140 Amazing Facts About Forest

Facts About Forest: A forest is an area surrounded by dense vegetation. There are various definitions of forest, based on different criteria. Widely used According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations definition, in 2006 forests covered four billion hectares (15 million square miles), or about 30 percent of the world's land area. This forest area acts as a breeding ground for many animals as well as diverting various rivers and canals, conserving soil.

Forests are one of the most important parts of the Earth's biosphere. Although a forest is primarily characterized by the characteristics of its trees. It is a great supplier of oxygen.Forests exist on all continents except Antarctica. Temperatures above ten degrees Celsius in summer and annual rainfall of seventy five centimeters are suitable for forest development.

Amazing Facts About Forests

Boreal forests are found in the geographical subarctic zone.
Tropical forests are found in the tropical geographical zone.
Temperate forests are found in the temperate geographical zone.
In 2020, boreal forests made up 27% of the planet’s forest area.
Temperate forests are found in the subtropical geographical zone.
Temperate forests are found on every continent, except Antarctica.
In 2020, tropical forests made up 45% of the planet’s forest area.
Forests contain a wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms.
In 2020, temperate forests made up 16% of the planet’s forest area.
In 1987, the Chipko movement was awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
In 2020, subtropical forests made up 11% of the planet’s forest area.
There are four main types of forests based on their geographical zone.
A forest is an area of land with an ecological system dominated by trees.
Only 1.8 billion of the Earth’s 10 billion acres of forest are protected.
More than 80% of the Earth’s natural forests have already been destroyed.
Tropical forests are found on every continent, expect Europe and Antarctica.
The Chipko movement was started under the leadership of Sundar Lal Bahuguna.
Forests are home to about 80% of the planet’s terrestrial animals and plants.
Forests covered over 10 billion acres or 31% of the Earth’s landmass in 2020.

Interesting Facts About Forest

More than 50% of all the forest area on our planet is in just five countries.
Boreal forests are only found in the U.S. State of Alaska, Canada and Russia.
Global wood consumption is projected to increase 50 percent by the year 2050.
Do you know how the degree of danger to the threatened species is categorised?
China had 5.4% of the planet’s forest area in 2020 with over 543 million acres.
The four main types of forests are boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical.
Subtropical forests are found on every continent, expect Europe and Antarctica.
Russia had 20.1% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 2 billion acres.
Canada had 8.5% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 857 million acres.
Brazil had 12.2% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 1.2 billion acres.
Some redwood trees are so big that miniature forests grow on their upper branches.
The Pichavaram mangroves in Tamil Nadu is India's one of the largest mangrove forests.
Silent Valley is an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India.
The United States had 7.6% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 766 million acres.
Van Mahotsava means 'the festival of trees’ is celebrated in the first week of July in India
The eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats in India are called biodiversity catapult sites.
Hurricane Katrina uncovered an underwater forest off Alabama Coast that is 50,000 years old.
Forest Survey of India (FSI) founded in June 1981 and headquartered at Dehradun in Uttarakhand.

Natural Facts About Forest

On Earth, there was a time when forests didn’t decompose as no life had evolved to eat trees yet.
A single valley in Chad provides over 50% of the nutrient rich dust that is in the Amazon rain forest.
Most of the mahogany exported from Peru is logged illegally. Illegal logging is a major threat to forests worldwide.
Tripura, Goa, Sikkim, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh and Assam have forest cover between 33% to 75%:
Forest growth in the US has exceeded harvest since the 1940s, and USA has more trees now than at any time in the past 100 years.
The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world, located in the Ganges River delta in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India.
Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur have more than 75% forest cover.
About one-sixth of the wood delivered to a construction site is never used. Instead, it’s hauled to the landfill as wood waste scraps.
The area has long been recognized as a rich centre of primitive flowering plants and is popularly known as the ‘Cradle of Speciation’.
The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan was a forest conservation movement where people embraced the trees to prevent them from being cut.
In 1949, Smokejumper Wag Dodge survived being engulfed in the Mann Gulch fire in Montana by lighting a fire and standing in the charred remains.
Latin American forests are being lost at alarming rates. The rate of forest loss in Mexico is estimated at 600,000 to 2.5 million acres per year.
The Sunderban Delta have been derived from the Sundari trees (the mangrove species Heritiera fomes) that are found in Sundarbans in large numbers
Van Mahotsava was started by K. M. Munshi to create awareness in the mind of the people for the conservation of forests and planting of new trees.
China has planted the biggest artificial forest in the world to stop the spread of the Gobi desert, and plans to expand it to 2,800 miles by 2074.

