We read and hear so much about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest that it is easy to get the idea that this is the world’s largest forest. There is no question that the Amazon Basin is covered by a huge forest the largest in the tropics. There is no question either that it plays a vital part in the balance of the world’s weather. But it is not the biggest single forested area on earth. That lies far away to the north in the areas of the USSR that run up to the Arctic Circle. Vast forests of conifers cover this remote part of the world. Present estimates reckon that 1100 million hectares are covered by trees – that is an area larger than the whole of Europe! One quarter of the world’s forests are found here and over one-third of the trees are Siberian larch.
Huge as it is, the Amazon rainforest is only a third of this size.
Picture Credit : Google
