We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Ausewell Wood, on the edge of Dartmoor, is a rugged 342 acre “lost world” with dramatic rocky outcrops, dense woodland and lush greenery. The temperate rainforest lines the River Dart, providing perfect conditions for the species such as the robust royal fern and densely branched lichen string-of-sausage.
Conservation charity The Woodland Trust has described the incredibly rare habitat as “more threatened than tropical rainforest”.
Although temperate rainforests once stretched from Cornwall to Scotland, small fragments remain in England because of invasive Rhododendron, chronic overgrazing, and conversion to other uses.
Tree diseases, such as ash dieback, and the unavoidable threat of climate change now put these mystical 46,624 acres in England in jeopardy.
Woodland Trust site manager Dave Rickwood said: “These sites are going to become increasingly important because they’re actually going to be strongholds for even relatively common species, let alone the rarer ones.
“The characteristic of all of these woodland systems is actually how wet it is. If we start to lose a lot of that moisture, for whatever reason, [that would be an issue] but the prediction is we’re going to get heavier periods of rain.
“So I think the rain is still going to be there but it might be these longer, drier periods with the higher temperatures that might start to impact.”
He also warned “a small army of tree disease” could threaten the site in future but added that there is a possibility some might be beneficial for harming non-native conifers blemishing the terrain.
Dave said: “Some of them might work for us because some of them will affect the conifer, so it might accelerate the removal of some of the conifer. It’s not great but there might be some upside.”
Ausewell was saved thanks to the public’s generous £1million response to an urgent appeal in 2019.
The Daily Express Green Britain Needs You campaign has called on everyone to do their bit for the planet.
The Woodland Trust is now the steward of the idyllic landscape, which acts as a refuge for wildlife such as redstarts, lesser spotted woodpeckers, pied flycatcher and the elusive hazel dormouse.
Fork mosses, the striking bastard balm plant and yellow or greenish usnea lichen also thrive in the wood.
Sam Manning, assistant site manager at the Woodland Trust, said: “Most of the rivers on Dartmoor are unwooded, and they really should be wooded. If you’re talking about ecological restoration.
“If you can expand temperate rainforest, then you start getting real gains.”
The Woodland Trust said Ausewell is “ripe for restoration”, with plans to transform it in the coming decades.
The charity aims to give the landscape a nudge by creating the conditions for the ecosystem to thrive through the removal of invasive species and non-native trees.
Dave told how in the coming two decades, these damaged parts of the wood will be transformed to let the light reach the woodland floor again, and let remnant seeds flourish.
Campaigner Guy Shrubsole’s petition calling for a “Great British Rainforests Strategy” has amassed more than 8,200 signatures.
He has called on the Government to set out policies to better protect Britain’s remaining rainforests, and funds for farmers and landowners to restore them.
Mr Shrubsole said: “Few people realise that Britain is home to temperate rainforest, a globally rare and important habitat.
“The rainforests are astonishingly beautiful, and they are wildlife- and carbon-rich habitats, home to many rare and unique species of lichens, mosses, fungi, birds, insects and mammals.
“Despite their significance, Britain’s rainforests only remain in fragmented pockets, but there is considerable potential for the Government to support the expansion of the habitat across Britain.”
His Lost Rainforests of Britain project has seen hundreds of people map the disjointed habitat across the country so they can be better protected.
To sign his Parliamentary petition, visit: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/608460
Source: Read Full Article
