Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, “Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”

There’s something different about walking into a rainforest. Not the kind you’ve seen in textbooks, the dense, tropical ones with parrots overhead and vines wrapping around every branch, but the quieter kind. The ones shrouded in mist. Where moss blankets the trees and the air feels almost still, like it’s holding its breath.

You don’t just see these forests, you feel them.

They reside in the corners of the world that most people never consider. Coastal edges. Fog-wrapped mountains. Places where the rain falls not in bursts, but steadily, season after season. These forests don’t need spectacle to make an impression. Their power is quieter. Older. Steadier.

Here, you’ll find trees that have stood for centuries, nourished by rain and shadow. Ferns unfurl like green fossils across the forest floor. Strange fungi emerge from fallen logs like miniature sculptures. And everything, from the canopy to the roots, feels interconnected in ways we’re only beginning to understand.

But what are these places? How did they form? Why are they so rare? And what can they tell us about our climate, our planet, and even ourselves?

In this blog, we’ll explore the story of these rain-soaked, slow-growing forests, from what makes them unique to where they still survive today.

What is a Temperate Rain Forest?

A temperate rainforest is one of the planet’s most unique and least common ecosystems. Found in select coastal and high-altitude regions, these forests are shaped by a combination of heavy rainfall, typically over 55 inches (140 cm) a year, and mild, stable temperatures that rarely dip below freezing or rise too high.

Unlike tropical rainforests, which thrive in equatorial heat, temperate rainforests grow in cooler climates where fog, moisture-laden winds, and a lack of harsh seasonal shifts create ideal conditions for slow but persistent growth. These forests are often shrouded in mist, saturated with moisture, and layered with life, from the canopy to the forest floor.

Temperate vs. Tropical Rain Forests: What’s the Difference?

Rainforests might all seem similar at a glance, lush, green, and full of life, but entirely different forces shape temperate and tropical rainforests. One thrives in equatorial heat; the other survives in cooler, wetter corners of the world. They share a name, but the worlds they create are strikingly different.

Climate and Location

Tropical rainforests are found near the equator, where temperatures are consistently hot year-round and rainfall is intense, although often seasonal. Consider regions like the Amazon, Congo, or Southeast Asia, where sunlight and moisture fuel rapid growth and dense biodiversity.

In contrast, a temperate rainforest forms in regions with cooler temperatures and year-round precipitation. These forests are often found along coasts or mountain ranges where oceanic air currents bring a constant supply of rain and mist. The result? A damp, mild environment that nurtures slow-growing giants.

Biodiversity and Growth Patterns

Tropical rainforests hold the crown for biodiversity, with thousands of plant and animal species crammed into every square kilometer. But they grow fast and break down just as quickly. Fallen leaves and branches decompose in days or weeks.

Temperate rainforests, on the other hand, are built for endurance. While they don’t host as many species, they support some of the oldest living organisms on Earth. Trees like western red cedar and alerce can live for over a thousand years. Decay occurs more slowly in cool, moist climates, allowing fallen logs to support entire micro-ecosystems for decades.

Structure and Feel

A tropical rainforest is a sensory overload—hot, loud, and bursting with movement. In contrast, walking through a temperate rainforest is a quieter experience. The forest floor is often carpeted in moss. Shafts of filtered light break through misty canopies. The pace of life is slower, but no less affluent.

Tropical rainforests stretch upward with layered canopies teeming with vines and broad-leafed trees. Temperate rainforest plants include towering conifers, thick mats of moss and lichen, and understories of ferns and fungi. You’re more likely to find dominant plants of temperate rainforests like Sitka spruce or southern beech than palms or banana trees.

While they may grow on opposite ends of the climate spectrum, both types of rainforest are vital to the planet, regulating water cycles, capturing carbon, and supporting species found nowhere else.

Temperate Rainforests Around the World

Temperate rainforests are few and far between. They require a rare mix of conditions—cool temperatures, steady rain, and the right topography. But where those conditions align, the result is breathtaking. These are places where trees grow for centuries, mist clings to every branch, and the forest feels like a world apart.

