The term “temperate rainforest”, or “Celtic rainforest”, has rapidly gained public attention in the UK recently.
In February 2023, British insurance company, Aviva, awarded £38 million of funding for the restoration of these rainforests. These restoration efforts have even caught the interest of Prince William, who has announced plans to double the size of Wistman’s Wood, an iconic fragment of ancient woodland on his Dartmoor estate.
Britain was once covered with trees. But over thousands of years, ancient woodland in wetter areas of the country’s west were cleared and converted into pasture for sheep and cattle. By the start of the 20th century, Britain and Ireland had become the least-wooded region in Europe, with only small fragments remaining in both countries’ western coastal rainforest zones.
