Walking into a rainforest is a fascinating experience. In some senses it reminds me of walking amidst the tall buildings of New York City -- on the forest floor, it seems like twilight with only filtered sunlight striking the ground. The "primary forest" consists of the older trees that grow straight up and form the canopy. Unlike the skyscrapers of New York City, the primary forest trees weave their branches into each other, so that it makes a kind of roof above the ground below. These trees often extend more the 150 feet (fifteen stories) into the sky.

Under the canopy there is a wide range of life. As in New York, the area below the canopy is a blend of people and businesses -- each business occupying a unique place within the structure of the "city". For instance, most of the restaurants in New York are located on street level, so they can attract all the hungry people who walk by on the street. If these restaurants were located at a different level of the city, perhaps they would not do as well, and perhaps go out of business. Similarly, there are many different species of plants and wildlife within the jungle, each one occupying a specific niche and sometimes providing a service to other organisms around them. The agouti, for instance, forages around on the forest floor, eating fruits that have fallen on the ground. These animals are like couriers, taking seeds from where they fall to different spots within the jungle, giving them new hope to grow and survive in a new place.

Within the primary forest there is "secondary forest", which is a younger area. As the forest lives and dies it creates new spaces and opportunities for those within and near its borders. When a large tree falls in the jungle, it often clears out a significant area around where it fell. The branches in the thick canopy are often interwoven with vines and other trees as well. When one tree falls, it produces a wake of destruction. It is clear when you come across an area where this has happened. The area is clear and the sunlight floods to the ground. After this has happened the jungles heals itself, slowly taking over, rebuilding itself to its former stature.

After this destruction has occurred, the jungle needs to harvest the lower trees. The decomposers move in to break down the trees and dying foliage. Fungus and insects do this job. As the insects and fungus move in, the birds move in as well. The birds feed on the insects. As a result of the sunlight striking the floor, new plants sprout -- plants that were not able to germinate on the dark forest floor. Slowly the forest rebuilds itself, as slowly the forest grows through these transitions and becomes primary forest again.

Again this is much the way a city works. Just like in New York. After the World Trade towers collapsed, companies and public employees came into excavate the destruction (much like the decomposers). Since that phase has been completed, the builders are moving in, much like the first plants. When the builders have completed their work, the real estate brokers will move in, followed by the business owners. As time goes on some business will succeed and others will fail. As with the jungle, some businesses will take over more space, while others will leave the environment altogether.

Markers of a healthy economy and a healthy forest can be analogous. You need old business and new business, as well as everything in between. Too much old business will not allow new businesses the environment they need to germinate -- just as an absence of old business will not provide enough shade for the new.

When walking into New York City, at first glance the tall buildings all look the same, as do the people in trench coats walking the windy streets and the neon signs and awnings. The overwhelming green of a rain forest too looks dauntingly homogenous at first glance. However, if you look at the details, you will find amazing differences throughout the entire environment.

As you can see, the health of a city and the health the jungle depend on a lot of different factors. Once in while we get an understanding of the interdependency of these systems. The recent grocery strike allowed us to see this. Although the grocers where able to keep their shelves somewhat stocked, nature is not so lucky all the time. Could you imagine if the grocery strike went on for years? What would happen to a city if it could not provide enough food to its inhabitants? How would that affect the businesses of the city?

If too many trees are cut down in the forest, too much soil is exposed. In turn, when too much soil is exposed, the tropical rains -- no longer shielded by the upper canopy -- strike the ground with extreme force, dislodging it and washing it onto the local streams. The streams are no longer shielded from the trees, and they rise in temperature and become dirty with sediment. Once that happens the environment becomes too polluted or too warm for the fish and they die. Then the animals that depend the fish die, and this creates environmental ripples of its own.

The rainforest provides us with countless products, many of which haven't even been identified -- just like cities do. The rainforest provides us with timber; food, oxygen, air and clean water, just to name a few of the precious resources. Scientists are now investigating the rainforest for its possible medicinal products. The rainforest has so much biodiversity, much of which has neither been classified nor explored. As the rainforest disappears, so do potential solutions for the world's future challenges.