Key Takeaways
- Britain is a rainforest nation, with less than 1% of the country currently covered in rainforest
- A movement has begun to reverse the loss of rainforests, with volunteers and conservationists planting native species and restoring habitats
- The goal is to recreate a rainforest ecosystem, with a focus on local and unique species
- The restoration work is labour-intensive and unglamorous, but the end results make it worthwhile
- Britain’s rainforests are globally significant, harbouring rare species and helping to lock up carbon, stabilise soils, and regulate the flow of water
Introduction to Britain’s Rainforests
On a barren hillside on the Isle of Man, a band of volunteers kneel in the drizzle, tucking hazel, oak, and willow saplings into the damp soil. Their spades bite into earth that, for generations, has been grazed bare by sheep. A faint rainbow arches across the slope, an almost too-perfect omen for what they hope to achieve. If all goes well, in 15 or 20 years’ time, this ground will be carpeted with ferns and mosses. The air will be thick with the smell of wet leaves and decay. The saplings will mature into trees, bearded with lichens. A rainforest will return.
The History of Britain’s Rainforests
Few realise it, but Britain is a rainforest nation. Once, a fifth of the country was covered by "temperate rainforest" — also known as the Atlantic or Celtic rainforest — stretching in a great green band along the western seaboard, from Cornwall to the Hebrides. Mosses, liverworts, and ferns festooned the trunks of ancient oaks, dripping from branches like underwater coral. Damp and cool, they were places that inspired myth and literature: the enchanted groves of the Mabinogion, the mist-wrapped woods of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, the "otherworldly" forests that recur through British folklore and fantasy. Today, less than one per cent of Britain is covered in rainforest. What remains is scattered and fragmented.
The Movement to Restore Britain’s Rainforests
However, in recent years, an ambitious movement has begun to reverse that loss. From the Atlantic oakwoods of Eryri (Snowdonia) to the glens of Devon and the hillsides of the Isle of Man, volunteers and conservationists are planting the foundations of a new rainforest age. Maria Vole, a volunteer at the National Trust’s tree nursery in Eryri, said: "It’s like building a cathedral. You know you won’t live to see it finished, but doesn’t that make it more rewarding?" She helps to care for some 23,000 young trees: elder, hawthorn, rowan, oak. Each is raised from locally collected seed, watered, weeded, and, in her words, "talked to".
The Challenges of Restoring Britain’s Rainforests
Centuries of sheep grazing have kept hillsides bald. In many areas, invasive rhododendron — imported by Victorian gardeners — has smothered native flora, preventing regeneration. But change is coming. A national temperate rainforest strategy for England, published in 2023, set out plans to map, protect, and restore these habitats. Scotland and Wales have launched their own partnerships, focusing on deer control, rhododendron clearance, and connecting isolated fragments. The National Trust, the Woodland Trust, and the Wildlife Trusts are co-ordinating long-term replanting schemes, often relying heavily on volunteers like Maria.
The Restoration Efforts on the Isle of Man
On the Isle of Man, Andree Dubbeldam, a senior woodland ranger for the Wildlife Trust, is overseeing one of the most ambitious attempts to recreate a rainforest ecosystem. The island is now largely stripped of trees. "But we know, partly from surviving fragments, that rainforests once ringed the island’s uplands," he said. At three sites — Glen Auldyn, Creg y Cowin, and Glion Darragh — volunteers are working to restore that cover. They’re planting native species: hazel and willow in the damp hollows, oaks and birches on steeper slopes, and even juniper, once widespread but now rare.
The Importance of Britain’s Rainforests
Britain’s rainforests are globally significant. They harbour species found almost nowhere else: rare mosses, liverworts, and lichens that depend on the perpetual damp. Some sites host hundreds of such species — tiny, beautiful, slow-growing organisms that have survived since the last ice age. The forests also help to lock up carbon, stabilise soils, and regulate the flow of water. As the country experiences warmer weather, they may become even more crucial as wildlife refuges. However, to reach that point, they will need time and care. "Rewilding", which suggests land will be abandoned to nature, is not quite the right term. Grazing and invasive plants remain constant threats; most existing rainforests are small, isolated, vulnerable fragments.
The End Results of the Restoration Efforts
The restoration work, often done by volunteers in the rain, is labour-intensive and unglamorous. But the end results make it worthwhile. "It’s the colours," says Maria. "The autumn berries on the rowans, the heather, the bracken, everything buzzing with insects in the summer. It’s unique and magical." She hopes that one day more people will get to experience it. Back on the Isle of Man, the rainbow has faded. At the end of the day, the volunteers will trudge to their cars, sodden boots heavy with mud. Behind them, a hillside peppered with saplings stretches toward the river at the bottom of the valley. It is not much to look at yet. But one day this may be a rainforest once more.