How to be a friend to forests -2
Even though a conservationists had told me 15 years ago about how only a tiny (2%) amount of the original forests of the western ghats remained, I only recently began to understand the importance of old growth or primary forests.
Primary forests are those forests that have been around for hundreds of years without much disturbance to their ecosystem. They form a community of plants, animals and fungi that thrive together.
An old growth forest can be identified by the trunks of its trees. They characteristically lack lower branches because they have grown up in deeply shaded areas. The trees have wide, knobby, misshapen trunks with shaggy barks that betray their age.
The fact the forest is largely undisturbed means that the soil will be thick and covered in fungi, lichens, herby plants. You will find large fallen trunks with massive roots or standing deadwood with moss and mushrooms covering them.
I have spent a fair bit of time in forests but I am not sure if any were primary forests. What I am sure of though is that the difference between a planted forest and one that regenerates naturally is stark.
Russia, Canada and Brazil contain more than 50% of the remaining primary forests. The good news is that the rate of decline has more than halved between 2010–20 relative to the previous decade. Loggers seek the high value timber they offer but environmentalists argue that the ‘ecosystem services’ they provide far outweigh their economic value through raw material.
