Map of the last ancient forests of North America

Old growth coastal forest.

Coniferous forests without end meet the treeless tundra in the north of the continent. The trees here are among the tallest and oldest in the world. The habitats of about two thirds if the 140,000 species of plants, animals and micro-organisms found in Canada are tied to this ancient forest.

But timber companies clearcut whole areas of land to obtain pulp to make paper. As a result, soils erode and rivers silt up. The plunder in the US forests has gone even further with 94 percent of original forests lost forever.

Two thirds of the regions forests and woodlands are in large tracts of potentially intact ancient forests, that areas 20,000 hectares or larger. The majority of these are located in the northern most regions of the continent in Canada and Alaska. They consist of a mix of forests and tundra. Forests of the lower 48 states in the US are relatively fragmented with only 20 percent of forest cover remaining in large, potentially intact blocks. Most of them are located in the Rocky Mountains and the coastal range of the Pacific Northwest.

Potentially intact ancient forest, >50,000 heactares

Other forests

Sources: Current forest cover, University of Maryland Transportation grid, Canada: DMTI, US: US Geological Service, Alaska: Chartr of the World
Potentially intact ancient forest, Global Forest Watch

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Map of the last ancient forests of North America

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