Feature photo by roblee
Old growth forests, which take thousands of years to mature, are rapidly disappearing worldwide. Here are ten different National Parks where you can still find vestiges of these forests.
Serra do Divisor National Park
This park includes a huge swath of Amazon rainforest, notably the Serra do Divisor mountain range along the Brazilian-Peruvian border.
Photo by islandspice
The Amazon rainforest is as large as Western Europe or the entire United States. It covers 5 percent of the world’s land, and is thought to be the most diverse ecosystem on Earth – home to nearly 10 percent of the world’s mammals and 15 percent of the world’s terrestrial plant species.
It is home to more than 20 million people, including an estimated 220,000 people from 180 different indigenous nations. This forest ecosystem is also one of the most threatened on the planet.
Muir Woods National Park
The ancient forest ecosystems of North America are extremely diverse. Included in this system is the boreal forest belt stretching between Newfoundland and Alaska; the coastal temperate rainforest of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Western Canada; and the myriad of residual areas of temperate forest surviving in more remote regions.
These forests store massive amounts of carbon, which helps to stabilize climate change. They also provide habitat for large mammals such as grizzly bear, grey wolf, and puma.
Muir Woods National Park is home to one of the last coastal stands of redwood in the San Francisco Bay are.
Defensores del Chaco National Park
The temperate forest ecosystem of South America, which covers areas of Southern Chile and Argentina, represents the largest tract of essentially undisturbed temperate forest in the world.
The Great Chaco and Yungas Rainforests of Argentina are neighboring ecosystems within this forest complex. Rich in biodiversity, they are home to rare jaguars.
The forests here are being destroyed faster than almost anywhere else in the world. The rate of destruction has accelerated even further after Monsanto introduced genetically engineered soya beans to Argentina .
Lake Khovsgol National Park
The Snow Forests of Asian Russia have contiguous tracts of land ranging from the arctic zone in northeastern Sahha, to the subtropical region along the Amur and Ussuri river basins to the south. Because of its large size, the Amur-Sakhalin region shelters more types of plants and animals than any other temperate forest in the world. Many of these species are unique to this area and exist nowhere else.
The Snow Forests of Asian Russia are also home to indigenous peoples including the Nanai of the Kahbarovsk region.
Photo by mr-c
Ovre Pasvik National Park
The last ancient forests of Europe encompass the last few remaining tracts in Scandinavia with the adjoining forest of European Russia . This contiguous forest area provides habitat for many species that require large tracts of unbroken land such as bears, flying squirrels, and the highly endangered eagle owl.
These boreal forests are also home to tens of thousands of indigenous peoples, such as the reindeer-herding Saami.
Rinjani National Park
The cultural diversity of this area is astounding – more than 1000 languages are spoken on the island of New Guinea alone.
These contiguous forests stretch from South East Asia, across the islands of Indonesia to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. The island of New Guinea , the world’s second largest island, has the largest continuous tracts of primeval forest in the Asia Pacific region.
The Paradise Forests are home to a rich diversity of species, many of which occur nowhere else on earth. The Sumatran Tiger, the Orangutan, and the Rafflesia, a one meter-wide flower, all reside here.
Virunga National Park
Home of the Congo rainforest, this is the second largest rainforest on earth after the Amazon. This enormous forest covers and area three times the size of France, and plays a vital role in regulating the global climate. It is the fourth largest forest carbon reservoir of any country in the world.
The gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo – primates that are our closest relatives, depend on the Congo for survival. This forest is also home to 270 species of mammals, of which 39 are unique to this area.
Tens of millions of people, Bantu farmers, the Twa people, and fishing communities, depend on the Congo for their survival.
Regional causes of forest loss and degradation vary, but the primary factors are agricultural expansion, settlement, mining, shifting agricultural crops, and infrastructure development. Recent research by the World Resources Institute (WRI) indicates that, “commercial logging poses by far the greatest danger to frontier forests…affecting more than 70 percent of the world’s threatened frontiers.”
Community Connection
What can you do to help? Besides visiting these places and studying the issues facing them firsthand, check out the Rainforest Action Network , and Nativeforest.org.
Are you a member of a conservation org or know someone who is? We encourage you to join our network of organizations at matador, where you’ll find a captive audience of thousands of travelers and environmentally-conscious people worldwide.
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18 Comments... join the discussion!
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Hi! Id like to add to the list the Parque Nacional do Gerês, Portugal.
Take a look a t this video on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGKgKSjTXZY&feature=relatedPortugal is not only sun and beach. It has more than 1000 years of culture and history. Visite us!
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Why is Olympic Nat Park not listed?
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muir woods is a national monument, not a national park.
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How about Pacific Rim National Park in Canada. The hiking trails in the park visit some old growth areas (” target=”_blank”>http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/lg/activ/... Also, Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park in Canada both have old growth too. ((http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/revelstoke/natcul/na...( href=”http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/natcul/natcul1c_e.asp) “>” target=”_blank”>http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/natcul/natcu... Gulf Islands National Park Reserve as well. (” target=”_blank”>http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/gulf/carte-map-nfl_e...
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Yeah this is missing a majority of wonderful old growth national parks in Washington Oregon, Alaska and British Columbia.
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YOu have to visit Sequoia National Park. I mean where else will you find the worlds largest living being? Ride sequoia shuttle for eco-freindly travel. www. sequoiashuttle.com
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How could Olympic National Park not be listed? It is home to enormous amounts of old-growth including several world-record trees. And the Hall of Mosses in the Hoh River Rain Forest is simply not to be missed for viewing old-growth forest canopy and undergrowth. One can see magnificent ancient nurse-logs from felled trees that have old growth trees suckling on them……parents of the oldest old-growth! Gotta put that in the top ten, IMO!
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Same administration–lower budget level.
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What about the park in Queen Charlotte Islands near Tlell in British Columbia Old Growth Alley Trail, Tlell
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No Sequoia National Park, California? The most massive and second tallest trees in the world!!!
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Old growth forests are not disappearing. They're growing all over the world. It just takes a while for them to mature.
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Incidentally: A big tree farm with GROWING trees does more to capture CO2 than a mature forest. Obviously.
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Typical North Americans on here. The need to be mentioned more than once per article or they get all hotie-totie. I think your missing out on the fact that due to building huge decks on your 3000 sq ft cedar clad homes that most of your intact old growth is in little patches in parks. Sure there is some left but don't be fooled, the gov calls anything over 100 years "old growth" in BC. There is some wonderful trees left in North America, but when you look at the rest of the world you know there is much more to it than your local park or ski area. In other places in teh world there was no logging roads even 30 years ago. North America logged the heck out of the west coast long long ago.
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ps, Pacific rim park is a little slice of pie compared to the Amazon, important and should be saved, but typical BCers, (i am one) bother me when they show how brainwashed they are, go out on the land, go down some logging roads, find some REAL old growth, trust me I pick Pine Mushrooms and there isnt much left. Only remote places, but no they are getting them with heli-logging.
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Pacific Rim National Park is also a Ripper! Nothing quite like hearing the crashing northern Pacific Ocean and smelling that air!!!
Cheers, Dr Reese
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the west coast of the united states and canada is the most clearcut region in north america, there’s a few tiny patches of old growth forest left but not much. they’re highly endangered around the world.
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