Forests take on many forms. The Amazon rainforest is quite different from the wilderness of Siberia. In fiction, we encounter dark forests like the selva obscura in Dante’s Inferno or enchanted forests such as the Immanent Grove from Earthsea. The Lord of the Rings offers both: from the dangerous Mirkwood to the idyllic elvish forests of Lothlórien.

Forests are also connected in ways that we are still discovering today. They are beautiful and complex places that are the ultimate representation of the humanity vs. nature theme. Taken a bit further: forests are often the symbol of nature, associated with messages of environmental protection or the untamed wild.

In this article, we’ll break down the kinds of forests that can exist in each climate. We’ll also discuss how to use forests in fiction, and take a closer look at some of these examples.

Tropical Forests

Earth’s densest forests are its rainforests. According to Köppen climate classification, there are a few conditions to achieve rainforest status, but suffice it to say that the place needs to be hot and very rainy. We’re talking about a minimum of 60mm (2.36in) of rain during the driest month.

Of course, not every tropical area has waterfalls coming from the clouds above. Tropical monsoon and savannah climates receive less rainfall on average, but all three can support forests—though they will take on slightly different forms. In a rainforest, you’ll find more water-hungry kapok, rubber, or xate trees. However, in dryer tropical climates, you’ll find wildlife such as the kamala tree or kans grass (wild sugarcane). Forests in places with drier seasons may also be less dense since that allows each plant better access to water.

Video game fantasy forest located on a fictional planet, with a tropical aesthetic and colorful and biolumenscent plants.. — The jungles of Pandora during the daytime and at night, from *Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora* (2023, ©Ubisoft).

The Jungles of Pandora

There are a variety of tropical forest climates in fiction like Dynize (Gods of Blood and Powder), parts of Kashyyyk (Star Wars), or the islands and jungles of Pandora (James Cameron’s Avatar). As for the latter, the variety of flora and fauna on Pandora helps it feel like a lived-in place, and its bioluminescence makes it feel just a bit alien.

Having a deep understanding of the forest is hugely important to the Na’vi’s story, considering how they interact with it. Their ability to form neural links to tame beasts or share memories is baked into their biology—and the plots of Cameron’s films.

While it’s unlikely Pandora’s “network” was based on this, it reminds me of recent theories that trees may “talk” to each other. Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees, suggests that “All the trees…are connected to each other through underground fungal networks. Trees share water and nutrients through [these] networks, and also use them to communicate. They send distress signals about drought and disease, for example, or insect attacks, and other trees alter their behavior when they receive these messages” (Smithsonian Magazine).

Tropical Forests on Athshe

In The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin, we again see a forest with an anti-colonial message. It takes place on the fictional planet Athshe, which is mostly made up of massive oceans and densely forested land.

That begins to change as a military-controlled logging company moves in, disrupting the natural ecosystem and enslaving the native Athsheans for their labor and service. We follow multiple perspectives that play out about how you might expect: Anthropologist Lyubov begins to care for the Astheans, while Captain Davidson becomes more violent toward them.

This story of nature and indigenous populations having to defend themselves from an outside force is a recurring one. It’s repeated in films such as Dances With Wolves (1990), Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Disney’s Pocahontas (1995), and the aforementioned Avatar (2009).

Temperate Forests

Temperate climates are often heavily forested, though the makeup of those forests will have more or less evergreens depending on how cold the climate gets. For example, there are few around Southeastern China, but around the U.S.-Canada border, I would estimate that about half of each forest is made up of evergreens.

Because of the temperate zone’s dramatic seasonal changes, these forests are well-known for changing throughout the year. This is particularly true of broadleaf trees, which grow during spring and summer, lose their leaves throughout autumn, and become dormant during winter. That autumnal period during which the leaves change color can last up to a month in colder temperate regions.

Concept artwork of a massive, otherworldly forest, with homes built inside and on the trees. — Official and concept artwork for Kashyyyk, homeworld of the Wookies in *Star Wars*.

Kashyyyk and the People of the Trees

There are a lot of “forest worlds” with a generally temperate climate. On Kashyyyk (Star Wars), one of their native flora is the wroshyr tree. It’s large enough to be hollowed and used as a home for entire communities of Wookies, who refer to themselves as “the People of the Trees.” The wroshyr is also used for its fire-resistant timber and medicinal sap.

