Forests are ones of the world's most life-sustaining biomes, and form natural communities. It is important for every citizen of earth to understand how these communities can be preserved. Forests are like macrocosmic mirrors, reflecting how global society interconnects to thrive. By studying forests, one will gain an appreciation for the complex balance of life and the need for conservation of resources.
The beauty of a forest, the backdrop primeval for so many human dramas over the centuries, from births to battles. While many ancient forests have been lost to history, there are still some that can be experienced...
1. Cedar Forests - Lebanon, Middle East
This ancient place referenced in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible is one of the world's oldest woods.
2. Amazon Rainforests - Brazil, South America
The world's most beautiful and rapidly deteriorating rainforest. Save it while you can!
3. Congo Basin - Republic of Congo, Africa
The second-largest rainforest in the world and home to a vast variety of life.
4. East Siberean Taiga - Siberia, Russina
One of the biggest pine forests on the planet, their evergreen needles thriving in winter.
5. The Biatowieza - Hajnowka, Poland
The great pasture of the European plain, a very old forest home to big bison.
6. Daintree Rainforest - Diwan, Australia
A tropical wetland in Australia that seems to grow right out of the sea.
7. Foloi Oak Forest -Elis, Greece
This ancient Greek forest was rumored to be the home of dryads and centaurs...
8. Sagano Bamboo Forest - Kyoto, Japan
See one of the world's fastest growing resources in all their glory!
9. Tongass National Forest - Juneau, Alaska
A large and majestic forest in Alaska, home to the Inside Passage.
10. Shasta-Trinity National Forests - California, United States
Strange things are said to happen in the mountains near these forests, bigfoot and aliens...
11. The Redwoods - California, United States
Home to the gentle giants of the tallest trees in the world, the redwoods are a must-see!
12. The Black Forest - Baden, Germany
Many of our modern fairytales had seeds of truth here. Napoleon's army feared this dark place.
13. The Adirondacks - New York, United States
The inspiration of Ralph Waldo Emmerson and the best place to canoe in the summer.
14. Sherwood Forest - Nottinghamshire, England
The legendary forest where Robin Hood lived, forests have always been for those on the outskirts.
15. Olympic National Forest - Washington, United States
If you're hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, be sure to walk through Washington for this!
16. Great Bear Rainforest - British Columbia, Canada
A nature preserve in Canada home to big brown bears, rivers of salmon, and tons of trees.
17. King's Canyon - California, United States
Home to the sentient sequoias, related to redwoods but preferring inland climates.
18. Cleveland National Forest - California, United States
This dry pine forest stretches along Southern Calfornia, and is home to Mt. Palomar Observatory.
19. Donadea Forest - Leinster, Ireland
A misty, magical forest in the emerald isle with crumbled castles to discover!
20. Ashdown Forest - East Sussex, England
This is the place that the Hundred Acre Wood from Milne's Winnie the Pooh is based off.
21. Allegheny National Forest - Pennsylvania, United States
Fall foliage never looked better than in this sylvan setting back east. Great for leaf-peepers.
22. The Dark Hedges - Ballymoney, Ireland
A foreboding forest in Ireland, known for leprechaun abductions. Enter with a four-leaf clover!
23. Wistman's Wood - Devon, England
This forest has grown wild high in the hills, free from human or animal footprints, so to speak.
24. Patapsco Valley State Forest - Maryland, United States
One of the USA's smallest states holds some of its best forests. Including this one, its largest.
25. Crooked Forest - Nowe Czarnowo, Poland
The trees in this forest grow in the shape of shepherd's crooks and reach for the heavens.
26. Omiya Bonsai Village - Saitama, Japan
After seeing the world's largest trees, check out the tiniest in the place bonsai was born.
27. Montane Rainforests - Mindanao, Philippines
The rare and elusive rainbow eucalyptus trees once grew here. Perhaps some still do...
28. Blue Ridge Parkway - Virginia, United States
Home to tall trees and sapphire trails of water, a must-visit for American foresters.
29. Glowing Forest - Shikoku, Japan
Bioluminescent mushrooms light up the night in this fantastic forest of the east!
30. Petrified Forest - Arizona, United States
What was once wood turns to a substance similar to stone. The fate of all forests?
31. Sea of Trees - Mt Fuji, Japan
Japan's infamous suicide forest. A haunting and lonely place at the feet of the Fujiyama.
32. Adak National Forest - Adak, Alaska
The world's smallest forest featuring thirty-three trees started as a military experiment.
33. Electric Forest - Michigan, United States
A four-day rave held annually in Rothbury with trees made of electric lights.
34. Red Forest - Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine
A chilling reminder of why we must live responsibly: a forest of mutant animals near Chernobyl.
35. Sunken Forest - Kazakhstan, Central Asia
This massive forest was flooded, now only the tips of it's trees jut out of the waters.
36. Virtual Forest - Massachusetts, United States
A project to bring a live digital feed of forest imagery to the VR world, by Sustainability at Harvard.
37. Montverde Cloud Forest - Costa Rica, Central America
It feels like being in the sky, walking along rope bridges in the rainforest canopy of clouds.
38. Rainforest Biome - Cornwall, United Kingdom
The world's largest indoor rainforest, an experiment by the Eden Project is like a biodome.
39. Finca Bellavista - Costa Rica, Central America
You can buy land at this self-sustaining treehouse community reminiscent of Star Wars' Ewok Village.
40. Future Forests - Milky Way Galaxy, The Universe
Could there be forests on other planets yet to be discovered? Astrobiologists predict the plants won't be green. Would be have to build biodomes on mars if or when humans colonize it? There are still so many forests yet to grow, who knows what we could someday see?
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