They originally covered at least twice that area. The heavy vegetation blocks the rainfall, and water reaches the forest floor by rolling down branches and trunks or as a fine spray.
Tropical rainforests are the Earth's oldest living ecosystems.
Fossil records show that the forests of Southeast Asia have existed in more or less their present form for 70 to 100 million years. Rainforests are being destroyed at a staggering rate. According to the National Academy of Science, at least 50 million acres a year are lost, an area the size of England, Wales and Scotland combined. All the primary rainforests in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Haiti have been destroyed already. The Ivory Coast rainforests have been almost completely logged.