Save the Rainforests (including some in England!)
Tropical rainforests store a massive amount of carbon in the trees, which helps to stop releasing carbon in the air, and therefore are one of the best ways to prevent climate change.
They are also home to half of the world’s plant and animal species (jaguars in South America and orangutans in Borneo). And colourful wild birds like macaws, toucans and parrots.
Over a quarter of medicines come from rainforest plants, including treatments for cancer, malaria, and infections. Scientists still discover new cures in these forests. Cutting down rainforests shuts the door on future discoveries that could save countless lives.
It’s estimated that the Amazon rainforest produces around a fifth of the world’s oxygen. Yet a fifth has already been lost to logging (for timber), rubber (for car tyres) and food (trees cut down for both cattle grazing and soy production – most used for animal feed).
Obviously anything made from wood comes from trees, and a lot of wood is from abroad. So protect habitats for all species, try to choose recycled or reclaimed where possible (or tree-free).
Who is Buying Beef from Brazil?
Around 80% of Amazon forest has been destroyed to create pasture land for cattle used to sell as beef (the main marks are China and the US – in 2021, major fast food chains bought most of it for western consumers). The UK and Ireland also buys Brazilian beef (usually as corned beef).
If you eat beef, choose organic free-range from local farmers. If you eat soy, choose sustainable brands like Tofoo and Oomph that don’t source from rainforests.
In Peru, a recent law has forgiven all illegal logging, which some think will give a green light to both the logging and cocaine industries. Recently two park rangers have been killed.
This echoes what happened to environmentalist Paulo Paulino Guajajara, who was shot in the head in Brazil, for defending his rainforest home from loggers. Just before he died (he had been threatened several times), Paulo wrote:
We are protecting our land and the life on it: the animals, the birds. These people think they can come into her our home, and help themselves to our forest. No, we won’t allow it. We don’t break into their houses and rob them, do we?
A Child’s Book of Clever Rainforest Questions!
Clever Rainforest Questions is a fun book to teach children about tropical rainforests. An ideal read for children over six, readers will discover fascinating facts on ecology, science and geography, as well as many endangered species.
Tropical rainforests store a massive amount of carbon in the trees, which helps to stop releasing carbon in the air, and therefore are one of the best ways to prevent climate change.
They are also home to half of the world’s plant and animal species (jaguars in South America and orangutans in Borneo). And colourful wild birds like macaws, toucans and parrots.
Over a quarter of medicines come from rainforest plants, including treatments for cancer, malaria, and infections. Scientists still discover new cures in these forests. Cutting down rainforests shuts the door on future discoveries that could save countless lives.
It’s estimated that the Amazon rainforest produces around a fifth of the world’s oxygen. Yet a fifth has already been lost to logging (for timber), rubber (for car tyres) and food (trees cut down for both cattle grazing and soy production – most used for animal feed).
Obviously anything made from wood comes from trees, and a lot of wood is from abroad. So protect habitats for all species, try to choose recycled or reclaimed where possible (or tree-free).
Save the Rainforests (Yes, Even in England)
When most people hear rainforest, they picture the Amazon. Tall trees, bright birds, steamy air. Yet rainforests aren’t only tropical, and they aren’t only far away.
A rainforest is simple to understand: it’s a forest that gets a lot of rain, stays fairly mild, and grows thick with plants. Because water is almost always around, life piles up in layers, from tree tops to mossy ground.
These forests matter more than we tend to notice. They shelter wildlife, help keep water clean, steady local climates, and they’ve helped people find foods and medicines. Here’s the surprise: England has pockets of temperate rainforest too. They’re rare, easily damaged, and still worth saving. Better yet, you can help, both locally and globally.
Rainforests work like a living sponge and a living roof at the same time. They soak up rain, then release it slowly into streams and rivers. They also shade the ground, cool the air, and create their own damp, sheltered conditions.
A key feature is layers. Big trees form a canopy, smaller trees and shrubs sit below, then come ferns, fungi, and ground plants. In the dampest places, mosses and lichens cling to bark and rock like a green coat. Because the forest offers many “rooms” to live in, lots of species can share the same patch.
When rainforests shrink or break into small pieces, problems spread outwards. Water runs off faster, so floods can hit harder after heavy rain. On the other hand, cleared land can dry out quickly, which raises fire risk and cuts water supply in dry spells. Far away might feel distant, but global forest loss can still nudge food prices and supply, because weather becomes less predictable.
Rainforests help in a few clear ways:
- Carbon: trees and soils store carbon, so fewer forests often means more warming.
- Water: forests slow and filter water, which supports cleaner rivers and steadier flows.
- Wildlife: layered habitats give homes to birds, insects, mammals, and rare plants.
- People: many Indigenous peoples and local communities depend on forests for land, culture, and livelihoods, while wider society benefits from foods and medicines linked to forest species.
For a plain example, when land is cleared and dries out, fires can become more common, and smoke can travel for hundreds of miles. The knock-on effects don’t respect borders.
If you want a quick test, ask: does this place stay wet, shaded, and packed with plant life? If yes, it probably works like a rainforest, even in a cool climate.
The Lost 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 you can still find rainforest in England
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.
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).