Awesome Facts About Forest

There is a tree named Pando that is technically an entire forest. It is a clonal colony of 4700 Aspens in Utah that all share the same root system.
Valley of Flowers is located in West Himalaya, in the state of Uttarakhand and is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora.
Madhya Pradesh (77,414 sq. km) Arunachal Pradesh (66,964 sq. km) and Chhattisgarh (55,547 sq. km) are the states with maximum Forest cover (in terms of area).
Genghis Kahn killed enough people to cool the earth. He killed over 40 million people, the result of which, vast tracts of farmland were reclaimed by forests.
Most rainforest soils are extremely poor in minerals and nutrients and the key to the luxuriant vegetation of these forests lies in the rapid nutrient cycling.
More than 25 percent of the medicines we use originate in rainforest plants. Yet only 1 percent of rainforest plants have been studied for medicinal properties.
Lakshadweep (90.33%), Mizoram (86.27%) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (81.73%) are the states with highest Forest cover in terms of percentage geographical area.
California uses inmates to fight forest fires. Prisoners take the jobs because it reduces their sentence, gets them outside, and pays better than typical prison jobs.
National Forest Policy proposed that 60% of the land in the hills and 20% in the plains and in all 33% of the total geographical area should be under forest/tree cover.
Half of the forests that originally covered 48 percent of the Earth’s land surface are gone. Only one-fifth of the Earth’s original forests remain pristine and undisturbed.
There is a 2400 year old giant “honey mushroom” in Oregon, covering 2200 acres, slowly killing off the trees in the forest. It is the largest living organism on the planet.
Charcoal beetles fly into still-burning forest fires to mate and lay eggs because competition and predators will be low. They sense distant fires using infrared armpit sensors.
In the Pacific Northwest, degradation of soil and water resources due to industrial logging threatens some of the last remaining wild fisheries in the continental United States.
It is estimated that old-growth redwood forest once covered close to 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of coastal northern California. 96% of all old-growth redwoods have been logged.

Historical Facts About Forest

Hang Son Doong in Vietnam is the largest cave in the world. It houses a rain forest in its largest chamber. The cave wasn’t discovered until 1991, and wasn’t explored until 2009.
There exists an underwater forest in Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan that was created after an earthquake in 1911 triggered a large landslide blocking the gorge and forming a natural dam
More than one third of our biggest cities, including New York, Bogota, Tokyo and Barcelona, get a significant proportion of their high-quality drinking water from protected forests.
Fifteen states/UTs have above 33% of geographical area under forest cover. About 40% of country’s forest cover is present in 9 large contiguous patches of the size of 10,000 sq.km, or more.
The Forest of Karnataka is famous for Sandal Woods. Mysore is renowned for its production of the fragrant sandalwood products and is commonly referred of as the sandalwood city of Karnataka.
Andhra Pradesh (2141 sq. km), followed by Karnataka (1101 sq. km), Kerala (1043 sq. km), Odisha (885 sq. kms) and Telangana (565 sq. kms) are the states with maximum increase in forest cover.
A man called Jadav Payeng single-handedly planted a forest bigger than Central Park to save Majuli Island in Northern India from erosion. The forest is now home to large amounts of stray wildlife.
In the Battle of Hurtgen Forest during WW2, the forest was so dense and dark and hard to navigate that the German and Allied medics shared an aid station in the only building either could easily find.
In India, the major mulberry silk producing states are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir which together accounts for 92 % of country's total mulberry raw silk production.
Tropical Evergreen forest in India are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats, which fringe the Arabian Sea, the coastline of peninsular India, and the greater Assam region in the north-east.
In North America, more than half of the coastal temperate rainforests, once extending from California to Alaska, have been destroyed. Coastal temperate rainforests are one of the most endangered forest types on the planet.
In recent years, an average of 95 percent of new forest roads were used for logging, with only 5 percent devoted to recreation or general use. In 2002,The U.S. Forest Service spent $62.3 million on forest road construction.
Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) was required to be accompanied by crewmembers who wore brightly-colored vests while in the forests of the Pacific Northwest filming scenes set on Endor, so as not to be mistaken for Bigfoot and shot.

