost all known species of life, are also essential to human existence. Our dilemma, which we have created, is that these forests are being destroyed at an increasing rate each year. Within the next thirty to forty years, rainforests may actually become extinct, and if that occurs, we may be unable to sustain our own existence. These forests are the filtering system utilized by our planet to rid the air of pollution and harmful gases. They sustain life as we now know it. Pharmaceutical giants who are researching plants to find the next cure for various deadly killer diseases are also exploring these forests. They hope that these forests hold the secrets to a longer and healthier life for our planet.

There are ways to sustain these rainforests, but much more research is needed. People must enact and enforce environmental laws to maintain the purity and sustainability of these forests. We must not harvest these forests, until we learn about the various fragile ecosystems within these rainforests. Determination of the contribution of each species of life to the complexities involved in sustainable these types of environmental developments are needed. Diversity of plant and animal life must be maintained; but the only means of survival will be through knowledge and cooperation of the human species.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

1. Introduction
   • The importance of rainforests to human survival
   • Benefits and biological resources
   • Destruction of the rainforests and its ramifications
2. Rainforests and Pharmaceutical Corporations
   • Companies involved and the benefits
     • Merck
     • Bristol-Myers Squibb
     • Glaxo
   • Importance of medical research in the rainforest
     • Natural versus chemical
     • Business, sustainable development, and research:  Why?
     • Challenges to sustainable development

The student authors would like to dedicate this report to:
Dr. Wayne Hayes and Professor Susan Eisner
and to the sustainability of life in the world's rainforests.

©Kevin Brown, Jian Ni, Lorraine Pitek
Business and the Environment, Summer, 1999
whayes@orion.ramapo.edu
June 29, 1999 05:47:32 PM