Scotland’s unique rainforests are at risk of being wiped out, according to a report that warns of disaster for wildlife including plants, birds and insects.
The Woodland Trust report State of the UK’s Woods and Trees 2021 says that Scotland’s temperate rainforest is “as important as tropical rainforest, but even rarer”.
Few people know that it exists and fewer still know its global significance. It is made up of the native oak, ash, birch, pine and hazel woodlands found in the “hyper-oceanic” zone on the west coast.
Sometimes known as Atlantic woodland, it has high rainfall and relatively mild temperatures year round, providing perfect conditions for rare lichens, mosses, liverworts, fungi and plants. Some are not found anywhere else in the world.
The Woodland Trust report, the first of its kind to focus on native woods and trees, found that those in the UK were approaching crisis point, with Scotland’s rainforest at particular risk from five serious threats that it says could be disastrous for wildlife.
Advertisement
The “multiple whammy” of threats comprises the poor condition of woodland; the effect of climate change on woodland life cycles; direct loss and resulting fragmentation; pests, diseases and pollution and the slow rate of woodland expansion.
Although rainforest can be found in other parts of the UK including Cumbria, north Wales and southwest England, Scotland has the most by area and some of the best remaining sites in Europe.
However, as little as 17,000 square miles of Scottish rainforest remain, making up 2 per cent of the nation’s woodland cover and only 20 per cent of the area that has the climatic conditions suitable for rainforest.
Surviving areas are often small and isolated, over-mature and show little or no regeneration. They can be impeded by overgrazing and invasive species.
According to the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland only 30 per cent of Scotland’s rainforest area is in a “satisfactory” condition due to inappropriate levels of grazing, invasive rhododendron and plantation forestry as well as tree diseases, especially ash dieback. About 41 per cent is suffering from high or very high levels of grazing, largely due to deer, which impedes its long-term survival. Under-grazing can also be an issue.
Advertisement
Invasive rhododendron is found in 40 per cent of rainforest and threatens to choke the woodlands, threatening the distinctive flora. Twenty-one per cent has been planted with non-native conifers which lower their value as rainforest habitat, according to the report. The lichens and bryophytes that inhabit Scotland’s rainforest — such as liverworts and mosses — are non-vascular, which means that they absorb water from the atmosphere across their surfaces rather than from the soil, putting them at risk from atmospheric pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide.
Arina Russell, public affairs manager at the Woodland Trust Scotland, said: “Native woodland must be a major part of woodland expansion, to help nature recover.
“We need more native woodland connecting and expanding existing woods and replacing lost trees outside woods.”
The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, a voluntary partnership of organisations led by the Woodland Trust and Plantlife, has identified a range of actions as “priorities to save Scotland’s rainforest”.
They include securing policy support and resources to address invasive rhododendron, tree disease and the impacts of deer and livestock grazing. The trust also wants to build capacity for restoration by increasing knowledge and skills in how to care for ancient woodland. It is hoped that conservationists will have licence to monitor the effectiveness of actions taken.
Advertisement
The report also recommends greater collaboration between landowners to restore and expand the rainforest, engaging the public and businesses to widen appreciation of healthy rainforest as motivation for their long-term recovery.
The Woodland Trust Scotland has produced a manifesto to coincide with the Scottish parliamentary elections held three weeks tomorrow.
“Woods and trees offer solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing our society,” Russell said. “Good stewardship of the nation’s native woodlands will reap huge rewards.
“But the needs of our woods and trees must be in the minds of the next government. Our manifesto sets out Woodland Trust Scotland’s top priorities for the next Scottish government.”
The trust is asking Scottish voters to help bring woods and trees to the attention of all parties and candidates by taking action online.
Advertisement
Abi Bunker, director of conservation and external affairs for the Woodland Trust, said: “The warning signs in this report are loud and clear.
“If we don’t tackle the threats facing our woods and trees we will severely damage the UK’s ability to address the climate and nature crises. Our wildlife havens are suffering, and we are storing up problems for future generations.”