Wroshyr trees are extinct by the time of Star Wars: Episode I, but in Claudia Grey’s novel Master & Apprentice, the trees’ fossilized resin (meryx) is known as the rarest gemstone in the galaxy. Jewel thieves Pax Maripher and Rahara Wick named their ship after it.

Much of what we see of Kashyyyk in Star Wars media features the Droids (Star Wars: Episode III) or Empire (Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order) fighting to claim it and extract its resources. They are successful to varying degrees. In Fallen Order, this results in some fantastic imagery of foreign ships and facilities mingling with the natural forest, and brutalistic structures with local flora reaching all around it. Much like Pandora and Athshe, Kashyyyk is an idealized forest whose native species must defend it—and themselves—from outsiders.

Temperate Forests in Other Fantasy Fiction

Most of the temperate forests we find in fiction are more mundane than those of Kashyyyk. I am of course referring to places such as the Kingswood (A Song of Ice and Fire), the Wolven Glade (The Witcher), or the Dhallin Forest (The Wheel of Time).

Each has its own quirks: The Kingswood is the site of several important events, including the wounding of King Robert Baratheon in A Game of Thrones; the Wolven Glade is known for its dark past, and is now haunted; and the Dhallin Forest is the site of several battles.

I mention these examples to show that forests can feel mundane as well, simply offering a good setting for hunting grounds, a cursed place, or an area to travel and fight through. Especially in European-inspired fantasy, where temperate forests are more or less the “default” type of wilderness. After all, most of Europe exists within some type of temperate climate.

That said, a forest is a classic setting for a reason. The “hunt” is a classic theme (Prey, 2022) and event (A Game of Thrones, 2011–2019) that shows even the most powerful can be struck down. The “cursed forest” shows that even if enhanced, your character may not be immune to everything. As for The Wheel of Time… Well, there is a reason forests are sometimes chosen as places for battles. They provide good cover for stealth approaches and strategic defenses.

So, while temperate forests may feel at times like the “default” type of wilderness, they are not entirely without purpose. Placing them throughout your map will have significant impacts on the way people move around, where they gather resources, and more.

Boreal Forests

Boreal forests (or taiga) cover about one-third of the Earth’s surface, concentrated mostly across Canada and Russia. They are largely made up of conifer trees (like pines), mosses, and fungi that are specially adapted to thrive in colder snow and polar climates which, aside from the cold, have challenging soil.

In short, the soil in many boreal forests is shallow and nutrient-poor. This means that root systems don’t reach as deep into the ground as they might in other parts of the world. That problem is only made worse by the frozen ground and permafrost, making it even harder for a plant’s roots to extend down into the soil.

Due to these shallow root systems and the way permafrost causes the ground to shift as it melts and solidifies, boreal forests are prone to becoming drunken forests: areas that become warped due to changes in the land’s elevation, causing the trees to appear as if they’re falling on top of each other.

The book cover and fantasy map for Stacey McEwan's *Ledge* (2022, ©Angry Robot). Map by Thomas REY.

Boreal Forests in Genre Fiction

Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any drunken forests in genre fiction (yet). However, boreal forests more broadly aren’t difficult to come by. The events of Brian’s Winter, a tale of survival by Gary Paulsen, take place entirely within the Canadian wilderness; and Master of the Forest by Artyom Dereschuk ventures into the forests of Siberia.

Katherine Arden takes the Russian wilderness one step further in her historical fantasy series, The Winternight Trilogy, which blends the 14th century with Russian folklore. It follows the story of Vasilisa as she is forced out of her forest hometown and into the city of Moscow.

This transition serves as a metaphor for Vasilisa’s transition away from a sheltered life and familiarity into the larger, unfamiliar world. Such a thing could be done in any forest, but the fact that Vasilisa’s home is in a boreal forest reinforces a stark contrast between old and new, the past and progress.

In Ledge by Stacey McEwan, The Kingdom of Terrsaw is covered in boreal forests, which is where we meet Dawsyn. The only life that she’s known has been spent among the trees, chopping down pines and splitting firewood, demonstrating early on that she has the skills to survive what comes later in the story.

Adding to that, the forest Dawsyn grew up in is positioned on the ledge of a cliff that appears impossible to descend safely. This kind of geography can create some interesting situations, but perhaps the most relevant to Ledge is the way that it and the forest force Dawsyn to become isolated from the rest of the world as she grows up, requiring her to develop a sense of independence and self-sufficiency.

