The Forest

The word forest derives from the Old French forest, denoting "forest, vast expanse covered by trees"; forest was first introduced into English as the word denoting wild land set aside for hunting without necessarily having trees on the land. Possibly a borrowing, probably via Frankish or Old High German, of the Medieval Latin foresta, denoting "open wood", Carolingian scribes first used foresta in the capitularies of Charlemagne, specifically to denote the royal hunting grounds of the king.

Wildlife

Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted for sport. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems.Deserts, plains, grasslands,woodlands,forests, and other areas, including the most developed urbans area, all have distinct forms of wildlife.

Types of Forests

Temperate needleleaf
Temperate needleleaf forests mostly occupy the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, as well as some warm temperate areas, especially on nutrient-poor or otherwise unfavourable soils. These forests are composed entirely, or nearly so, of coniferous species ( Coniferophyta).

Temperate broadleaf and mixed
Temperate broadleaf and mixed include a substantial component of trees of the Anthophyta group. They are generally characteristic of the warmer temperate latitudes, but extend to cool temperate ones, particularly in the southern hemisphere.

Tropical moist
There are many different types of Tropical moist forest, with lowland evergreen broad-leaf tropical rainforest: for example varzea and igapo forests and the terra firma forests of the Amazon Basin; the peat swamp forests; dipterocarp forests of Southeast Asia; and the high forests of the Congo Basin.

Tropical dry
Tropical dry forests are characteristic of areas in the tropics affected by seasonal drought. The seasonality of rainfall is usually reflected in the deciduousness of the forest canopy, with most trees being leafless for several months of the year.

Sparse trees and savanna
Sparse trees and savanna are forests with sparse tree-ccanopy cover. They occur principally in areas of transition from forested to non-forested landscapes. The two major zones in which these ecosystems occur are in the boreal region and in the seasonally dry tropics.

Plantations
Forest plantations are generally intended for the production of timber and pulpwood. Commonly mono-specific, planted with even spacing between the trees, and intensively managed, these forests are generally important as habitat for native biodiversity.

Temperate deciduous forests
Temperate deciduous or temperate broad-leaf forests are a variety of temperate forest 'dominated' by trees that lose their leaves each year. They are found in areas with warm moist summers and cool winters.

Temperate coniferous forest
Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life.

Evergreen forest
An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zones, and rainforest trees in tropical zones.

Rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, but other types have been described.

Top facts about the Amazon

The Amazon rainforest covers an enormous 6.7 million square kilometres.
10% of all the world's wildlife is found in the Amazon.
The Amazon is home to over 30 million people, including almost 3 million indigenous people.
An estimated 400 billion trees stand in the Amazon.
More than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest.

Aokigahara Forest

Suicide Forest Facts

The actual name of the Suicide Forest is Aokigahara.
In 2010, the police recorded more than 200 people have attempted suicide in the forest, of whom 54 completed the act.
More than 100 people not from the areas surrounding Aokigahara killed themselves in the forest.
The Lake Sai Bat Cave, the largest cave in Aokigahara, is over 1268 ft long.
Mount Fuji’s, near Aokigahara, last eruption was on December 16, 1707.

Congolian rainforests

Top facts about the Congolian

The Congo region is 300,000 square miles (777,000 square kilometres) in size.
The area experiences a population increase of 1.7 million people each year creating a demand for food, fuel and shelter at a great cost to the forest.
Congo Basin forests span six countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo.
50 per cent of the Congo Basin forest has now been allocated for logging.
The Congo River that flows through the forest is the second largest river in the world.
The Congo Basin is the only place to shelter all three subspecies of gorilla: the lowland gorilla, the endemic eastern lowland gorilla and the endangered mountain gorilla.
The forests of the Congo Basin contain the greatest number of mammals, primates, birds, amphibians, fish and swallowtail butterflies in Africa. More than a 1,000 species of bird can be found here.

1. Agricultural Expansion:
After 1947, agricultural expansion continues to be one of the major causes of the depletion of forest resources. Between 1951 and 1980, the Forest Survey of India, over 26,200 sq. km. of forest area was converted into agricultural land all over India.
2. Colonial Rule:
The greatest damage inflicted on Indian forests during this time was due to the expansion of the railways, agricultural lands, commercial and scientific forestry, mining activities, etc.
3.Development Projects:
Since 1951, over 5,000 sq km of forest was cleared for river valley projects. Clearing forests continues with projects like the Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh, which would inundate 40,000 hectares of forest.
4. Shifting Agriculture:
Substantial parts of the tribal belts, especially in northeastern and central India, have been deforested or degraded by shifting cultivation (jhum), a type of slash and burn agriculture.
5. Mining:
It is another essential factor behind deforestation. The ongoing dolomite mining seriously endangers the Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal. It has disturbed the natural habitat of various species and blocked the migration route of several others, including the great Indian elephant.

Why are Forests Considered as Biodiversity Hotspots?

Forest is home to a variety of species and organisms. We can come across different life forms found in forests such as plants, insects, wildflowers, birds, ferns, herbs, shrubs, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, reptiles, etc. Hence the forests are considered biodiversity hotspots.

Caring for forest to benefit nature and people

Biosecurity

Forest biological diversity is a broad term that refers to all life forms found within forested areas and the ecological roles they perform.

Wildlife

Forest animals range from jaguars to owls, wolves to woodpeckers. Forest animals include the wild creatures, the predators like wolves ,ect.

People

There are several distinct forest peoples living across Central Africa, such as the Baka, the Twa, the Aka and the Mbuti.

Ecology

Forest ecology is the study of all aspects of the ecology of wooded areas, including rainforest, deciduous and evergreen, temperate and boreal forest.

The Most Beautiful Forests

Redwood National and State Parks, United States
Amazon Rainforest, South America
Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica
Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
Black Forest, Germany
Wistman’s Wood, England
Dancing Forest, Russia
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Japan
Dragon’s Blood Forest, Yemen

"Setting Sun, starry night, silvery light of the Moon, snow-covered mountains, deep and dark forests, scent and fragrance of flowers
are some of the beauties of Nature. The chirping of birds in trees has a music of its own. In Spring, Nature is at her best. Blooming flowers of different hues fill the air with fragrance."

Caring for

THE FOREST

Biosecurity - caring for the forest

The Forest