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The Forest

Forests are wonderful and beautiful things. Healthy forests filter water, remove air pollution, sequester carbon, and provide homes for wildlife.

"The forest symbolizes Canada. It always has. Besides covering half the Canadian landscape, 417.6 million hectares, forests are a dominant feature of our economy, culture and history. They are a critical element of our aspirations as a society and as a nation. Forests are an integral part of our natural environment and life support system. The provinces own over 71% of Canada's forest land. 23% are federally owned, with some managed by or in co-operation with the territorial governments. The complement is in private hands. Although they account for only 6% of Canada's forest land, private forests play a large role in the economies of many regions and rural areas of Canada."- quote from http://www.forest.ca/details.php3

In most jurisdictions, what we are calling "forests" on this web site, are commonly called "woods" or "bush" and in some areas are known as "woodlots". It matters little the name we give, the forest does hold the fate of the world through cleansing and sheltering. We cannot ignore its significance.

Trees, shrubs, bushes, vernal pools, grasses all make up the forest. To see the discussion and examples of these parts of the forest please click on the appropriate category at the top of this or any page.

The Trees

Definition - (tree) A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. Though there is no set definition regarding minimum size, the term generally applies to plants at least 6 m (20 ft) high at maturity and, more importantly, having secondary branches supported on a single main stem or trunk (see shrub for comparison). Compared with most other plant forms, trees are long-lived. A few species of trees grow to 100 m tall, and some can live for several millennia. (source - web Wikipedia)

Trees are the largest plants on earth. They are complex organisms that harness energy from the sun to reduce the impact of global warming and help maintain balanced ecosystems.

One large, healthy tree can:

• lift up to 4000 litres of water from the ground and release it into the air
• absorb as many as 7000 dust particles per litre of air
• absorb 75 per cent of the CO2 produced by the average car
• provide a day’s oxygen for up to four people

How Trees Help the Planet

The tree root system stabilizes the ground and prevents erosion of the soil.
Leaves of the tree provide a canopy which prevents evaporation of the moisture from the soil by shading it from the rays of the sun.
The leaves of deciduous trees provide nutrients to the soil when they fall, breakdown and become part of the soil.
Trees provide nesting places and shelter for birds away from predators.
The Tree provides a scenic beauty to our world and a valuable resource for our industries.

The trees that occupy the Heartland Forest are for the most part second growth deciduous trees, that is, the trees are those which have grown after the original species were harvested or died from disease and fell to nourish the forest floor.

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