Conservationists fight to restore UK rainforests
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.
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