Top 10 Forests in the World

As we move farther away from the equinox and towards the solstice, my part of the world is seeing not only more daylight, but also more sunshine, warmer temperatures, and — at least today — some glorious days to be out in nature. This weekend, have a listen to Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ronu Majumdar, Sabir Khan & Tarun Bhattacharya’s interpretive nature song,

while I share with you my list of the top 10 forests in the world that I’d most like to see!

The Amazon Rainforest, South America –

The Amazon Rainforest

The largest rain-forest in the world, it dwarfs all other rain forests on Earth combined. There’s arguably a greater diversity of flora and fauna found here than anywhere else on the planet. There’s no way a simple picture can do this — or any of the forests listed here — true justice, but I’d love to experience it for myself.

The Amazon rainforest, covering much of northwestern Brazil and extending into Colombia, Peru and other South American countries, is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, famed for its biodiversity. It’s crisscrossed by thousands of rivers, including the powerful Amazon. River towns, with 19th-century architecture from rubber-boom days, include Brazil’s Manaus and Belém and Peru’s Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado.

Sequoia National Forest, California –

Sequoia National Forest

An entire forest named for the largest trees in the world, the sequoias. Above is an image of General Sherman, the tree with the single largest mass-and-volume in the world. It’s older than the Roman Empire, nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty, wider than all trees except the baobabs, and in 2006 lost a branch that was bigger than most full-grown trees! If you took just the trunk and dehydrated all the water out of it, it would still weigh over 1,000 tonnes. And yes, there’s a whole forest full of trees just like it.

Redwood National Park, California –

Redwood National Park

Home to the tallest trees in the world, I’ve actually seen a number of Redwoods along the California and Oregon coasts, although I’ve never been to the eponymous national (or state) park. A forest of trees stretching upwards so high that you can’t even see the treetops on a foggy day, this is too close for me to not see it, and soon. I really have no excuse.

On the other hand, there are plenty of forests I want to see that would require a little more legwork.

The Crooked Forest, Poland –

The Crooked Forest

The youngest forest on my list, the Crooked Forest was planted around 1930, and consists of around 400 oddly-curved trees like this. Appearing to be normal pine trees in an otherwise unremarkable forest, it’s thought that they’re curved like this due to some hitherto undiscovered human intervention. So unique, it reminds me of Pearl Fryer, and I’d love to get the chance to experience it for myself.

Jog Falls Environs, India –

Jog Falls environs

While most of India’s primeval forest has changed dramatically thanks to human intervention, North Sentinel Island is not exactly on the list of places where I think I’d be welcomed. Jog Falls, on the other hand, is the largest waterfall in India, shown here during monsoon season, at its most spectacular! The entire western region of India is home to some of the greatest biodiversity in the world, and I’d love the chance to walk through the forested areas here.

Daintree Rainforest, Australia –

Daintree Rainforest

The oldest surviving rainforest in the world, Daintree is among the most biodiverse regions in the world as far as plants, marsupials, insects and spiders are concerned. How could you not be intrigued?

The Daintree Rainforest is a region on the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Mossman and Cairns. At around 1,200 square kilometres, the Daintree is a part of the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest on the Australian continent.

Black Forest, Germany –

Black Forest

Called “black” by the Romans because of how the dense conifers so successfully block out the Sun, even during the daytime, the black forest is dotted with lakes that formed from the melt at the end of the last ice age. The black forest contains eight of the highest mountains in the Europe mountain peaks over 1,000 meters in elevation, and is home to unique animals found nowhere else, such as the giant earthworm. Pretty cool!

 Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan, China –

Jiuzhaigou Valley

I mean, just look at that picture, will you? Both an UNESCO world heritage site and a world biosphere reserve, this valley on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau is full of colorful lakes, multiple waterfalls, snow-capped peaks, and of course, beautiful primeval forests. 30 years ago, only 5,000 tourists visited this region each year; now that number is well in excess of a million. And even though I know that increased human traffic means that keeping the site pristine takes more and more effort, I still want to see this for myself.

Beech Forest, Germany –

Beech Forest

 Not so much a single “place” as it is a collection of forest sites across many different nations, this is another UNESCO world heritage site. Dominated by Beech trees, they form an impressive canopy even in the winter, as this photo by Martin Hertel elegantly shows.

Beech Forest is a town in Victoria, Australia. The area of Beech Forest is largely used for potato farming. The town was named after the many myrtle beech trees of the area. Beech Forest Post Office opened on 10 May 1890 and closed in 1994

 Sagano Bamboo Forest, Japan –

Sagano Bamboo Forest

I’ve never seen a forest like this before, and I didn’t learn about it until years after I was in Japan. How was I to know that I was only a few miles (kilometres) away from this wonder when I spent time in Kyoto? The entire district of Arashiyama looks beautiful, but the great bamboo forest is surely the great highlight!

And that’s a wonderful collection of my top 10 forests that I’d love to visit, someday. Hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to comment on these choices, as well as to share any others that have connected with you!