In that way, it becomes a kind of prologue to the troubles to come.

Arid Forests

Forests can even grow at the edge of a desert. While most of the Sahel region is filled with arid grasslands, parts of it have been forested with acacia and baobab trees—both are uniquely well-adapted to arid climates like this. These forests are perhaps some of the least dense, considering the lack of water, but nonetheless, they consolidate around rivers such as the Niger and Gongola.

However, due to climate change, these forests are disappearing. To combat that, the African Union began the Great Green Wall initiative in 2007, and they have since restored or reforested around 332,000 hectares of land across five countries (as of 2024, UNCCD).

Nnedi Okorafor's *Remote Control* (2021, ©Tordotcom) and Dilman Dila's *A Killing in the Sun* (2014, ©Black Letter Media (Pty) Ltd.).

Arid Forests in African Science Fiction & Fantasy

Just as there are a lot of stories with temperate forests coming out of Europe, most stories with arid forests arise out of the cities and villages near them. In Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, we’re taken to a near-future vision of Northern Ghana, where fourteen-year-old Sankofa lives alongside the shea tree farms. She wields immense destructive power thanks to an alien artifact. If she touches any technology, it breaks, so her only means of getting around is by walking—often through the solitude of forests.

Sankofa is rarely alone, though. It’s clear from the beginning that the animals don’t mind her presence, and a fox plays the role of her companion. However, the people around her will actively alert each other to her dangerous presence. When she arrives, they raise the alarm, “Beware of remote control, o! The most powerful of all witchcraft!”

She is at once a force of nature, threatening their lives just by existing and forcing people to abandon their belongings with her touch. The story might be seen as a commentary on the way humans can be awful to each other and how technological progress can oppose nature.

“The Leafy Man,” a short story by Dilman Dila from A Killing in the Sun, offers a similar dichotomy of nature vs. humanity. The story is about a swarm of killer mosquitos that devastate a Ugandan town. The forest isn’t particularly important to this story, but its orange trees are. Pesticides fail to eradicate the mosquitoes, but Japia, the town’s traditional healer, discovers that they are allergic to orange leaves. He covers himself with them to survive.

In an interview with Strange Horizons, Dilman explained that the story was originally written around 2003 when he was sick with malaria and had just read an article about scientists who planned to genetically modify mosquitoes. In this story, the scientists’ solution of trying to control the pests is unsuccessful, but by returning to nature—the trees—Japia finds the cure.

Enchanted Forests

When land is cleared for farming and building, everything that isn't cultivated becomes something else. The forests on the horizon are mysterious, untamed, and dangerous. The enchanted and dark forest tropes are both born from this, representing these places where human civilization has yet to (or cannot) pierce.

Scene from *The Lord of the Rings* that takes place in Lothlórien.

Any type of forest can be enchanted in fiction. They are most common in fantasy, though they can pop up anywhere—even in medical dramas like Scrubs. The episode “My Princess” includes a Princess Bride-style B-plot which mirrors the events at the hospital. A long sought-after medical diagnosis is re-framed as a gift from some wood nymphs (medical interns) in the forest.

For a much more traditional example, let’s look at Lothlórien, the elves’ forest in Lord of the Rings. During the Second Age, the land was enriched by Galadriel’s magic and her ring of power, which was particularly adept at preservation and concealment from evil. Thus, the forest became uniquely well-positioned to resist the armies of Mordor.

After the fall of Sauron, Galadriel left Lothlórien with her ring. Without that magic, the forest returned to its original state. Many of those who called it home moved on to greener pastures. By the time Arwen was buried there in the Fourth Age, the forest was deserted.

Dark Forests

While many enchanted forests contain the key to a warrior’s quest or protect its inhabitants from danger, others are embodiments of the dark and mysterious. Recall our earlier discussion about how forests have historically been dangerous places and even a gate to Hell.

Scene from *The Hobbit* that takes place in The Mirkwood.

In Dimension 20’s “Fantasy High: Sophomore Year,” the Bad Kids find themselves in Sylvaire. It’s an ancient forest that was cursed in the wake of a religious war, becoming The Forest of the Nightmare King. Anyone who ventures inside is met with nightmares made real. Whatever you fear hunts you down through the trees. For the Bad Kids, that means they’re forgotten or are forced to endure imposter syndrome made quite literal.

