Ancient Forests are Important to the Ecosystem

Old growth forests are essential to biodiversity and absorbing human carbon emissions, yet "Rare is the forest untouched by man," writes David Biello in Scientific American. "Whether logging or clearing land for agriculture, the bulk of the world's forests have fallen to crops, cattle or younger trees. According to some estimates, less than 10 percent of forests worldwide can be considered old growth, or undisturbed for more than a century."

Bialowieza Forest is the last remaining part of an immense primeval forest which once covered much of Europe and survived largely intact for nearly 600 years, because it was first a royal then a tsar hunting preserve. The forest some photos of Bialowieza Forest here is divided between Poland (40%) and the Soviet Union (now Belarus 60%) and is home to an amazing display of biodiversity, including the wisent (European bison), the largest and the heaviest surviving mammal on the continent.

Why Ancient Forests are Important to the Ecosystem and Why We Need to Protect Them - Planet Green