The Lost (temperate) Rainforests of Britain and Ireland

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.

An Inspiring Personal Journey of Rewilding

An Irish Atlantic Rainforest is another award-winning book, by a man who rewilded a 73-acre farm he bought, on the Beara peninsula.

This is a story more of doing nothing than taking action – allowing natural ecosystems to return and thrive without interference, an in doing so, heal an ailing planet.

We all know that the Amazon rainforest is important, but there are also other rainforests in Indonesia and the Arctic. But did you know that England and Ireland have rainforests too? More on them below.

The Amazon rainforest is mostly in Brazil, but also spreads across other countries: Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela).

This forest is the ‘lungs of the planet’ (due to giving out so much oxygen from trees), and is home to a third of the world’s species, and tens of thousands of species of plants and trees.

It’s also home to many native tribes, who have never met humans. So going into their territory could harm them (they could die from a common cold, due to no immunity).