Why We Show Up: Stories from the South West Rainforest Stewards

Written by: Alexa Bingham

Our volunteers give their time and energy to restore our temperate rainforest. Credit: Isabel Lane.

On World Rainforest Day, naturally we are blowing the trumpet for UK temperate rainforest. This beautiful biome is the much rarer and lesser-known cousin of tropical rainforest, found mainly along coastlines of temperate regions at the end of global oceanic currents. The rarity of these landscapes and the diversity of species they contain makes them an incredibly important part of the UK’s wider environment.  

They provide a haven for wildlife that needs humidity to thrive; all the mosses, lichens, liverworts and ferns that we associate with really vibrant, dynamic woods. Temperate rainforests also capture and store both water and carbon within our landscapes and provide a host of ecosystem services to people, flora and fauna. 

What’s missing from this picture? It’s the people who give something back! 

Nature recovery takes passionate people so to celebrate World Rainforest Day we asked volunteers about their activity in the temperate rainforest zone, what moves them to volunteer there, brings them delight or puts fire in their bellies…  

Jane, Woodland Working group

Buckland is a haven for some of our rarest lichens, and since I've been volunteering here, I've been lucky to see some of them! They're living in this ancient woodland because the clean air, mix of mature native deciduous trees, undisturbed soil, and humidity provide the ideal growing conditions.  

Sadly, these woodlands have been so badly fragmented and damaged that the Witches Whiskers, Tree Lungwort, and Dragonskin lichens that live here, are all priority biodiversity species. So, it's great to know that our volunteering tasks help the whole woodland. From removing non-natives, rewetting the wood, or planting saplings, each step gives Buckland and its lichens a helping hand.  

Jane is a Woodland Working group member on Dartmoor, spending time in Buckland and Ausewell Wood.

George, Ancient Tree Recorder 

I volunteer as an ancient tree recorder on Dartmoor. I look for and record the details of tree that are 400+ years old so that they can be protected. I think the rainforest is very important because it is part of the natural ecosystem and without it, we could not survive. It is essential. There is so much life and it needs to be protected as it is under threat. Some of the trees are so old that they are living history and need to be preserved like any other historical artefact in UK. The rainforest offers peace and calm in contrast to today’s busy world and is a unique and special place. 

Derek, Speaker and wildlife monitor 

I spent today volunteering at Hound Tor Wood in the Bovey Valley. I was volunteering for a partner organisation on Woodland Trust Land. This is a really special place to me because it borders on the family farm. As someone who's moved to Dartmoor from overseas, it has always been my first connection to the Woodlands in the UK. It's amazing the changes that have happened here over the last 50 years and it's really cool that as a volunteer, I can now get involved with helping the ongoing protection, growth and restoration of these woods. It's an awesome thing to be doing and gives you hope of what we can do with a little bit of time and effort. 

Here is Derek talking about his connection with rainforests and why it matters to him.

Glyn, Woodland Working group 

I love volunteering for The Woodland Trust, especially as most of our work at Fingle Woods and Ausewell Woods is to help improve the temperate rain forests in this area. Our work includes the building of leaky dams on the many small streams that flow in these woodlands. This helps to slow the flow of water across the landscape. It creates ponds and boggy habitats for plants and insects. It also raises the water table, creating a damper environment and increasing humidity, which helps the rainforest to thrive.  

John and Joyce, Woodland Working group 

As we turn down the track to home, Fingle Wood lies spread out before us: The woods form a permanent backdrop to our lives and, since we started volunteering, have become an ever more important part of the way we live too. 

When we first answered the advert in the parish magazine in 2014, we were both still working and the monthly Saturday working parties were a way of beginning to put roots down in this part of Devon, as well as a way of beginning to care for our local environment. Since then, more time has seen us get involved with an ever-growing range of tasks, from pulling up conifer regeneration, surveying ancient boundaries, and assessing deadwood, to working to retain water in the landscape and measuring the increase in biodiversity. 

In the process we have found companionship with like-minded people, learnt new skills, acquired new knowledge, become far more environmentally aware and had our eyes opened to the importance of our woods, our rainforest, for the future. Volunteering here is a privilege. 

John has volunteered in Fingle Woods for over 10 years.

Russ, Ancient Tree Recorder

Newly joined to support the Dartmoor Ancient Tree Hunt… 

Devon, and particularly Dartmoor, is a land of high hills and, crucially, deep valleys; these are the environment of UK rainforests: water-hungry trees alongside rushing streams and protective boulders, hosting complementary ferns, lichens and liverworts. Wistman's Wood is famous, but there is so much more: Lustleigh, Piles Close, Teign Gorge, West Dart, Lydford; all to discover, and protect for their beauty, mystery, but mostly for their contribution to wildlife habitation, environment and future planet survival. Let's get out there! 

Bruni, Speaker and Woodland Working group

Why I talk about the Rainforests… 

The serenity of trees and woodlands gave way to interest in the Woodland Trust. More recently I’ve come to appreciate the enhanced beauty and value of our wet woodlands. The species that thrive there, the dripping wet mosses, lush greens, purity of air and richness of space make me feel very protective of these forests.  It saddens me that we have wreaked such havoc in the pursuit of empire and ‘progress’. I want to help spread the message of what we’ve lost and help others understand that we can restore these precious fragments that once covered our land. It gives me hope that through reconnecting with our trees and forests, we can regain a semblance of sanity and health.  A return to wholeness through connection with nature. 

Bruni is a speaker volunteer helping to spread awareness of the work we are doing to reverse nature decline in our rainforests.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who give their time, skills and passion to raise awareness and protect these incredible spaces. 

If you want to get involved and try volunteering, find out more about our volunteering opportunities here.