Appeal launched to restore Looe’s temperate rainforests

CORNWALL Wildlife Trust has launched a public appeal to restore a long-lost temperate rainforest in Looe.

This is the start of a long-term project and they hope to raise £50,000 to kick-start their regeneration efforts – so far £199 has been raised through donations.

Long ago, temperate rainforests used to thrive in Cornwall and were home to a huge range of amazing biodiversity. Now only small, fragmented patches remain as these ecosystems have been destroyed over time.

If successful, the appeal will restore one of Cornwall’s most diverse ecosystems, allowing nature and wildlife to thrive.

Callum Deveney, director of Nature Recovery at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: “Cornwall is home to some of the last remaining areas of temperate rainforest in the UK. These unique habitats are magnificent and when you walk through one, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve been transported to another mystical world.

“Most of these UK rainforests have been destroyed to make way for agriculture, transport and development, but now we have an exciting chance to restore this important habitat at a site in Cornwall. In 2002, the Cornwall Wildlife Trust received 150 acres of land at West Muchlarnick, and the site already includes pockets of rainforest, making it the ideal place to start the restoration project.

“Our plan is to plant more native trees to connect these pockets, allowing the natural regeneration of this lost ecosystem and increasing the temperate rainforest cover from about 8.4% of the site to about 87.2%. Because temperate rainforests have a huge potential to store carbon in the trees and their spectacular epiphytes (lichens and mosses that cover the trees), the success of the project is essential to winning our fight against climate change.

“This is the start of an incredible, long-term project to restore Cornwall’s thriving temperate rainforest and secure the future of wildlife. We urgently need your support to make this possible.”

Donations will go towards planting native trees such as oak, rowan and hazel, as well as providing fencing to protect new growth.

The money will also help fund important research work to monitor the impacts on wildlife and carbon sequestration.

The land at West Muchlarnick Farm was bequeathed to the Cornall Wildlife Trust with the wish that the land be used for the benefit of wildlife. With 150 acres of land, much of which is not agriculturally productive, it has been marked as the perfect place to allow a wide variety of wildlife to thrive through this restoration.

To find out more visit www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/temperaterainforestappeal