Britain’s rare rainforests are home to animals from eagles to the world’s largest slugs and lichens that look like dragon skin, conservationists say, fighting to save them.
The Woodland Trust has unveiled a list of 11 “weird and wonderful” species that make their home in and around the temperate rainforests found in the south-west and north-west of England, Wales and Scotland.
Forests once covered a fifth of Britain, but all but 1% of the land area has been lost to encroachment, overgrazing and conversion, facing ongoing pressures including invasive species and are more dangerous than their tropical counterparts; they say conservation.
They are, however, home to a “tremendous diversity and abundance of species”, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth, according to conservation experts who have launched a task to restore rainforests in the UK.
Near the ocean, with temperate climates and rainfall of more than 1.4 meters per year, the forests provide moisture, humid conditions that can harbor more than 200 species of bryophytes such as mosses, and 100 to 200 species of lichens.
Species making their home in British rainforests include:
The fetid lichen (Sticta sylvatica), which has a fishy odor.
The lungwort tree (Lobaria pulmonaria), which has leaves with segments inside the lungs, was thought to be a cure for lung diseases by the Anglo-Saxons and the people of the Middle Ages. It is a rare lichen from England, a survivor of ancient woodland that grew in Britain after the last ice age, and its presence indicates that it has been handed down from healthy forests.
The blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus), one of the UK’s rarest and a sign of a healthy rainforest.
The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), the UK’s largest bird of prey, which is making a comeback after becoming extinct here in the early 20th century, and which often nests in rainforests and hunts in the nearby sea, brings back nutrients. forest
The mushroom (Hypocreopsis rhododendri), which grows only on old trees and resembles intestines, is a sign of clean air and ancient forest roots.
The vine suboscines (Ficedula hypoleuca), a bird that loves rain forests because of the abundance of insects, including flying insects that they catch from the air using poles between the branches of trees, from which they are shot as they pass by for prey.
Black gray slug (Snail cinereoniger)It is believed to be the largest land snail on earth which can grow to 25cm long (10in) and which has a prodigious mating ritual in which the two hang from a tree in a slime of mucus to copulate.
Castor (Castor fibre), another species once extinct in the UK, has returned to its rivers this season, where it builds nests and creates new wetlands that help maintain the moist conditions of the rainforest.
A green satin lichen (Lobaria virens), which grows in wet conditions and stretches like a dragon’s skin.
Octopus plates (Collema fasciculare) – a lichen jelly that looks like a cluster of dark octopus plates and does a useful job of capturing nitrogen from the atmosphere and making it available as fertilizer for other plants.
Wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), which can be found in rivers that often run through temperate rains and carry nutrients from the ocean into the forests, as they swim upriver in a freshwater environment.
The Forestry Trust and Plantlife are working together in the north-west and south-west of England to manage and restore ancient woodland in and around temperate rainforests on 27 sites, as part of the government’s £2.9m rainforest restoration project.
Sam Manning, manager of the Woodland Trust for the south-west rainfall setting, said: “Our rainfall was once a well-used resource, providing timber, charcoal and tannin for tanning leather. But they are suffering from clearance, over-aging and conversion to other uses, leaving those small and broken
“As our top 11 shows, these rain gates are home to some really special wildlife, so we’re working with other charities and partners as partnerships to restore these unique environments.”
Georgia Stephens, North West rainforest manager for Plantlife, said: “Rainlands are precious habitats that can support a huge variety and abundance of species, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
They are home to some incredibly rare lichens and bryophytes that have been around for millions of years, predating humans, flowers, trees and even dinosaurs.
“This index demonstrates the unique qualities of these species and the urgent need to protect, restore and manage the rainforests well for future generations.”