5 Temperate Rainforests Around the World

Ever thought there would be a rainforest in the United States?

Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States, covering more than 6.5 million hectares of Alaskan wilderness.

It is also the world's largest intact temperate rainforest. Amazingly, the Tongass actually encompasses fjords, the snowy peaks of the Coastal Mountains, and even glaciers!

Its inhabitants are just as diverse with many of the endangered species of North America found solely within its boundaries.

While much of the forest value previously came from logging operations, the region has transitioned to other less harmful industries like tourism, carbon sequestration, and sustainable fishing.

However, the Tongass' future is uncertain as the U.S. government seeks to open more of this long standing temperate rainforest to timber and resource exploitation.

Extending from Alaska down to Northern California, thePacific Temperate Rainforest ecoregion is considered by the WWF as the planet's largest temperate rainforest ecoregion in the world.

Pocketed throughout the coastal stretch of forest there are a few pockets of rainforest that make the region quite unique. The Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia is nearly 6.5 million hectares.

Also known as the Central and North Coast forest, the Great Bear Rainforest earned its namesake from the diversity of bear species. Other rainforests in the region are made up of tree species like the Douglas fir, coastal Redwoods and Sitka spruce. All these trees are famous for their incredible beauty, enormous height, and ability to grow for thousands of years, making them the icons of the region.

This area is also particularly dear to our hearts because of its connection to our planting project to protect Southern Resident Orca and Salmon habitat.

Another North American rainforest is the Appalachian temperate rainforest, which is located in the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States.

The forest extends through the Appalachian areas of western North Carolina, southwest Virginia, southeastern Kentucky, northern South Carolina, northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. 

The high mountain environment creates habitat for over 10,000 northern species, including 2,000 different types fungi species and animals such as black bears, moose, white tailed deer, chipmunks, foxes, a variety of birds and over 30 species of salamanders!

As for tree species of the Appalachian temperate forests, conifer trees like the spruce, fir and mixed woods can be found growing in this region.

The Valdivian temperate rainforest can be found on the west coast of Argentina and Chile.

These forests are characterized by a dense understory of fern and bamboo, and have predominantly evergreen angiosperm trees.

Though little recognized around the world, parts of the Valdivian rainforest are quite famous. Doug Tompkins (founder of North Force, married to Kristine Tompkins, former CEO of Patagonia) famously - some say infamously - opened the Parque Patagonia conservation area here.

The Taiheiyo Evergreen Forests is an ecoregion located in southern Japan, consisting of, predominantly, evergreen broadleaf trees.

The ecoregion spreads across an area of 53,400 square miles (an area about the size of Florida) on the Pacific (Taiheiyo) side of the islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushi.

The canopy's dominant tree species are the Japanese stone oak and the Japanese cedar, while the understory is composed of moso bamboo, mosses and lichens.