Yes, forever. And no it wasn't. The rainforest has existed for tens of millions of years (and has species much) older than humans have inhabited South America.

Yes, forever. And no it wasn't. The rainforest has existed for tens of millions of years (and has species much) older than humans have inhabited South America. And while they shaped it, there is NO way suggests we could just regrow it, even if we could organise the manpower and political will. When the forest loses the capacity to create clouds, it is game over. It will never be the same again, and that's just one of many of non-linear effects at work.