More than 100,000 trees are being planted in north Devon as part of efforts to boost temperate or Celtic rainforests, some of the UK’s most magical but endangered environments.
The trees are being planted close to surviving pockets of rainforest at two spots close to the coast and one inland.
Among the trees that will be planted is the almost-extinct Devon whitebeam, which is only found in the English West Country and in Ireland. It can reproduce without fertilisation, creating seeds that are genetic copies of itself. Its edible fruit used to be sold at Devon markets as “sorb apples” – celebrated in the DH Lawrence poem Medlars and Sorb-Apples (“I love you, rotten,/Delicious rottenness.”)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
More than 100,000 trees are being planted in north Devon as part of efforts to boost temperate or Celtic rainforests, some of the UK’s most magical but endangered environments.
Helped by volunteers, schoolchildren and community groups, the National Trust is hoping to establish 50 hectares (123 acres) of new rainforest across three sites.
Over the centuries, the temperate rainforest, which used to run the length of the western seaboard of the UK, has deteriorated largely due to air pollution, invasive species, diseases such as ash dieback and general lack of care.
Bryony Wilde, project manager at Arlington Court, said: “Through this tree planting, we’re helping to create a living landscape where both nature and people can thrive.
Last year, Devon Wildlife Trust announced t it was planting a temperate rainforest in the south of the county, on the slopes above the River Dart.
The plight of the temperate rainforest has been highlighted by the writer and environmentalist Guy Shrubsole, who has been leading a project to map the surviving fragments.
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