While forests still cover nearly 30 percent of the Earth’s surface, clear cutting presents a particular threat to many ecosystems.

The video above explores the role humans can play in returning forests to their natural state, but also forces viewers to ponder what constitutes a “natural forest ecosystem” anyway.

Filmed along the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, the video follows a team of ecologists, biologists and others from the Central Westcoast Forest Society, British Columbia Forest Service and the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation as they work to revitalize a temperate forest ecosystem by felling trees to allow more light to reach the forest floor and cutting the tops off others to create habitats for forest-dwelling creatures.

What do you think: Should humans step in to help return forests to their “natural” state more quickly or should we let nature run its course?

The video “Bringing Back the Light – Restoring the Life to Canada’s Temperate Rainforests” was produced by Drew Burke and edited by Mark Wyatt for the Central Westcoast Forest Society.