We also have the power to destroy the Earth. We face environmental threats of unprecedented proportions. Twenty-seven million acres of tropical forest are cleared each year. The loss of our tropical forest threatens to extinguish, forever, one-fourth of the current plant and animal species by the end of thiscentury. Time is running out.
Extinction can come quickly and extinction is forever.
Hundreds of thousands of people owe their lives today to these precious plants, shrubs and trees. The Rosy Periwinkle is an endangered tropical plant. I hope we all care because this plant is the source of the effective anti-leukemia drug used today. And, of course, we need these places for our wildlife, our plants. We need them for recreation and for renewal and inspiration.