Why Scarlet Macaws Gather at Peru’s Clay Licks Every Morning
Scarlet macaws visit Peru’s clay licks for minerals, social cues, and survival. Learn how Tambopata’s riverbanks reveal rainforest ecology in action.
Discover the extraordinary animals, plants and ecological relationships that make rainforests so diverse. This pillar brings together Fund The Planet stories about species, habitats, adaptation and the connections that keep forest ecosystems functioning.
Rainforest biodiversity matters because the relationships between plants, animals, fungi and other living things help keep forest ecosystems functioning. Pollinators, seed dispersers, fungi, trees, insects and predators each affect what can grow, reproduce and survive. These connections help shape healthy habitats, clean water and nutrient cycles. They also link activity on the forest floor to life high in the canopy, which is why biodiversity matters far beyond a list of remarkable species.
Those relationships become harder to sustain when forest habitat is cleared or broken into smaller pieces. Fragmentation can separate species from food sources, nesting areas and the routes they use through the forest. It can also change the conditions at the forest edge, affecting species that depend on shade, moisture or continuous canopy. Protecting intact rainforest habitat helps keep these connections in place and gives ecosystems more room to adapt to changing conditions.
The richness of a rainforest comes from the connections between its species. When habitats stay intact and connected, animals can move, plants can regenerate and food webs can keep working.
Fund The Planet protects rainforest habitat in the Peruvian Amazon. Keeping forest connected gives biodiversity the space it needs to persist, rather than treating species as isolated from the ecosystems around them.
Scarlet macaws visit Peru’s clay licks for minerals, social cues, and survival. Learn how Tambopata’s riverbanks reveal rainforest ecology in action.
Lowland tapirs move seeds through Amazon forests, helping regeneration after disturbance. Learn why this Vulnerable mammal matters for rainforest recovery.
Discover the green anaconda, the world’s heaviest snake: its Amazon habitat, hunting, breeding ball behavior, size, diet, and the conservation threats it
Discover the Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Peru’s national bird: its brilliant orange plumage, lekking displays, cloud forest habitat, and why its protection matters.
Discover the Amazon parrot genus: 30 species of intelligent, green-plumed birds of the tropical Americas, their habitat, threats, and why forest protection
In the dense heart of the Peruvian Amazon, sunlight trickles down and an ancient giant rises to meet it. The kapok tree,
The hoatzin bird, a creature so unique it defies easy comparison: equal parts prehistoric oddity and specialized marvel of evolution. Known locally
Picture a flash of brilliant blue slicing through the lush emerald canopy of the Amazon rainforest. It’s not just the vibrant color
In the still, shadowy waters of Amazonian rivers,the mata mata turtle lies in wait, perfectly still. Its jagged shell could be mistaken
Where sunlight falters lives one of nature’s most striking creatures: the pink river dolphin. Its delicate, blush-tinted form moves with grace, navigating
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