Let’s explore some of the most iconic and ecologically rich temperate rainforests still thriving today, starting with the largest of them all.

Tongass National Forest

Tongass National Forest

Covering nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska is the largest temperate rainforest in the world and one of the most ecologically rich rainforests in the United States. Carved by glaciers and fed by ocean air, it’s a vast, misty wilderness where rain and time shape everything.

Tall trees like Sitka spruce and western hemlock dominate the canopy, with some trees reaching 200 feet and living for centuries. These are classic dominant plants of temperate rainforests, creating dense stands that shelter bald eagles, bears, wolves, and spawning salmon.

Below, the forest floor is a soft, layered mosaic of temperate rainforest plants, including mosses, ferns, lichens, and fungi. Nurse logs provide the foundation for new life, showing how plants in a temperate rainforest grow in deeply interconnected ways.

The Tongass is also home to the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples, whose deep connection to the land continues to guide conservation efforts. Yet the forest remains under pressure from logging and policy shifts. Protection efforts are ongoing, aiming to preserve what remains of this vast and irreplaceable ecosystem.

Pacific Temperate Rainforests

Pacific Temperate Rainforests

Stretching from northern California to southeast Alaska, the Pacific temperate rainforests form one of the largest continuous temperate rainforest systems on Earth. Carved by coastal mountains and fed by ocean air, these forests are home to some of the most popular endangered trees that thrive in constant moisture.

Iconic areas, such as Olympic National Park and the Great Bear Rainforest, showcase the region’s complexity. Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, western red cedar, and hemlock tower above dense understories of salal, devil’s club, and thick moss, classic dominant plants of temperate rainforests that help these forests store massive amounts of carbon.

Step inside and you’ll find plants in a temperate rainforest growing on fallen logs, ferns spreading across the ground, and the air thick with the scent of wet earth and cedar. Wildlife abounds, from Roosevelt elk to salmon whose spawning cycles link river and sea.

Many of these forests have been shaped by Indigenous communities for millennia. In recent decades, conservation efforts, especially in British Columbia, have helped preserve parts of the old-growth forest. Still, logging and climate pressures remain. These forests continue to stand as both sanctuary and warning: a cool-climate ecosystem that demands attention and care.

3. Valdivian Temperate Rainforest

Valdivian Temperate Rainforest

The Valdivian temperate rainforest runs along the southern coast of Chile and into parts of Argentina. Isolated by the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, it preserves ancient plant lineages from the Gondwanan era, making it one of the most distinctive temperate forests in the world.

Here, broadleaf evergreens like coigüe, arrayán, and Chilean myrtle form dense canopies, while alerce trees, some over 3,000 years old, tower above the mist. These are among the most iconic temperate rainforest plants in the Southern Hemisphere. Below, thick carpets of ferns, mosses, and lichens thrive in the cool, rainy climate, supporting endemic wildlife like the pudú, Magellanic woodpecker, and Darwin’s fox.

Once heavily logged and cleared for agriculture, large areas of this forest have been lost. But Indigenous Mapuche communities, scientists, and local conservation groups are now working to protect what remains. Through national parks, private reserves, and grassroots rewilding efforts, parts of the forest are being restored and preserved.

Today, the Valdivian rainforest stands not just as a biological treasure, but as a symbol of what long-term conservation, driven by people rooted in the land, can begin to reclaim.

4. Tasmania Temperate Rain Forest

Tasmania Temperate Rain Forest

Tucked into the western reaches of Tasmania, this temperate rainforest feels ancient because it is. As a remnant of the Gondwana supercontinent, it hosts plant species that have survived for tens of millions of years. It’s one of the few places where you can walk among living fossils.

The forest is dominated by cool-climate evergreens, such as myrtle beech, sassafras, and towering stringybark eucalyptus, making them some of the most recognizable dominant plants of temperate rainforests in the Southern Hemisphere. The understory is thick with tree ferns, mosses, and fungi, forming the damp, layered structure typical of temperate rainforest plants.

Much of this forest lies within the Tarkine and Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers regions, vast wilderness areas that remain largely untouched. However, parts of the ecosystem have been threatened by logging and mining for decades.

