Conservationists fight to restore UK temperate rainforests

A new programme has been launched to help conservationists in the UK protect the UK's last remaining temperate rainforests.

Temperate rainforests are rare habitats that exist in cooler parts of the world, near to the sea, and have ancient woodlands, high rainfall and humidity.

Around a fifth of the UK used to be made up of these ancient woodlands, but now just 1% of the UK is, after the trees were chopped down for timber and agriculture.

Now a new £38.9 million, 100-year programme has been organised by the Wildlife Trusts, to try to restore 1,755 hectares (4,337 acres) of rainforest along the Atlantic coastline, from Cornwall to Scotland, including Wales, Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.

The team say that restoring these ancient woodlands can also help to tackle the effects of climate change, by storing carbon and reducing flooding caused by increasingly heavy rainstorms.

Tara Cummins, co-ordinator of the temperate rainforest programme at the Wildlife Trusts, said: "The aim is to go beyond traditional habitat restoration, creating entirely new rainforest."

"Restoring these habitats and wild places is critical for climate change, which is also critical for guaranteeing food security," she said.

She also said the scheme would only target land that was not valuable for growing food.

The programme has nine sites so far, with seven locations announced, including Skiddaw in Cumbria, where the aim is to plant 300,000 trees over 270 hectares and restore around 400 hectares of bog.

Creg y Cowin, on the Isle of Man, was the first site to plant trees in the programme, and in Devon, more than 7,000 trees have been planted at Bowden Pillars, to create a new rainforest close to existing ancient trees.

Conservationists are also hoping the temperate rainforests can become safe habitats for woodland creatures such as hazel dormice, pine martins and the blue ground beetle.