Our green lungs 

             My name is Victoria Marentez. Our Green Lungs is a website I created to educate people on the important role rainforests play in Earth’s climate. Above all, my goal is to expose people to the many viable and simple ways they can contribute to the forest conservation movement. So many other websites and articles in today’s media inundate people with scientific jargon on the desolate state of our rainforests without planting any hope. By presenting this huge problem without offering any solutions, people become overwhelmed because they don’t believe they could possibly have the power to do anything about it. So they forget about it. Forest conservation is not an insurmountable issue that only a band of ingenious scientists can hope to solve; it’s about knowing the small things each of us can do and then doing them.    

 

            Like most people, I had heard about deforestation before, but I didn’t fully understand how trees could impact my world until I took a Life and Climate on Earth course at my University. More than fulfilling one of my General Education requirements, this class opened my eyes to just how important forests are in maintaining our planet healthy. Equipped with this newfound knowledge, I felt the need to make an impact and signed up to volunteer in the Costa Rican rainforest via an International Student Volunteer (ISV) organization.

 

            For two weeks, I spent my days in the heart of the rainforest tagging trees, recording seed dispersal, and planting tree seedlings all in the name of rainforest conservation. After experiencing first hand the unparalleled diversity of these ecosystems and knowing that I was making a tangible impact, I felt the need to share what I had learned with others. Not only the science, but mainly the idea that it is possible to make a big change if enough people do something small. It is my hope that while browsing Our Green Lungs, you will gain a basic understanding of the forest-climate relationship and discover ways in which you can help improve upon this hopefully less overwhelming issue.