Tropical rain forests may still hold thousands of natural products that could be useful as e.g., drugs. Much of the enormous biodiversity present in this biotope has not been adequately investigated and documented. It is therefore well conceivable that opportunities lie here for the development of new pharmaceuticals. Not only is there still a great deal of new substances to be described, it is also the large potential of new, as yet unknown, biosynthetical enzymes. These could be valuable as tools in the development of new natural compounds which may turn out to be innovative drugs.

Especially those areas in the world where a high degree of endemism occurs (in other words: where many species are present that live nowhere else), are worth exploring for new compounds. Unfortunately, these are often not only the most interesting, but also the most threatened. These highly endemic (rain)forests still exist in Madagascar, several Indonesian and Pacific islands, Colombia, etc. Their biodiversity can be essential for finding new important natural compounds.