Today, Aboriginal Tasmanians, local environmentalists, and scientists are leading conservation efforts, pushing for expanded protections and the recognition of Tasmania’s rainforests as globally significant. Their work is helping to preserve one of the most intact examples of a cool-climate forest, where biodiversity and a deep cultural connection to the land go hand in hand.

5. Appalachian Temperate Rain Forest

Appalachian Temperate Rain Forest

Tucked along the spine of the southern Appalachian Mountains, this may be one of the most surprising examples of a rainforest in the USA. Stretching across parts of western North Carolina, Tennessee, and the Smoky Mountains, this cool, misty forest receives up to 100 inches of rain annually, enough to qualify as a temperate rainforest.

Although it lacks the towering conifers of the Pacific Northwest, the Appalachian rainforest compensates with its rich biodiversity. The region is home to more species of salamanders than anywhere else on Earth, as well as a rich variety of birds, fungi, and flowering plants.

The dominant plants of this temperate rainforest include red spruce, Fraser fir, rhododendron, and hemlock. The understory teems with ferns, mosses, and wildflowers, classic temperate rainforest plants that thrive in the steady humidity and shade.

Many of these forests are located within protected areas, such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which also serves as a key center for scientific research and restoration. Conservation efforts focus on combating threats like invasive pests, acid rain, and climate change, all of which have taken a toll on high-elevation tree species.

Still, the Appalachian rainforest endures, quiet, moss-covered, and deeply rooted in time. It’s a reminder that not all rainforests are located in remote or tropical areas. Sometimes, they’re right in our backyard.

6. Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest

Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest

Along Japan’s Pacific coast lies the Taiheiyo evergreen forest, a lesser-known but ecologically rich temperate rainforest system. Stretching from southern Honshu to parts of Kyushu and Shikoku, this forest thrives in a humid, mild climate shaped by ocean currents and seasonal monsoons.

Unlike the conifer-dominated rainforests of the Americas, the dominant plants of this temperate rainforest are broadleaf evergreens. Camphor trees, oaks, magnolias, and laurels form the dense upper canopy. At the same time, the forest floor supports bamboo, ferns, mosses, and wild gingers, a distinctly East Asian set of temperate rainforest plants adapted to warmth and rain.

This forest is home to rare and endemic wildlife, including the Japanese macaque, copper pheasant, and the elusive Japanese giant salamander. In some regions, ancient cedar trees, such as those on Yakushima Island, add a deeper historical layer, with some living for over 1,000 years.

Human connection to these forests runs deep. For centuries, Shinto and Buddhist traditions have regarded forested landscapes as sacred. Today, local communities and conservationists are working to protect what remains from urban expansion, logging, and the introduction of invasive species.

The Taiheiyo evergreen forest is a reminder that temperate rainforests don’t all follow the same mold. They adapt to place, culture, and climate, while still holding the quiet complexity that defines this biome worldwide.

Why These Forests Matter And Need Protection

Temperate rainforests cover only a sliver of the Earth, yet their impact is immense. They store carbon, shelter rare species, and protect vital freshwater systems, all while growing at a pace that spans centuries.

From the Pacific Northwest to Tasmania, these forests are home to unique temperate rainforest plants and ecosystems found nowhere else on Earth. However, they’re under growing threat from logging, land-use change, and climate instability.

Still, hope remains. Indigenous communities, scientists, and conservation groups are working to protect and restore what remains. Because in the end, saving these forests isn’t just about trees, it’s about preserving the natural systems that sustain us all.

Temperate rainforests take centuries to grow and can be lost in moments. You can help protect what remains and rebuild what’s been damaged through real, trackable reforestation.

Help the Last Great Rainforests Regrow with Plantd

Help the Last Great Rainforests Regrow with Plantd

Temperate rainforests take centuries to grow and can be lost in moments. You can help protect what remains and rebuild what’s been damaged through real, trackable reforestation.

With Plantd, your support goes directly to projects that restore native temperate forests, enhance biodiversity, and support the communities that depend on these ecosystems.

Whether you contribute once, support monthly planting, or get your community involved, every action helps keep these rare forests alive and growing.

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