Save the World’s Rainforests (some are 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?
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.
An Irish Atlantic Rainforest (an inspiring rewilding story)
An Irish Atlantic Rainforest is an 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.
