Island to lead charge in rainforest recovery programme

British rainforests now cover less than 1% of Britain

The Isle of Man will be one of the first places across the British Isles to begin restoring and expanding rainforests.

British temperate rainforests have been largely destroyed over hundreds of years and now cover less than 1% of Britain. 

Manx Wildlife Trust and the Isle of Man Woodland Trust will be working together on the ambitious programme backed by the UK grassroots movement The Wildlife Trusts, thanks to a £38 million donation from insurance company Aviva.

The ambitious programme will see temperate rainforests restored and expanded in areas where they used to grow along the damper, western climes of the British Isles. 

The first two sites are Creg y Cowin in the Isle of Man and Bryn Ifan in North Wales.

Over 70 acres at Creg y Cowin will be planted with native tree species, with around 20 acres allowed to regenerate naturally.

Craig Bennett is the Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trusts.

He says rebuilding our natural infrastructure will be a long process, but sometimes we have to be patient:

You can hear more about the return of rainforests to the British Isles at the Manx Museum tomorrow evening (Thursday 27 April) when The Wildlife Trust's monthly panel debate, 'Wild LIVE', comes to the Isle of Man for a Manx Wildlife Trust special. 

Tickets are available at the MWT website.