Who would have thought that dwarf cedar trees growing on the Niagara Escarpment could live to be nearly 2000 years old. Or that the small bonsai cedars lining the shorelines of the Canadian shield measure their ages in centuries. Old growth pine trees in Temagami are often over 10 storeys tall, but these are young sprouts compared to trees of yesteryear, which were as much as 20 storeys high.

Ontario's old growth forests are fantastical and mysterious, but who knows where to find one. Most people in this province live within an hour's drive of an old growth forest, but do not know it. The ecology of these stands is engrossing. Fire scars on these trees, for example, provide an indisputable record of forest fire activity in Ontario. Small hemlock saplings, over 100 years old, have been growing at infinitesimal rates, waiting for a gap to open in the forest canopy.

Michael Henry is the author of ONTARIO’S OLD GROWTH FORESTS. He is is a botanist and forest ecologist who has spent over two decades studying, writing about, and working to conserve Ontario's old-growth forests. He compiled and maintains the list of Ontario's oldest trees; he designed and constructed the Blueberry Lake Ecology Trails in Temagami; he confirmed that the Jackson Creek forest in Peterborough is an old-growth forest; and he has worked to protect threatened old-growth forests within Algonquin Park, where he and Nate Torenvliet found unprotected forest over 400 years old. He is currently working on a book about old-growth forests in Ontario's Greenbelt. Michael has also worked as a natural builder and is lead author of the book Essential Natural Plasters: A Guide to Materials, Recipes, and Use.

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Dr. Peter Quinby is Chair of Ancient Forest Exploration & Research, a charitable NGO that he created in 1992 with a mandate to conduct research and educational activities focusing on the ecology and protection of natural forested landscapes in Ontario. His connection to Ontario’s old-growth forests began at the age of six months when his parents took him to their cottage in Algonquin Park for his first of many summers there. He has written numerous journal articles, technical reports, and educational pieces. He is most familiar with the forested landscapes of Algonquin and Temagami, located in central Ontario. He has held positions at a number of universities including the University of Pittsburgh and Wilfrid Laurier University. Currently, he is employed as a senior environmental scientist with Knight Piesold Ltd. in North Bay, Ontario, where he works primarily on environmental impact assessment projects in the Canadian arctic.

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