Temperate Rainforest Appeal

Donate this Christmas

Can you help provide a home for threatened woodland birds?

Cornwall Wildlife Trust has a unique opportunity to restore a lost habitat: a temperate rainforest which will create more space for wildlife.

Your gift to this appeal will help:

Create more space for threatened woodland birds and mammals
Plant native trees, such as sessile oak, rowan and hazel
Encourage natural regeneration, through which trees self-seed and spread
Restore a globally rare habitat - temperate rainforests cover just 1% of the world's surface
Take part in the fight against climate change

Cornwall is home to some of the last remaining areas of temperate rainforest in the UK - and, with your support, we have a chance to restore this magical and important habitat at West Muchlarnick, near Looe. (You can learn about this project in more detail here.)

Donate to restore temperate rainforest in Cornwall

Woodland birds are facing an increasingly serious decline, with some species at risk of extinction. Recent studies of bird numbers have shown that woodland birds have fared the worst since 2015, with the majority of species in decline.

Loss of habitat, lack of woodland management, and increased deer browsing have all made it harder for woodland birds to find food and make their nests. In Cornwall, woodland cover is well below the national average, accounting for under 10% of land.

We urgently need to create more space for these creatures and other threatened wildlife before it’s too late.

Donate to restore habitat for woodland birds in Cornwall

What are temperate rainforests?

Temperate rainforests are a globally rare habitat. Covering just 1% of the world's surface, they are even rarer than tropical rainforests.

Long ago, they would have covered large areas of Cornwall, hosting amazing biodiversity. These habitats are found in places influenced by the sea, with a mild, wet, humid oceanic climate.

These conditions are perfect for moisture-loving plants and wildlife: native trees like sessile oak, rowan and hazel are clothed in lichen, mosses and ferns, supporting an array of rare fungi, woodland birds and mammals, such as hazel glove fungus, pied flycatchers and redstarts, and stouts and mice.

Now only small patches of temperate rainforest remain. They were destroyed for timber logging, agriculture, transport and development, and continue to be under threat from air pollution, overgrazing and invasive species.

Your donation will protect the wildlife and biodiversity that these unique habitats support.

Restore a temperate rainforest in Cornwall

Your questions answered

What makes West Muchlarnick Farm a suitable location on which to restore temperate rainforest?

Set within a network of woodlands along West Looe River, West Muchlarnick Farm is an ideal location to bring back the lost temperate rainforest that existed here in the past. The local river valley creates just the right kind of damp conditions – and connecting up woodlands in this area will help wildlife, which relies on these habitats, to thrive.

Find out more about this project.

Don’t we need land like this for food production?

We would only use sites where there are limitations for food production, actively avoiding using grade 1 or 2 agricultural land; West Muchlarnick Farm comprises grade 3 and 4. At Cornwall Wildlife Trust we recognise how important food production and the work of the farming community is: we are continuing to expand our farm advisory work to benefit both long term food production and biodiversity.

However, our State of Nature report demonstrated the need for bigger and better sites for nature, finding that over 75% of Cornwall’s land is used for agricultural management, whilst the ‘richest’ sites for wildlife are too small and too few in number. Dedicating additional land like this to nature is essential for the future of our wildlife. We also plan to engage local graziers to help create ideal conditions for wildlife.

Will this appeal support the purchase of more land to restore temperate rainforest in the area?

We are actively looking to purchase more land in the local area to connect up with West Muchlarnick Farm. It is certainly possible that some of the funds raised for this appeal will be used to fund further purchases of land.

How much are you trying to raise in total?

This appeal marks the launch of a 50 year project, so we are hoping to raise at least £50,000 from this public appeal to help kick-start work on this reserve. Gift Aid on this appeal will go towards unrestricted funding and will support our wider work.

While we can access funds from The Wildlife Trusts’ temperate rainforest restoration programme with Aviva and Defra’s England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO), this funding will not cover the full costs, and restoring this habitat is a long-term project. Your donation could help pay for tree planting, fencing (to prevent deer from destroying saplings), Nofence electronic collars (for grazing animals), staff time, and important monitoring and survey work. Funds raised may also be used on our other woodland reserves to improve temperate rainforest habitats (such as Cabilla and Redrice Woods, Kennall Vale, and Devichoys Wood).

Donate to our Temperate Rainforest Appeal