For less abstract takes on the dark forest trope, there are plenty of other examples. In The Hobbit, The Mirkwood has a canopy so thick that the sun can’t break through. While traveling through it, the dwarves are captured by malevolent giant spiders.

Dark forests are also extremely popular in backwoods horror. The Ritual (2017) takes place in an old Swedish forest, where some friends are on a hiking trip. Things escalate, and soon the gang is being pursued through the woods by a violent god-like creature.

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Fictional forests don’t need to be made up of trees. Magic may alter the way trees grow or the fruit they bear. Alien worlds may replace them with large Venus fly traps, mushrooms, or something else entirely. They may not even be green. When it comes to dark and enchanted forests, keep an open mind!

The Impact of Climate Change

Forests around Earth are disappearing. While some of this is natural (forest fires are healthy when they don’t get out of control) most of it is human-caused or human-induced. We clear land every day for agriculture, livestock, logging, or expanding urban centers. According to the Global Forest Watch, between 2001–2023 Earth lost about 12% of its tree cover. This is decimating the species that call forests home and is actively contributing to global warming.

Areas of the world where tree canopy loss has been greater than 30% (2001 to 2023). Source: Global Forest Watch.

Forests help to store carbon, but when a tree is felled or burns—all that carbon returns to the atmosphere. And as global warming persists, the world is becoming hotter and drier. Deserts and arid climates are expanding, making it harder for forests to thrive.

All this to say, I think our forests will look much different in the future—and they certainly have changed in recent history. The Amazon of the 80s was a much denser and wilder place than it is now, and forests of the Sahel were more prosperous than they are today. The boreal forest extends further north than it used to and cannot extend as far south as it once did.

When writing stories about forests on Earth or Earth-like settings, it’s worth keeping in mind what these places once were and what they might look like soon.

Using Forests on a Fantasy Map

Unlike other kinds of terrain, there are few rules for where a forest can exist. Just be mindful of what kind of forest that region’s climate could produce. And, of course, avoid your deserts and ice caps.

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Forests are a symbol of the natural world. In a largely artificial setting, they can be placed strategically in your world and story to contrast against buildings and technology. For example, most of Amber Toro’s novel Umbra takes place on space stations and ships. So, when Skyla visits a jungle on a distant planet, it feels like a wild and untouched part of the galaxy.

How to Place Forests on a Map

There are few wrong places to include a forest, so long as you’re mindful of the area’s climate and put the right type of forest there. It would be strange to read a book about an arid grassland just to find a lush rainforest in the center of it (pending magical or sci-fi shenanigans).

Tropical forests are located in warm places with high amounts of rainfall, surrounded by an abundance of water, or where mountain ranges help cradle winds coming off the coast. This forces moisture up and causes more rain to fall on one side of the mountains. We see this occurring in South America, where air leaden with moisture from the Atlantic Ocean strikes the Andes and causes most of that water to fall back upon the Amazon.
Temperate forests are widespread. This is the sort of forest you might find in much of Europe or the Eastern United States. Toward the equator, you’ll find more broadleaf trees like maple or oak. Closer to the poles, you’ll find more conifers like cypress and pine trees, trees better adapted to colder climates.
Boreal forests are dense with conifer trees and wildlife that have adapted to the cold. Rather than shrubs or flowers, these forest floors tend to consist of plants with shallow root systems such as mosses, lichens, and mushrooms. This is the kind of forest you can find throughout much of Northern Canada and Russia.
Arid forests are the least dense kind of forest, often inhabited by trees that have evolved specifically to survive long droughts or arid climates. You’ll find these spread out throughout the Sahel, the Central United States, and parts of Australia.

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Check out Eleanor Konik's essay on the symbolism and cosmology of trees for more ideas about incorporating them into your worldbuilding.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to consider what the forest means to the people in your story. To Galadriel and the elves of Middle-Earth, the forest meant protection, while the forest was something that needed protecting in James Cameron’s Avatar. To Dante, the selva obscura was something to be feared and conquered. And, to Dawsyn, logging the forests of The Ledge became her profession.

Forests are a familiar kind of landscape to include on your fantasy maps and in your stories, but they take on many different forms! When describing them, be mindful of the local climate and wildlife that calls the forest home.

Fantasy Landscapes: Diverse & Enchanted Forests

TLDR: Trees are cool.

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Fantasy Landscapes: Diverse & Enchanted Forests

TLDR: Trees are cool.

More from Mapmaking

Latest on the Blog