Which Roman god was the protector of forests?

Silvanus was the Roman god who protected forests. His name derives from the Latin silva, meaning “wood” or “forest,” and he was especially connected with woods, uncultivated land, glades, and plantations. Romans also regarded him as a guardian of fields, farm boundaries, cattle, and rural workers.

Silvanus belonged to the practical world of Roman countryside religion rather than only to grand state mythology. Farmers and shepherds appealed to him for healthy livestock, protection from wolves, and the fertility of flocks. Some traditions described different aspects of Silvanus, including a woodland form, a field-protecting form, and a deity associated with the boundary where an estate began.

He is often confused with Faunus or Pan because all three were linked with nature, shepherds, and wild places. They were not simply interchangeable Roman names, however. Silvanus was a distinct Roman woodland deity, though later writers and worshippers sometimes identified him with neighboring nature gods. His Greek associations also changed over time, reflecting the broader tendency of Roman religion to merge or compare deities from different cultures.