We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Ninety percent of all species on Earth call the rainforests home. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a  

mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be completely consumed in less than 40 years. Nearly 200,000 acres of rainforest are lost everyday due to deforestation, burning, industrialization and farming.

Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to deforestation. Experts estimate that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest destruction. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources, and 25% of western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients. At the same time scientists have tested less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants for medicinal purposes

The Bauers Family Tree Farm can be part of the solution. By producing tropical trees in a controlled plantation, we can reduce pressure on the rainforest by taking wood out of the plantation rather that the forest. In addition to reforesting land that had previously been cleared, we are also protecting 120 acres of our land as natural rainforest. These beautiful native species of trees and plants will never be touched and will continue to be important habitat for the animals of Costa Rica for generations to come.