The Lost (temperate) Rainforests of Britain
The Lost Rainforests of Britain is an award-winning book about the temperate rainforest that may once have covered a fifth of our land. Environmental writer Guy Shrubsole travels through the Western Highlands and the Lake District, down to the rainforests of Wales, Devon and Cornwall to map these spectacular lost worlds for the first time.
England does has many temperate rainforests (wet and mild which create canopies for woodland birds), which are as endangered as the Amazon rainforest. They are found in Devon, Cornwall and Cumbria.
Jay birds love acorns, so bury them in temperate rainforests. But they often forget where they put them, so they grow into new oak trees!
Did you know that oak trees are toxic to horses and livestock? Also keep conkers away from dogs.
A temperate rainforest is a cool, very wet woodland where mosses, lichens, and ferns thrive. Europe has only small scraps of this habitat left, which makes England’s remaining pockets feel even more special.
These woods don’t shout for attention. They whisper. You notice them when the air turns damp, the light goes green, and every branch looks furred with moss. Streams often run through steep-sided valleys, and the ground stays springy underfoot.
Wildlife is part of the appeal, but so are the tiny things. Lichens, liverworts, fungi, and mosses can be the headline acts here. They need clean air, steady moisture, and time. When those conditions hold, the whole woodland feels older than it is, like a library of living texture.
Where are England’s rainforests?
You can still find rainforest-like woodland in parts of Cumbria and the Lake District, especially in sheltered gills and valleys where water seeps and air stays cool. Wetter western fringes also hold fragments, depending on local weather and land use. Nearby strongholds across the UK sit in Wales and Scotland, but England still has places worth seeking out and protecting.
On a walk, look for a few tell-tale signs: dripping rock faces, mossy oaks, thick ferns, shaded stream banks, and tree trunks patterned with lichens. If it feels like the woodland is wearing a damp, green jumper, you’re in the right kind of place.
