The Lost Rainforests of Britain campaign today launches a new map revealing the extent of Britain’s surviving fragments of temperate rainforest.
The map can be viewed at https://map.lostrainforestsofbritain.org.
The different layers show:
- Britain’s rainforest zone – where the climate is sufficiently rainy and mild for temperate rainforest to thrive; a region covering around 20% of Britain. This was constructed using an ‘index of hygrothermy’ to show gradations of climate, with lighter blues showing an ‘oceanic’ climate and darker blues and purples denoting a ‘hyper-oceanic’ climate. More details in our metholodogy document below.
- Britain’s rainforest fragments – where we believe to be Britain’s surviving fragments of temperate rainforest. This shows that rainforests today cover less than 1% of Britain.
- Mosses, liverworts, lichens – you can switch these layers on and off to show public records of different species of mosses, liverworts and lichens that are considered to be good indicators of temperate rainforest.
Because the maps are displaying large amounts of data, they may load quite slowly, depending on the browser and Operating System you are running. If you are experiencing issues, you may wish to try opening the maps in a different web browser (e.g. Safari rather than Chrome, etc).
The GIS maps were built by Guy Shrubsole and Tim Richards of Terra Sulis Research CIC. The interactive online map was built by Blue Tomato Pop.
We would like to thank the bryologist Ben Averis for his kind assistance with indicator species of lichens and bryophytes. The map seeks to build on previous work to define and map temperate rainforests globally and in Britain by Paul Alaback, Dominick DellaSala, Christopher Ellis and others. Full details of the datasets and analytical methods used can be found in our methodology document here.
We would also like to thank everyone who has submitted potential rainforest locations to our separate crowdsourced map of Britain’s rainforests, which we are continuing to compile here.
Lost Rainforests of Britain 
Well done for this conservation project! I just discovered it through today’s Guardian article. I live in Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest and it’s lovely to see photos and stories of Britain’s Rainforest. I’m sure there’ll be huge support for conserving and expanding it.
LikeLike
I have seen their beauty in North Cornwall. What great you have.
LikeLike
Enjoyed your talk in Taunton last night. A great turn out.
On your map of rainforests which uses the Ancient Woodland Inventory, you should probably note that the Inventory only records woods of over 2 ha. Any totals of area therefore will be underestimates, although not by a great amount. For Exmoor the difference in using National Forest Inventory (broadleaves) and assuming all is ancient only works out to be 4%. In any case the detail would be lost on your maps!
Good luck with the rest of the tour. Looking forward to reading the book.
LikeLike
My impression is that small fragments of native forest would add up to a very significant portion of the total!
LikeLike
My 7 acres are totally wild..wetland by the river Kennell with a leat to the Mill, no longer in use..Trees as far as the eye can see + an overgrown Orchard of old Cornish cider apples…Alive with wildlife Badgesrs,Deer
& pheasants being the most visible..but Otters in the river….My rainforest lines the Leat ..over 100 yr old trees.
LikeLike
Dear Mr. Shrubsole, I am very much enjoying your latest book at the moment, fascinating and very well written. As I was walking in the woods near my partner’s family new house in Northern Scotland, where I am spending the holiday, I couldn’t help but wonder if we weren’t in a fragment of temperate rainforest. Although we are located outside of the zone (15min drive South of Nairn), as per your research, could it be however that, although on paper hygrothermy is too low here, this beautiful bit of woodland could be considered a fragment of temperate rainforest – I’ve taken many pictures of filmy ferns, cudbear lichens, lob scrob, royal fern, and some funghi I’ve observed on the walk, which had made think. Although I’m an environmentalist myself with a keen mind for forests and their conservation, I can’t be sure, and that is why I wanted to reach out. Thank you in any case for your work and getting it out there. Best regards.
LikeLike
Thanks Charles – glad you’re enjoying my book and appreciate your kind words! That’s very interesting that you’ve found Lob Scrob and other such indicator species near Nairn. Could be a microclimate, is the location in a sheltered damp valley perhaps? Looks like the British Lichen Society does have records of Lob scrob in the general area of Nairn: https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/resources/species-accounts/lobarina-scrobiculata. It would be worth checking for other indicator species besides the ones you mention – Ben Averis has a good guide to the rarer oceanic and hyperoceanic lichens and bryophytes here: http://www.benandalisonaveris.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/A-Provisional-Definition-of-Temperate-Rainforest-in-Britain-and-Ireland-Ben-Averis-2023-13-07-2023.pdf
LikeLike
Hi Guy, I’ve just finished reading your book and really enjoyed it. It’s great to see the impact that the project has had too!
As I was reading the early chapters of the book I was thinking “we need a rainforest opportunity map”, so was excited to hear in the later chapters that you & Tim have created this. Is the map available online or, if not, would you be able to share the shapefiles? I’m currently undertaking as a masters in conservation management and think that it could make a great area of study.
Thanks,
Alan
LikeLike
I think I found a fragment on the Cleveland Way, just west of Helmsley. It’s a deep, damp gorge full of epiphytes growing on trees. I have a few photos. It is roughly 54°14’40.1″N 1°05’17.8″W
LikeLike