Common Facts

The Largest Forests

At 2.7 billion acres, the coniferous forests of northern Russia are the world’s largest forests, covering 25% of the world's total. The Amazon Basin is the largest forest in the tropics with about 815 million acres.

Tree Product Consumption

On average, each American uses more than 600 pounds of paper and almost 200 board feet of timber per year.

Forest Debris

More than 2000 pounds of leaves, twigs, seeds, tree trunks, and branches may rain down each year upon an acre of forest floor. This debris is later returned to the soil by organisms that aid in decomposition.

Forest Fires

Despite the fact that forest fires serve an important purpose in ecosystems, they can nonetheless endanger wildlife and homes not to mention take a huge human and financial toll to control. About 3 million acres of American forest are destroyed each year by fire, killing animals and plants and burning off the humus from the forest floor. Human carelessness accounts for about 90% of all forest fires.

Philippine Reforestation Program

In 1977, a law forcing every capable man, woman, and child over the age of 10 to plant one tree every month for five years was passed in hope to reduce the country's deforestation by planting 360 million saplings per year.. Violation of this law results in the loss of a citizen's rights and a fine of up to $175. The seedlings and certificates for each tree planted are provided by the government.

Wildlife Uses

Many different forms of wildlife depend highly on trees for survival. Every part of a tree can be used as food for wildlife. Many animals consume the nuts and fruits of trees. Others chew on bark and twigs. Some insects and burrowing animals will feed on the roots. Even the flower provides food for many species of insects and birds. Most of this feeding is damaging to a tree, but in some cases it is highly beneficial. Animals aid in the dispersal of species by feeding on the fruits and depositing the seeds in other locations. Many animals also find shelter in trees. Birds and squirrels build nests in the crown or the trunk. Even fish will use the roots of tree roots that are submerged in water.

Human Uses

Trees are used by humans as sources of food and shelter. Parts of the tree, such as its fruits and nuts are more commonly consumed as well as are its bark, wood, leaves, and roots in many areas of the world. Lumber products from trees are used for most paper products; also in some parts of the world, trees are still used for firewood. Other products that come from trees include coffee, herbal medicines, rubber, soaps, perfumes, cosmetics etc.

Trees will also help reduce air pollution and can help conserve energy by shading a home in the summer and creating a windbreak for the winter.

Forests charge the Earth's magnetic field

Although little known trees play a major in helping to conserve the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field. A Forest has a variety of countless parallel vegetable electrical conductors. Because of their sap flow, Plants and trees constantly release the air electrical tension voltage between the earth and the ionosphere

"The electromagnetic influence of the forests is conducted through magnetic fields in the core where it induces electrical currents, thus in turn creating magnetic fields. In this way the vegetation has a charging effect on the Earth's magnetic fields. This becomes evident by the correlation between the density of vegetation and the declination of the Earth's magnetic field."