Temperate rainforests are being planted all over Britain — what are they and why do we need them?

When you hear ‘The Isle of Man’, the last thing that likely comes to mind is the exotic landscape of a thriving rainforest. And yet, a new temperate rainforest is set to become the islands largest nature reserve yet. It is part of a £38 million restoration scheme by The Wildlife Trusts that plans to re-establish rainforests all over the world — improving biodiversity and removing 800,000 tonnes of carbon from our atmosphere.

The 750 acres at Glen Auldyn, just outside of Ramsey, is the second project of its kind on the Isle of Man, and the largest area to be part of the programme so far. Creg y Cowin in East Baldwin was one of the first places to be named as part of the project, but it pales in comparison to the sheer scale of Glen Auldyn. This site will be more than seven times larger than the island’s current largest nature reserve and will feature many native Manx oaks. Downy birch, holly, alder, mountain ash, hazel and willows will also be planted, which will hopefully lure a wider array of wildlife to the area.

But what exactly does a temperate rainforest look like, and how do you go about planting one? It's a sunny day on the Isle of Man when I set out to meet Graham Makepeace-Warne, the CEO of Manx Wildlife Trust, at Glen Auldyn reserve, but it didn’t take long for the rain to set in. Bad news for my brand-new jeans, but excellent conditions for a temperate rainforest. On our drive to the reserve, Graham’s old and battered Land Rover sustains many further batterings from the shrubbery we pass on the way. ‘That’s why we bought this car,’ he says. He became the CEO three months ago, after a career change that saw him leave a role at a marketing agency in Manchester to forge a career in conservation. ‘For me, it's completely a vocation,’ he says as we get out of the car and begin to put on our walking gear, readying ourselves for a trek around the reserve. ‘I mean, I cut my income by two thirds overnight moving from marketing into conservation, but it's just something I'm really passionate about, and want to try and do something about it before I die.’

MWT Glen Auldyn Nature Reserve by Biosphere Photographers in Residence, Adam Morgan and Ciara Kaneen - YouTube

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The project is a brainchild of Rob Stoneman, the director of landscape recovery for Wildlife Trusts. It came about through a conversation with Aviva, the UK's biggest insurance firm, after they had undertaken a carbon-offsetting project ‘which I believe was essentially a forest-protection scheme, which, if anyone knows anything about carbon offsetting and carbon credits, there's no additionality,’ says Graham. ‘You're basically saving a bit of forest from being destroyed, but you're not actually creating any more sequestered carbon. And so they got their fingers burned. People called them out for greenwashing, and they wanted to change and do things properly, and they felt the best way to do that was to speak to experts. For them, that was the Wildlife Trusts.’

Aviva pledged the £38 million to help restore temperate rainforests across the British Isles and islands, but this is not a purely altruistic enterprise. Aviva will receive carbon credits from the project, which will help their business, as the negative effects of climate change in the future could lead to more claims from their clients. ‘But for them, it's much, much more than that,’ Graham says as we trek through wilderness, climbing up to a higher point for a better view of the reserve. ‘It's about restoring habitats, bringing back wildlife for the benefit of both wildlife and people. People can enjoy these spaces…,’ he breaks off, distracted, pointing to a flick of yellow and black zooming past. ‘That's a really cool ichneumon wasp.’

Graham is clearly a man who is knowledgeable about, and who cares deeply about, his environment. Fortunately for us (and Aviva), he has been involved in the project on the Isle of Man from very early on. ‘What was good for us was that I was able to join a webinar fairly early on in the process. We were actually in Manx Wildlife Trust looking at a piece of land at Creg y Cowin. It was some low-grade farmland at the top of a valley that had been on the market for two years. Nobody wanted it. The price was quite good and it was flanked by a river on either side, so very, very damp. It already had a little copse of plantation woodland there, which was absolutely covered in lichens and mosses, with ferns just pouring off the trees. So you could just tell this was an ideal site for a temperate rainforest.’ The Manx Wildlife Trust has already planted in the region of 8000 trees at the Creg y Cowin site.

We climb higher, brushing past fern after fern, until we arrive at a rock face that has water trickling down its side into a small pond. On it are all manner of living things, green and springy, delighting in their damp surroundings. The beginnings of the rainforest are in the making already, and the environmental benefits are clear.

The rainforest will not be like one many imagine when they hear the word — toucans, jaguars, sloths and the like. ‘Rainforest is the same word, whether it's a tropical rainforest or a temporary rainforest — and that just basically means a forest of woodland that gets a certain amount of rainfall per year,’ Graham explains.

The project has drawn its critics. ‘I think there are concerns around land use and farmers perhaps worrying that we're taking land away from food production,’ Graham explains. ‘But we've proven now that we have a couple of sites where we do what's called “agroforestry”, where essentially once the trees get to a decent size and age, we actually put grazing animals back on there. Sheep or cattle or pigs can actually be really good in a woodland scenario for creating even more biodiversity, and they're obviously producing meat while they're doing it. So it doesn't have to be one or the other.’

‘We're now learning far more about just what value nature has for us as a population, not just in terms of creating food, but also in creating spaces where we can get out and improve our mental and physical health, so for me and for Manx Wildlife Trust, it's not just about wildlife, it's about people too.’

We reach the highest point of our climb so far and miles of land stretch out beyond, like a big green, luscious carpet. It is a wonderful demonstration of nature's might when left to thrive, undisturbed by man-made creations. Graham won’t live to see this rainforest grow, as it will take hundreds of years, but he says he doesn’t mind as he surveys the reserve. For him it is enough to know that he will have helped plant something better for the generations to come.