Lost Rainforests of the British Isles | The Wildlife Trusts

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Even rarer than tropical rainforests

Native to the British Isles, temperate rainforest is rarer even than its tropical counterpart. Once covering a fifth of the UK, all that remains now are scattered fragments totalling approximately 1%.

Rainforests were destroyed over thousands of years due to the need for timber, clearing for farmland or urban development. Pests, disease and invasive species, pesticides and pollution, over-grazing and the impacts of climate change all threaten the precious fragments that remain.

But there is hope for the fragments that remain

A pale orange mushroom, with a short cap draped across a slender, curving stalk, pokes up from a carpet of lush green mosses in a UK rainforest

Restoring rainforests

Reconnect the fragmented sites that remain

The 100-year temperate rainforest restoration programme will restore approximately 1,755 hectares of rainforest across the British Isles.

Havens for wildlife

Creating thriving habitats that flourish with life

With your support, we'll acquire land and plant trees. Restoring these precious habitats for the species that depend on them.

Pied flycatcher male

Community at the heart

Access to nature for everyone

Communities will be at the heart of restoring rainforests. The places we create together will become havens for wildlife and local people.