(Tour hours, pricing and reservations listed further down on the page)
What Is A
Cloud Forest?
A cloud
forest is generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest
characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover,
usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses
covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as
mossy forests. Mossy forests usually develop on mountains where moisture
introduced by settling clouds. A cloud forest are also known as; water forest,
primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest.
Only 1% of
the global woodland consists of cloud forests. They previously comprised an
estimated 11% of all tropical forests in the 1970s. A total of around 736 cloud
forest sites have been identified in 59 countries by the World Conservation
Monitoring Centre, with 327 of them legally protected areas as of 2002.
Important areas of cloud forest are in Central and South America (mainly
Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia), East and Central Africa, India, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and in
the Caribbean.
Because of
their delicate dependency on local climates, cloud forests will be strongly
affected by global climate change. Results show that the extent of
environmentally suitable areas for cloud forest in Mexico will sharply decline
in the next 70 years. A number of climate models suggest low-altitude
cloudiness will be reduced, which means the optimum climate for many cloud
forest habitats will increase in altitude. Linked to the reduction of cloud
moisture immersion and increasing temperature, the hydrological cycle will
change, so the system will dry out. This would lead to the wilting and the
death of epiphytes, which rely on high humidity. Frogs and lizards are expected
to suffer from increased drought. Calculations suggest the loss of cloud forest
in Mexico would lead to extinction of up to 37 vertebrates specific to that
region. In addition, climate changes can result in a higher number of
hurricanes, which may increase damage to tropical montane cloud forests. All in
all, the results of climate change will be a loss in biodiversity, altitude
shifts in species ranges and community reshuffling, and, in some areas,
complete loss of cloud forests.
Kona Cloud Forest - Three Hour Guided Walking Tours
$95.00 for Island Guests. We offer Island Residents, Military and Students special rates. All Tours Are By Phone Appointment Only - Call (808) 640-3888 to reserve your tour!
Email: KonaCloudForestTours@Gmail.com
If we do not answer the phone please leave your name, number of people in your group and potential date(s) you wish to have a tour. Most tours begin at 9 AM. If we do no answer we are on tours and/or working in the cloud forest.
IF you do not hear back from us PLEASE call back or email us at KonaCloudForestTours@Gmail.com
We are on a mountain and we do not always get great reception or proper connections. A representative will get back to you as soon as possible.
Google Rated 5 out of 5 stars
TripAdvisor - Certificate of Excellence
TripAdvisor rates us the #1 Attraction, Nature, Parks and Things To Do In Kona!
We are located 20 minutes from downtown Kona and 9.2 miles from the Kona International Airport.
NOTE: We cannot allow free-walking as we are a private sanctuary.
Tours presented by Painted Trees of Hawaii 509 (2)(A) Educational Non Profit in partnership with the Bezona Family Trust.
All charitable contributions are 100% Tax Deductible. After the tour we will email you a letter for your accounting records.
Address:
73-1865 Hao Street #3
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
Phone:
(808) 640-3888
Email:
KonaCloudForestTours@Gmail.com
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