Wierd Facts About Forest

Forests are home to over 80 percent of land animals and plants and cover 31 percent of the world’s total land area. About 1.6 billion people around the world depend on forests for their livelihoods and daily subsistence needs.
There is a 390 acre tract of virgin-old growth forest in central Pennsylvania. It features ancient hemlock trees and 20-foot rhododendrons. This area was conserved because of a land dispute between logging companies in the 1900’s.
A formation of larch trees in the shape of a swastika was discovered in Germany in 1992. The formation, only visible in the fall, went unnoticed for 60 years. After that discovery, other forest swastikas were found in Germany and beyond.
Trees are important for creating sustainable cities: in urban areas, they can cool the air by up to 8 degrees, reducing air conditioning needs by 30 percent. Urban trees are also excellent air filters, removing harmful pollutants and fine particulates.
One of the reasons your lungs feel refreshed when walking through a pine forest is because of an anti-inflammatory compound called a-Pinene, found in conifers. It is used as a bronchodilator in the treatment of asthma and abundantly present in marijuana.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service can summon any person aged 18 to 50 in their jurisdiction to help fight a wildfire or for use of their property in assisting, and it is a crime to refuse. The duties assigned require minimal training such as digging trenches.
Americans use 27 percent of the wood commercially harvested worldwide, although only 5 percent of the world’s population lives in the United States. Each U.S. citizen consumes on average approximately 75 cubic meters of solid wood every year — about one ancient tree.
Wood fuel provides 40 percent of today's global renewable energy supply – as much as solar, hydroelectric and wind power combined. Greater investment in technological innovation and in sustainably managed forests is key to increasing forests' role as a renewable energy.
Less than 8 percent of Canada’s boreal forest is protected. The United States is the destination for nearly 80 percent of Canada’s forest products, including lumber, toilet paper, catalogue paper and newsprint — much of which comes from clearcutting in the boreal forest.
Evergreen forests are found on the eastern and western slopes of the Western Ghats in states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. They are also found in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Using wood for construction saves about 40 percent of carbon emissions in comparison to concrete, and about 30 percent in comparison to steel. Overall, global carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by up to 31 percent if builders used wood instead of steel and concrete.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017. It has revealed that total forest and tree cover in India has increased of over 8021 sq. km (about 80.20 million hectare) which is one percent increase from 2015.

Cool Facts About Forest for Kids

There is an ancient old growth forest bordering Poland called Białowieża Forest. It resembles what most of Europe looked like before the 14th century. This story of conservation has been well documented over the last 500 years and is almost as rich as the ecosystem the forest supports.
A tree can sequester up to 150 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year. The world’s forests store an estimated 296 gigatonnes of carbon in both above- and below-ground biomass. Just imagine: Europe’s 400 billion trees currently absorb almost 9 percent of the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions!
India is one of the world's 17 "megadiverse" countries in terms of the number of species it houses, 10 percent of its wild flora and fauna are on the threatened list. The main causes for this were habitat destruction, poaching, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution and climate change.
The tallest tree in the world is called Hyperion. It’s a coast redwood from California that is an incredible 115.61 metres tall. The largest tree in the world by volume is a giant sequoia called General Sherman which has a trunk 10 metres round and contains an estimated 1486 cubic metres of wood.
One-third of the planet’s virgin temperate rainforest — the largest remaining single expanse — is in the Tongass National Forest on the southeastern coast of Alaska. The Tongass, which shelters the world’s largest concentrations of grizzly bears and bald eagles, is seriously threatened by logging.
Mizoram (531 sq. km), Nagaland (450 sq. km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq. km), Tripura (164 sq. km) and Meghalaya (116 sq. km) are the states where forest cover has decreased. These states are in North Eastern region of the country where total forest cover is very high i.e. more than 70% in each state.
India is ranked 10th in world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover, even though it accounts for 2.4% of the world surface area and sustains needs of 17% of human and 18% livestock population. India was placed 8th in list of Top Ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area.

