Forest

A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 found that forests covered 4.06 billion hectares, or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020. Forests are the predominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are distributed around the globe. More than half of the world's forests are found in only five countries.

Read more in the app

Fermi Paradox: The Dark Forest. Evidence #1. Credit Isaac Arhtur and Fraser Cain.

Forest to pasture: Keeping trees could reduce climate consequences

Two decades after it vanished, the stunning Spix’s macaw returns to its forest home

Tiny conservation heroes: Wild cherry blossoms could save forest landscapes

630 feet below the Earth in China, an ancient forest blooms at the bottom of a sinkhole

Forests: Spatial aspects of biodiversity, homogenization threat to forest ecosystems

Massive Southwest Wildfire Prompts Forest Service To Pause Prescribed Burns

Ancient forest discovered in China — in the bottom of a sinkhole. Explorer says caves could be home to species 'that have never been reported or described by science until now'