Tropical forests cover 20 percent of the Earth's land surface, but they are rapidly disappearing, with some estimating the loss of 7.5 million hectares a year. This bulletin provides a set of key facts relating to this problem. It details: (1) factors involving the rate at which the forests are disappearing; (2) some of the effects of these losses (including problems of subsistance, industrial products, ecological stabilization, and genetic diversity); and (3) some things that can be done to curb the rapid loss of these forests. The document addresses what the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is doing to deal with this issue on a global scale. It provides a future scenario for the protection of tropical rain forests, along with a listing of resources that can provide more detailed accounts of the issues addressed in this publication. (TW)