CanopyMeg: The Eighth Continent

Dr. Meg Lowman · CanopyMeg. A living world above our heads.

Global pioneer in forest canopy ecology — arbornaut, author, educator. Four decades, 50+ countries.

More than half of life on land lives in the forest canopy. We never looked up. Until now.

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Dr. Meg Lowman · CanopyMeg

The Eighth Continent has been above us all along, waiting for us to look up.

For four decades, CanopyMeg has climbed into the treetops of 50+ countries on all 7 continents, and invited the world to look up. The canopy stores carbon, regulates climate, and shelters more than half of life on land. Saving big trees is an uplifting, realistic climate solution.

Read my letter →
Portrait of Jane Goodall

“Written in Lowman’s engaging style, Tree Day reveals her love (which I share) of trees as living beings. It will help all who read it understand the important role trees play in our lives and the life of our planet.”

Jane Goodall

From Meg’s own archive

A picture book of four decades.

Slide film from four decades of climbing — harnesses, hand-drawn food webs, students, a crane that changed what was reachable. Turn the pages.

  • A young woman in a climbing harness holding a helmet at the forest edge
    01Harness, helmet, and a forest to get into
  • A researcher seated in a tree harness against a buttressed trunk
    02In the seat, mid-climb
  • A climber on a rope high in a rainforest tree, seen from the ground
    03Looking up the rope
  • A canopy crane tower rising through the forest, seen from below
    04The crane, from underneath
  • A canopy walkway strung between crowns, seen from above
    05A walkway across the crowns
  • Hand-drawn canopy food-web diagram, white ink on blue
    06A canopy food web, drawn by hand
  • A team in climbing helmets on a canopy platform
    07The whole team, up on the platform
  • Researchers working with equipment at a canopy station
    08Instruments, notebooks, canopy
  • Hand-drawn diagram of vertical and horizontal canopy sampling
    09How to sample a tree: vertical and horizontal
  • A group of students together in the forest
    10Students, in the forest rather than reading about it
  • A sloth in dense foliage
    11A sloth, exactly where it wants to be
  • Two people on a stage, one pointing upward
    12Pointing at the thing nobody looks at

Undated on purpose: these came without notes, so each is captioned by what is in the frame rather than by a year I would be guessing at.

Meg with families beside a field station in Guatemala

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Where to begin.

A girl on a canopy suspension bridge, arms wide

The Eighth Continent

Why the forest canopy holds the answer.

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Dr. Meg Lowman in the field

Meet Meg

The world’s first global arbornaut.

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The bridge span into the canopy

Mission Green

A measurable plan, the 12× model.

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Children learning to climb into the canopy

The Fund

Access → Action → Stewardship.

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Mist lifting off the rainforest canopy at dawn, seen from the emergent layer

The layer above us

Half of life on land is up there. Most of it has never been classified.

Why the canopy matters →

In the press

What's happening with Canopy Meg

All coverage →

Two ways in

Join Us and Support the Work

The coalition

Women of the Eighth Continent

Women and girls standing behind the biggest, oldest trees on Earth. Members carry the coalition seal. Referral and invitation only.

Join the coalition

The Fund

The Eighth Continent Fund

Walkways, training, and stewardship in the world's most biodiverse forests. Contributions are handled by TREE Foundation — this site takes no payment.

Donate to the Fund ↗
CartierPlant With PurposeArizona State UniversityEarthwatchJASON LearningLeadership FloridaNational University of SingaporeNational GeographicNC State UniversityNew College of FloridaNational Science FoundationNorth Carolina Museum of Natural SciencesRolexScientific AmericanThe Habitat Penang HillWilliams CollegeRachel Carson CenterPurdue UniversityGoogleUniversity of OxfordUniversity of AberdeenDuke UniversityUniversity of FloridaUS Environmental Protection AgencyThe Explorers ClubCSIRONEON (National Ecological Observatory Network)UN Environment ProgrammeTommy Hilfiger FoundationEcological Society of AmericaGirls Inc.Boys & Girls Clubs of AmericaSmithsonian InstitutionFulbright ProgramWilson CollegeElmira College

enjoy nature!

Dr. Meg Lowman · The Eighth Continent