Forests cover a third of our planet’s land mass. They are home to more than three-quarters of the world’s species. They absorb a quarter of the carbon dioxide that industries pump into the air. Their existence supports human life. We both treasure them and waste them. Forests explores more than 130 fascinating woodlands from around the world.
Forests cover a third of our planet’s land mass. They are home to more than three-quarters of the world’s species. They absorb a quarter of the carbon dioxide that industries pump into the air. Their existence supports human life. We both treasure them and waste them. Illustrated with more than 180 photographs, Forests is a pictorial exploration of an ancient ecosystem that covers four billion hectares of the Earth’s surface and whose maintenance is crucial to human survival. Divided into chapters by continent and arranged by country, Forests examines diverse forest environments, including: the weird and distinctive Dragon’s Blood Forest, Socotra, Yemen; the Borneo rainforest, home to more than 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species and the famous orangutan, or “jungle man”; the “Crooked Forest” near Nowe Czarnowo, Poland, where a grove of oddly-shaped pine trees have a mysterious origin; Cathedral Grove, an ancient Douglas fir ecosystem 9m (29ft) in circumference and 75m (250ft) in height on Vancouver Island in British Columbia; and the ancient German Black Forest, a place imbued with history and legend since ancient times. With more than 180 outstanding photographs of forests and their flora and fauna, Forests will excite and captivate those who love exploring the world’s woodland environments.
From coastal to alpine, tropical to temperate, coniferous to deciduous, forest trees not only support the wildlife that lives under their canopies, but humankind, too. We could not survive without the cooling effect that trees have on the planet.
Yet for thousands of years, we have logged forest trees and tapped their resin, we have hunted and foraged among them, found sources of medicine in their leaves and bark, and created sacred groves under their canopies. In some places we have cleared so much land that it is possible the trees will never grow back. Habitats have been lost as global temperatures have continued to rise.
But, despite the environmental damage, there is hope, too. Some areas of abandoned farmland have been reclaimed by trees. And if we look to the Mayan ruins in Mexico, we see how forests can bury even a society’s grandest buildings. Given the opportunity, forests won’t just outlive us, but our civilisations, too.
In this book, Kieron Connolly surveys forests from all around the globe, from deforestation in the Amazon to the reforestation of Californian redwoods, from England’s New Forest to Germany’s Black Forest, telling the stories of humankind’s ancient links to the trees and the flora and fauna found among them.
Ranging from ecology to history, from the ravaged to the rewilded, and featuring more than 230 striking photographs, Forests is a fascinating exploration of woodland life around the world.
- Includes 230 superb photographs of forests from around the globe
- Expert text explains different types and species of trees, forest formation, and the special animals and flora that live within
- The book ranges from the Siberian Taiga to the Amazon rainforest, from Japanese Arashiyama bamboo to the giant sequoias of California
Muu info
Photographic celebration of the world's forests packed with stunning images
Contents include:
EUROPE
New Forest, England
Trossachs National Park, Scotland
Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
Landes forest, Gascony, France
Compiègne, France
Haguenau forest in Alsace, France
Grande Chartreuse, French Alps
Fontainebleau, Paris, France
Vizzavona forest in Corsica
Parque Nacional de Garajonay, La Gomera, Spain
Bosque de Muniellos, Asturias, Spain
Las Montañas de Anaga, Tenerife, Spain
Selva de Irati, Navarra, Spain
Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido, Aragon, Spain
Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa, Catalonia, Spain
Ordesa National Park, Spain
Stelvio National Park, Italy
Valle Vigezzo, Italy
Sila National Park, Italy
Foresta Umbra, Italy
Belluno Dolomites, Italy
Saxon Switzerland National Park, Germany
Black Forest, Germany
Oulanka National Park, Finland
Soomaa National Park, Estonia
Trillemarka Rollagsfjell Forest, Norway
Biaowiea Forest, Poland/Belarus
Crooked Forest, Poland
Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania
Cozia Forest, Romania
Letea Forest, Romania
Selakano forest, Greece
Frakto Forest, Rhodope, Greece
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Triglav National Park, Slovenia
Carpathians, Ukraine
Siberian Taiga, Russia
AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda
Mau forest, Kenya
Karura Forest, Kenya
Cross-Niger Transition Forests
Mount Cameroon and Bioko Montane Forests, Cameroon/Nigeria
Congolese Forest, Congo
Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Sapo National Park, Liberia
Dry Forests Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania
Madagascan Lowland Forests
Ongoye Forest, South Africa
Newlands Forest, South Africa
Arabuko Sokoke forest
Dragons Blood Forest, Socotra, Yemen
NORTH AMERICA
Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada
Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Cathedral Grove, an ancient Douglas fir ecosystem on Vancouver Island in
British Columbia
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada
Elk Glen, Manitoba, Canada
Happy Valley Forest, Ontario, Canada
Green Mountains Nature Reserve, Quebec, Canada
Gaff Point, Nova Scotia, Canada Tongass, Alaska, USA
Hoh Rainforest, Washington, USA
Olympic National Park, Washington, USA
Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington, USA
Boise National Forest, Idaho, USA
Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho, USA
Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming, USA
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Montana, USA
White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, USA
Blue Ridge Mtns, Virginia, USA
Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests, N. Carolina, USA
Redwood National Park, California, USA
Sierra National Forest Sequoia andYosemite, California, USA
Underwater kelp forest, Catalina Island, California, USA
Saguaro Cactus Forest, Saguaro National Park, USA
Tonto National Forest, Arizona, USA
Coconino National Forest, Arizona, USA
Gila National Forest, New Mexico, USA
Humboldt-Toiyabe, Nevada, USA
Lacandon jungle, Mexico
CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA
Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica
Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras
La Tigra National Park, Honduras
Cerro Saslaya National Park, Nicaragua
Montecristo National Park, El Salvador
Amazon Rainforest, South America
Manú National Park, Peru
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia
Atlantic Forests, Brazil
Central Suriname Nature Reserve, Suriname
Iguazú National Park, Argentina
ASIA & THE PACIFIC
Gir Forest National Park, India
Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary, India
Mollem National Park, India
Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka
Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia
Ba Be National Park, Vietnam
Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
Taman Nagara, Malaysia
Batang Ai National Park, Borneo
Kayan Mentarang National Park, Borneo
Indonesia Sumatra, Kalimantan
New Guinea jungle
Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan, China
Tropical rainforest of Jianfeng Mountain in Hainan Province, China
Changbai Mountain Mixed Forests inJilin Province, China
Xishuangbanna Tropical Forest in Yunnan Province, China
Daxing'anling Larch Forest in Heilongjiang Province, China
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Japan
Daintree Rainforest, Australia
Fraser Island, Australia
Tasmanian Temperate Rain Forests
Kieron Connollys books include Abandoned Civilisations, Abandoned Castles and The History of Hollywood. He is a graduate in history from the University of Edinburgh and in film from the National Film & Television School. A book editor and journalist, he has written for the Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail and The Times. He lives in London.
