Stewart Wright
| what Stuart Wright wants YOU to know | one on one| outstanding author| knowledge & a little fun |
AUTHOR of MORE INTERESTING THAN YOUR TEACHER
“
TAIGA
”
Most people believe that the Amazon rain forest is the world’s largest forest but it doesn’t even come in at a close second. The Taiga is by far the world’s largest land biome and accounts for nearly 30% of the world’s total forest cover. It goes right around the world in the Northern Hemisphere and stretches across a vast area throughout the high northern latitudes of North America and Eurasia taking in parts of Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Scandinavia, Canada, Alaska, Mongolia and even northern Japan. This huge forest is a very cold and inhospitable place but absolutely vital to our own wellbeing, producing more oxygen than all the other forests on our planet combined. The Taiga is a truly massive area of forest and yet it hardly ever gets a mention when compared to the Amazon and that is probably due to the fact that the Amazon’s hot climate and exotic wildlife makes it more appealing. In comparison, the Taiga forest is predominantly conifers and covered in snow most of the time but the range of wildlife is still considerable. There are various species of bears, moose, reindeer, deer, beaver, and wolves. Then there are the impressive birds of prey including eagles, buzzards and owls, not to mention the estimated 32,000 species of insects and numerous species of fish. The Taiga - a forest that goes right around the world!