One of the units I teach in Science is about climate change and one of the topics I discuss is Old Growth Forests as it is a topic that is relatively unknown to my students. They have heard of planting trees after cutting down trees but what they may not have known was that these “second-growth” trees are not the same type as the ones that were cut down. The old growth forests are not economical for the forest industry as they take too long to grow so they instead grow trees that grow quickly so that they can cut them down and start the process again for manufacturing their products. This greatly affects the carbon sinks as the old growth forests absorb significantly higher amounts of carbon than the trees being used to replace them. I also talk about the Indigenous perspective regarding the logging of old growth forests and how it is affecting their culture and way of living.
Clayoquot Sound is an example of Indigenous-led conservation strategies being used to help preserve old growth forests and why the work that is being done there is significant.
https://www.natureunited.ca/what-we-do/our-priorities/investing-in-people/clayoquot-sound/
Below is a PDF with a few lessons relating to old growth forests:
https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/exhibits/living-landscapes/cbasin/oldgrowthforest/chapter2-looking.pdf