Thousands of trees planted to create new rainforest … in England?

By Filipa Gaspar

Thousands of native trees have been planted in a bid to create a new rainforest - in Devon.

This winter has seen 2,500 native trees planted at Devon Wildlife Trust’s Bowden Pillars site, close to the South Devon market town of Totnes.

More than 100 local people of all ages have devoted hundreds of hours to planting species - including oak, rowan, alder, hazel, birch, willow and holly.

The plans are to transform 30 hectares (75 acres) of former sheep-grazed fields into a landscape that will eventually have 70 percent tree cover, with the rest becoming open glades, woodland rides and wildflower-rich meadows.

The charity plans to plant a further 4,500 trees by the end of this winter bringing the grand total to 7,000, with more to follow in subsequent years.

In decades to come these new trees will form a temperate rainforest – sometimes also known as an Atlantic or Celtic rainforest – a landscape which was once characteristic of areas of Britain with high rainfall and humidity.

These rainforests covered large parts of Britain, especially its western regions, but after many centuries of destruction today, they amount to just 1 percent of its land area.

As well as being vital carbon stores, temperate rainforests support a super-abundance of wildlife, including birds such as the pied flycatchers, woodcock and redstarts.

While their damp conditions mean mosses, liverworts, lichens, ferns and fungi thrive on the trees as well as the forest floor.

Claire Inglis is a Nature Reserve Officer at Devon Wildlife Trust and is leading the Bowden Pillars planting project for the charity.

She said: “It’s been a winter in which we’ve battled storms and snow to plant more than 2,500 trees and begin the transformation of Bowden Pillars to a place that offers a home to nature and is vital resource for local communities.

"Crucial in this transformation have been local people who have worked so hard in all conditions to get the trees in the ground.

"We’ve had youth groups visit to help us, along with people from local communities and our loyal band of south Devon volunteers.

"The mature temperate rainforest will take several decades to become established, but the gains for nature will be much swifter.

"The mix of young trees in amongst grass pastures and hedges, along with our commitment not to use pesticides and artificial fertilizers, will be better for local moths, butterflies and bees, along with farmland birds such as yellowhammers and barn owls. It will be fascinating to see how it develops."

The planting project at Bowden Pillars is part of a long-term nationwide rainforest restoration effort by The Wildlife Trusts in partnership with insurance giant Aviva.

Similar planting projects are taking place in Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Pembrokeshire, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Claudine Blamey, Aviva’s Chief Sustainability Officer, said: “New native trees going into the ground at Bowden Pillars is another significant step forward in our British rainforest project with The Wildlife Trusts.

"It is truly exciting to see the creation of new areas of this vital habitat, which will help the local community get ready for the future – bringing flood resilience benefits and enhancing an existing nature reserve, all the while helping to tackle nature loss and climate change."

The tree planting at Bowden Pillars has been done with sustainability in mind.

Each young tree has been protected from the nibbling of deer and rabbits with biodegradable tree tubes made with the offcuts from the timber industry, rather than the plastic guards normally employed.

The young trees have also been raised from seed locally, many by the Dartmoor-based charity, Moor Trees.

Helen Aldis, Chief Executive of Moor Trees, said: “We’re delighted to be providing Devon Wildlife Trust with over 5,000 locally sourced and grown native trees for planting at Bowden Pillars.

"Volunteers have been crucial every step of the way, from collecting and processing seed from ancient woodland on Dartmoor to nurturing seedlings at our two Community Tree Nurseries.

"We hope that by including trees that have adapted to an environment where temperate rainforests thrive, they will bring the same resilience and biodiversity to this vital and ambitious new planting scheme on the edge of Totnes.”

Public access to Bowden Pillars is limited to footpaths and bridleways.

Devon Wildlife Trust plans to change this as the site develops, using it as a place for education.