Manx rainforest site to create whole ecosystem, conservationists say

A Manx site chosen to be part of a £38m rainforest restoration scheme will see a "whole ecosystem be built", conservationists have said.

Creg y Cowin in East Baldwin has been named as one of the first places to benefit from the recovery project being rolled out by the Wildlife Trusts.

Over the next five years, broadleaf trees will be planted with the hope of encouraging the return of wildlife.

Manx Wildlife Trust's Leigh Morris said the site was "perfect" for the scheme.

The conditions were "ideal" for an Atlantic rainforest to be brought back at the site as it sees even temperatures and a consistent level of annual rainfall, he added.

The project to increase rainforests in the British Isles will see native tree species planted on 70 acres (28 hectares) in conjunction with the Isle of Man Woodland Trust.

Mr Morris said mosses and liverworts were then expected to develop, which would encourage the return of birds such as wood warblers, pied flycatchers and redstarts.

A further 20 acres (8 hectares) will be left to regenerate naturally.

Mr Morris said it had cost £315,000 to acquire the land, with extra funding set aside for legal fees and and planting.

The figure was "less than 1% of the project's £38m project, so the potential impact of the funding across Britain was "pretty cool", he added.

The Creg y Cowin site cost £315,000 to purchase

The Wildlife Trusts' chairman Craig Bennett said the island was "right in the epicentre of the restoration of this incredible habitat", which could see rainforests return to the western fringes of the British Isles from Cornwall to Scotland.

He said not only will the Manx rainforest store carbon and aid flood prevention, but the project could also be seen as "proof of concept" for future schemes to restore habitats such as peat bogs and seagrasses.

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