There are three main types of natural zones on land: deserts, forests, and grasslands. China's land area is about 9.6 million square kilometers, of which grasslands are mainly distributed in the north; deserts are mainly distributed in the northwest; forests are mainly distributed in the northeast and southwest.
Arbor forests, shrub forests, bamboo forests, etc. are all forests. Forests are one of the most important ecosystems on Earth, nourishing a wide range of wildlife. The Amazon rainforest, located in the Amazon Plain of South America, is known as the lungs of the earth. Forests can usually be divided into broad-leaved forests, coniferous forests, mixed-leaved forests, rainforests, etc. In addition, there are deciduous and evergreen points, which are mainly related to altitude and latitude.
The total land area is about 149 million square kilometers. It is estimated that the total forest area in the world is now about 40 million square kilometers, which is already lower than the previous global forest coverage rate of about 30%.
While the global forest coverage rate is declining year by year, my country's forest coverage rate is increasing year by year. According to authoritative reports, at present, my country's forest area is about 2.2 million square kilometers, and the forest coverage rate has reached about 23%, but this still does not reach the global average level.
Although my country's forest coverage rate has increased year by year, it is still not optimistic. About 36% of them are planted forests, which are not complete forest ecosystems.
In the forest distribution, there is a type of virgin forest that has not been destroyed by human beings and shows unique ecological characteristics. The virgin forest has a unique ecological structure and is the habitat of many rare and endangered wild animals and plants. Once destroyed, it is basically difficult to restore. At present, the virgin forests in my country are basically divided into forest parks or nature reserves and are protected.
According to the "Spatial Distribution Map of my country's Primitive Forests" drawn up by Greenpeace in 2017, the total area of virgin forests in China is about 160,000 square kilometers, which is almost the size of Shanxi Province, accounting for about 7.5% of my country's total forest area. Not many, and most of them are not distributed continuously in patches, but sporadic distribution.
Geographically, according to the distribution from north to south, my country's virgin forest resources are mainly distributed in Daxing'anling, Xiaoxing'anling, Changbai Mountains, Altai Mountains, Tianshan Mountains, Taihang Mountains, Qinling Mountains, Shennongjia, Wuyi Mountains, Eastern Himalayas, Nanling Mountains, Xishuangbanna, and central Hainan Mountains. and so on. It can be seen from this that the virgin forest resources in my country are mainly distributed along the mountains. These areas are not suitable for agricultural production, and there are relatively few human activities, so they have been preserved.
From the perspective of the distribution of virgin forests in various provinces, according to the size of the virgin forests, Tibet, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, and Shaanxi rank first in the area of virgin forests. When it comes to Inner Mongolia, many people think that there are basically grasslands there. In fact, 70% of the Greater Khingan Mountains are located in Inner Mongolia.
The following is a brief introduction to the three well-known virgin forest distribution areas in my country.
Does China still have primeval forests? Where are they mainly located?
1. Daxinganling
The Greater Xing'an Mountains are located in the northeastern region of my country and are the watershed between the Inner Mongolia Plateau and the Songliao Plain. The contiguous virgin forests are mainly located on the Greater Xing'an Mountains. The Daxing'anling has the most well-preserved virgin forest in China. The Greater Khingan Mountains are not only dense with virgin forests, but also one of the important forestry bases in my country, with timber reserves accounting for half of China's. Although there have been forest fires, the core area has not been touched, and the wildlife resources are still very rich. The main trees are Xing'an larch, sylvestris pine, red spruce, white birch, Mongolian oak, aspen and so on.
The Daxinganling Mountains are in the northeast and southwest direction, with a total length of 1,400 kilometers and a width of 200 kilometers. The total area of Daxing'anling is about 320,000 square kilometers, of which about 240,000 square kilometers are in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and 80,000 square kilometers are in Heilongjiang Province.
2. Shennongjia Forest Area
Shennongjia Forest Area is located at the junction of Hubei, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces. The main part is located in Hubei. It is the junction of Daba Mountains and Qinling Mountains.
Shennongjia Forest Area covers an area of about 3,200 square kilometers, which is almost half the size of Shanghai. Rare wild animals such as giant salamanders, golden snub-nosed monkeys, clouded leopards, leopards, and Asian black bears live in this area. The legend of savages has been circulating in the Shennongjia forest area, which adds a mysterious color to the virgin forest.
3. Tropical Rainforest in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan
The Xishuangbanna Tropical Rainforest is located in Jinghong, Mengla and Menghai counties in Xishuangbanna Prefecture in the south of Yunnan Province, with a total area of about 2,800 square kilometers. Xishuangbanna Tropical Rainforest is one of the best-preserved tropical rainforests in the world. It is the kingdom of animals and plants. It has the unique vertical distribution "inversion" phenomenon of plants in the world.
Looking at the world, virgin forests are mainly distributed in Siberia, Canada, Amazon and other places. The world's largest virgin forest, many people think it is the Amazon rainforest, in fact, the Canadian cold temperate coniferous forest is the world's largest virgin forest. The coniferous forest starts from Alaska in the United States and extends to the Atlantic Ocean, with a total area of large. It accounts for about 25% of the existing virgin forests on the earth.
As the Earth's population continues to grow, global forest cover will continue to decline in the future. Take the Amazon rainforest in South America as an example. In order to obtain more arable land and develop the agricultural economy, the area of the rainforest there has been decreasing. Although the Brazilian government is also properly protecting it, the results are not good. As the last pure land on the earth, the virgin forest is also the home of many wild animals and plants on the earth, and it is more worthy of our protection.