The International Day of Forests is celebrated on 21st March every year and is celebrated to promote the significance of all forest types. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. Forests are areas of land covered with trees; it is a very broad term that encompasses many different types of ecosystems, multiple degrees of density, tree type and land management. There are three main types of forests: temperate forests (areas with distinct seasons and low humidity, usually found in North America and Europe), boreal forests (largely made up of evergreen trees and characterised with low temperatures; usually found in north and east Europe) and then we have the Tropical forests which are widespread throughout places such as Southeast Asia, Western and Central African, Central and South America, the Island of New Guinea and Australia.
Between 1990 and 2020, 420 million hectares of forest was lost worldwide due to deforestation! Forests are a vital source of energy, playing a key role in agriculture, climate regulation as well as biodiversity conservation. Illegal logging, slash and burn agriculture and clear cutting for agriculture and urban sprawl are huge threats to tropical rainforest. More than a quarter of all animal species could go extinct within the next 50 years if this level of deforestation is not halted. It is an important day to reflect on the values of forests and to promote efforts to protect and restore them!
So for this blog, I thought I would help to raise awareness by introducing you to some of the animals that we have here at the park that would naturally call the forest their home and let you guys know how you can get involved.
The primate team are very fond of our 2 two-toed sloths (Sid and Noco). Sloths are an arboreal, neotropical species which means they live in the trees of Central and South America. The tree density in a sloths habitat must be high in order to allow them good canopy connectivity and ease to move around.
Our bug house is home to the Asian Forest Scorpion and as the name suggests they are found across Asia in moist forests and the dark undergrowth they offer.
Lowland tapir prefer lowland rainforests ranging from moist swamp forests to grasslands and wetlands. We have two tapirs at the park, Nando and Kathleen who are both very popular with our mammal team!
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend going into our tropical house to feed our stunning rainbow lorikeets. These colourful birds are widely distributed along Australia’s coastal strip from Cape York to Victoria and into southern Australia. Their preferred habitat is coastal forests and urban clearings.
In our reptile house we have our Standing’s day geckos which inhabit the forests and scrublands of Southeast Madagascar.
Aroon and Mika are our two moon bears that call the park their home. Out in the wild, moon bears have a varied habitat including forests to deserts in the foothills of the Himalayas ranging from Afghanistan to Japan.
The animals above are just a handful that we have here at the park that would naturally call the forest their home. There are many ways to participate and do your part for International Day of Forests including: planting trees, support forest conservation projects through donations and volunteering, educate yourself and others on why the forest matters, reduce your carbon footprint and finally, get out there and explore the forests!
By Holly, Deputy Head of Primates
