They once covered a fifth of Britain, now only tiny fragments remain. But plans are afoot to double the size of Britain’s rainforests
A fifth of Britain was once covered by rainforest. Hidden in remote corners of our rainy isle, fragments still survive. On a walk through a regenerated English rainforest, conservationist Guy Shrubsole explains how he is mapping and protecting them, aiming to double their size in a generation
I’m standing in the middle of the rainforest. It is – suitably – pouring with rain and steaming with mist. Moss-covered trees sprawl. Clouds of chartreuse and ochre lichen festoon surfaces. Polypody ferns unfurl and spill out of head-high trunks. Pennyworts decorate stone and wood. Up above, pearly-white mushrooms grow out of crevices. The rain pitter-pattering is a constant soothing hush. Acorns crackle underfoot. The forest gleams wet and green. I could be in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, or Jurassic Park, but, actually, I’m not too far from Totnes, a market town in Devon, south-west England.
I’ve travelled here for a walk with the conservationist and writer Guy Shrubsole, who is campaigning to regenerate rainforests in Britain and has written a book about this forgotten realm. Restoring nature is at the forefront of climate action, and while we all think about the carbon absorbing Amazon when talk turns to saving the rainforest, there are exciting opportunities to bring Britain’s lost rainforests back.
Perhaps like me you had no idea that we have this globally rare and unique habitat in England. We’ve all heard of tropical rainforests, but the notion of rainforests in our cooler climes sounds strange. Even after reading Shrubsole’s book, it wasn’t until I actually stood in the rainforest that I realised what was so special about these places.
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