Forest Facts for Kids

A Picture of a Forest

    This web page contains forest facts for kids and is an excellent resource for anyone of any age looking to learn about these beautiful natural habitats. Our goal is to provide you with accurate, up to date facts about forests. In addition to facts about forests, we provide additional resources and pictures related to forests.

    The forest facts below will help you learn what a forest is, why forests are important to the planet, the different types of forests, what makes a forest a forest and other forest facts. We hope these forest facts are interesting and help you learn more about these wonderful natural habitats.

    If any of the below forestry facts are inaccurate, please contact us and let us know.

25 Forest Facts for Kids

  1. A forest is an area of land with an ecological system dominated by trees.
  2. Forests contain a wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms.
  3. Forests are home to about 80% of the planet’s terrestrial animals and plants.
  4. Forests covered over 10 billion acres or 31% of the Earth’s landmass in 2020.
  5. Only 1.8 billion of the Earth’s 10 billion acres of forest are protected.
  6. More than 50% of all the forest area on our planet is in just five countries.
  7. Russia had 20.1% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 2 billion acres.
  8. Brazil had 12.2% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 1.2 billion acres.
  9. Canada had 8.5% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 857 million acres.
  10. The United States had 7.6% of the planet’s forests area in 2020 with over 766 million acres.
  11. China had 5.4% of the planet’s forest area in 2020 with over 543 million acres.
  12. There are four main types of forests based on their geographical zone.
  13. The four main types of forests are boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical.
  14. Boreal forests are found in the geographical subarctic zone.
  15. In 2020, boreal forests made up 27% of the planet’s forest area.
  16. Boreal forests are only found in the U.S. State of Alaska, Canada and Russia.
  17. Temperate forests are found in the temperate geographical zone.
  18. In 2020, temperate forests made up 16% of the planet’s forest area.
  19. Temperate forests are found on every continent, except Antarctica.
  20. Temperate forests are found in the subtropical geographical zone.
  21. In 2020, subtropical forests made up 11% of the planet’s forest area.
  22. Subtropical forests are found on every continent, expect Europe and Antarctica.
  23. Tropical forests are found in the tropical geographical zone.
  24. Tropical forests are found on every continent, expect Europe and Antarctica.
  25. In 2020, tropical forests made up 45% of the planet’s forest area.

Find More Facts About Forests

  • About Forests – Find information and facts about forest habitats on the World Wildlife Fund website.
  • The U.S. Forest Service – Learn about the U.S. goverment agency that protects forests across the United States of America.
  • The Forest Biome – Read more about forests on the UC Museum of Paleontology website.
  • Forest – Wikipedia – Discover more cool information about forests on the Wikipedia website.

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