April 7, 2019 | By:

What is a healthy forest?

Healthy forests do not have even rows of same-age trees and most often have different levels of diverse plant and sapling growth among the larger trees. Healthy forests are not monocultures that are often seen where trees are grown as crops to be harvested.

So what makes a “healthy forest?” Watch the video below to see what makes up a forest that is healthy and biodiverse.

This animated film takes you on a 4-minute journey that represents 300 years in the life of a forest. See how structure and biodiversity recover naturally, and how continued management like thinning and harvesting interferes with recovery. Created by the Old-Growth Forest Network, a US organization that “speaks for the trees.”

Old Growth Forest

“Old-growth features include diverse tree-related structures that provide diverse wildlife habitat that increases the biodiversity of the forested ecosystem. The concept of diverse tree structure includes multi-layered canopies and canopy gaps, greatly varying tree heights and diameters, and diverse tree species and classes and sizes of woody debris.” Wikipedia

Extra Credit: Listen to an interview with Joan Maloof, Director of Old-Growth Forest Network, on the Rewilding Earth Podcast! You can also listen to Bob Leverett On Vital Importance Of Old Growth, Carbon Sequestration, and Forest Recovery.

See also: The duality of Garden and Wilderness, Around the Campfire #43

Spread Rewilding Around the Globe!
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