One of my absolute favourite words, taiga describes the broad majestic belt of coniferous forest that stretches around our planet between specific northern latitudes.

They occur on flat to undulating plains under coniferous forest or mixed forest in boreal and temperate climates with cold winters and short cool summers.

The main vegetation zones are the mixed forest, beech and mossy forest, sub-alpine coniferous forest and alpine grassland.

Lower areas are covered by dense coniferous forest.

The surrounding area has leached, gravelly-sandy soils with layers of hardpan, covered by open sand, large areas of heathland and extensive coniferous forest.