Mind-Blowing Facts About Forest

Forest certification lets consumers know when wood comes from responsibly managed forests. As of 2004, 595 certificates, representing more than 100 million acres of forest land worldwide, had been issued by certifiers accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council, a group that oversees the certification process.
India contributes only about five percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions that are leading to climate change. However, about 700 million Indians directly face the threat of global warming today, as it affects farming, makes droughts, floods and storms more frequent and more severe and is raising the sea level.
Forest products contribute to reducing and replacing polluting and carbon intensive materials. Certified wood-based fibers (such as Lyocell) used in textile production are very resource efficient. In comparison, cotton requires on average 130 times more water and polyester emits on average 170 times more greenhouse gasses.
The Forest Research Institute is located in Dehradun. It has its roots in the erstwhile Imperial Forest Research Institute established in 1906 to organize and lead forestry research in the country. Its history is synonymous with the evolution and development of scientific forestry not only in India but in the entire Indian subcontinent.
A large oak tree can transpire 151,000 litres of water in a year. On average, 40 percent of rainfall over land originates from evapotranspiration from plants. In some areas the amount is even higher. For example, more than 70 percent of rainfall in the Rio de la Plata river basin originates from evapotranspiration from the Amazon forest.
The Indian government has established 18 Biosphere Reserves in India, (categories roughly corresponding to IUCN Category V Protected areas), which protect larger areas of natural habitat (than a National Park or Animal Sanctuary), and often include one or more National Parks or preserves, along with buffer zones that are open to some economic uses.
As per India State of Forest Report 2017 (ISFR), mangrove forests have increased by 181 sq. kms. Maharashtra (82 sq. kms), Andhra Pradesh (37 sq. kms) and Gujarat (33 sq. kms) are the top three gainers in terms of mangrove cover. Seven out of the twelve mangrove states have shown an increase in mangrove cover and none of them show any negative change.
The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) is a research institute created and funded by Government of India. It was established in Nagpur in 1958 with focus on water supply, sewage disposal, and communicable diseases and to some extent on industrial pollution and occupational diseases found common in post-independent India.
Roughly 20 percent of the total wood used in building a new home can be saved by framing more efficiently. This and other building techniques, if adopted by residential builders nationwide, would eliminate the demand to cut hundreds of thousands of acres of forest every year. In addition, these material-saving techniques often save builders money and time.
Sustainable forestry practices can ease the pressure on our forests. The Collins Almanor forest in California contained 1.5 billion board feet of standing timber when harvesting began in 1941. Sixty years and 2 billion board feet later, this sustainably managed forest still holds 1.5 billion board feet of standing timber, and supports great blue heron rookeries, black bears, rubber boas and bald eagles.
The forests of India are classified into: Taiga type (consisting of pines, spruce, etc.) the mixed temperate forests with coniferous and deciduous trees, the temperate forests, the sub-tropical forests, the tropical forests, and the equatorial rainforests. But there are mainly six groups of forest in India which are- moist tropical, dry tropical, montane sub-tropical, montane temperate, sub alpine and alpine.
The Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) (founded 1982) is an autonomous, public institute of sectoral management located in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was established by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India with financial assistance from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and course assistance from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
As per State of Environment Report 2017, about 45 percent of India's land is degraded due to erosion, soil acidity, alkalinity and salinity, water logging and wind erosion. The prime causes of land degradation are deforestation, unsustainable farming, mining and excessive groundwater extraction. However, over two-thirds of the degraded 147 million hectares can be regenerated quite easily. India's forest cover is also gradually increasing (currently about 21%).
Over 430,000 miles of roads — more than 8 times the miles in the Interstate Highway System — cut through U.S. national forests. These roads, built with taxpayer money, fragment habitat for grizzly bears, elk and other wildlife, disrupt migration routes and destroy the scenic beauty of our woodlands. Forest roads cause serious soil erosion and stream sedimentation, ruining water quality and fish habitat. They have also been linked to an increase in the frequency and severity of mudslides.

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