In order to establish vast tracts of wet woods that will be home to species facing extinction, more than 100,000 trees will be planted in north Devon.
According to experts, the region’s high humidity and frequent heavy rains create a special wet atmosphere.
There are now other initiatives underway to reconstruct Britain’s lost rainforests.
Large stretches of Britain’s western coast were originally covered in temperate rainforests.
However, because of diseases, invading species, and air pollution, the habitats have gotten worse and are now among the most threatened in the UK.
It is hoped that the constantly moist climate of north Devon would support a distinct range of flora and fauna, such as pine martens and unusual ferns.
According to John Deakin, the National Trust’s head of trees and woodlands, “Temperate rainforests used to be expansive wooded habitats along the western seaboard of the UK, but now all that’s left are fragments.”
According to Mr. Deakin, the rainforests were “limited to small patches in Devon, Cornwall, North and West Wales, Cumbria, the West of Scotland, and parts of Northern Ireland” and now encompassed “only 1% of Britain.”
According to him, some of the woodlands we have are now home to rare specialist plants that are barely surviving due to habitat fragmentation.
For example, the Devon whitebeam, one of these species, has almost its whole global population in parts of the woodlands in north Devon that we manage.
“Without urgent action, these unique plants could soon be facing extinction.”
