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Read in: EnglishCymraeg
Join us as we take a look back at what went right for nature in 2025.
The news hasn’t all been good for nature this year – and the truth is we have been working tirelessly in the face of the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis, and it is an uphill battle. We’re not saying that we’ve turned the tide, there is certainly a long way to go to protect our incredible plants and fungi for the future – but over the last 12 months, we’ve been at the heart of some amazing wins for nature!
So to celebrate a new year, full of opportunity, we wanted to take a look back at 10 stories that show nature is capable of incredible resilience.
We’ve seen wildflowers fight back from the brink of extinction, thousands work together to boost biodiversity in gardens and hope for some of our most vulnerable lichens.
The Breckland, in the east of England, has suffered more than other places with habitat loss – and one of the casualties is Scrambled Egg Lichen. This yellow lichen with a white fungus on top really does look like an egg.
It became extinct in the Breckland due to habitat loss resulting from changes in farming practices, an increase in tree cover and a loss of rabbits. The Scrambled Egg Lichen is 1 of 3 specialist lichens lost from the region, where they were once common, along with the Starry Breck and Scaly Breck Lichen.
Fortunately, we have found a way to reintroduce it back into the Breckland. Our Lichen and Bryophyte Senior Specialist Dave Lamacraft collected small patches of the lichen from Penhale in Cornwall and transported it using a process called translocation.
Read the full story here.
Thousands of people all over the UK ditched the mower in May and beyond to help boost biodiversity in gardens.
In previous years, people as far away as Italy and the USA have taken on the challenge, and we’ve seen No Mow diaries from far afield popping up on YouTube which is amazing. But this year, the Movement really started to snowball overseas when it was picked up by the New York Times!
We hope that this is just the start of a world-wide initiative of people leaving their lawns for nature.
Find out more about the No Mow Movement here.
The iconic orchid, Lady’s-slipper, was believed to have been driven to extinction in the UK by the early part of the 20th century as a result of over-collecting and habitat loss.
However, in 1930 a single plant was discovered growing in a remote part of the Yorkshire Dales. The location was kept secret for decades, during which time volunteers frequently checked on the plant to make sure it wasn’t dug up and stolen.
A reintroduction programme was planned with the ambition of reinstating self-sustaining populations of the orchid in the wild. Now, decades of work have finally paid off.
Last summer, the first new naturally occurring Lady’s-slipper Cypripedium calceolus plant was discovered in the wild for almost 100 years. The team who discovered the plant included Plantlife, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) and Chester Zoo.
We recently discovered 2 rare lichen species at risk in the Lake District’s unique temperate rainforest. They were growing on an infected Ash tree and needed to be moved to ensure they continued to thrive in this habitat.
The tree has been infected with ash dieback meaning it is at a high risk of dying or collapsing in a storm.
Our experts translocated some of the lichen from the infected Ash tree to a nearby Hazel tree in the Lake District, home to some of the UK’s rare temperate rainforests.
The high rainfall, humid temperatures and ancient woodlands provide a perfect climate for rare lichens to survive.
On National Meadows Day 2025, we asked you to help us make sure our meadows don’t become a memory, by joining our call for the government to protect them.
The government has an Irreplaceable Habitat list, which includes ancient woodlands, blanket bogs, coastal sand dunes and lowland fens offering them a level of protection. But ancient meadows have no protection to stop them from disappearing – and once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
We asked you to write to your MPs – and as a result of the emails sent by our supporters and members, the Minister for Nature responded to our letter.
We also received information that the UK Government plans to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats in national planning policy in England.
Find out more here.
In 2003 Aspen Bristle-moss, which was thought to be extinct in the UK, was rediscovered by a chance finding. Now, thanks to a team effort – moss experts, landowners and volunteers discovered 3 times the amount of Aspen Bristle-moss at one site. This brilliant find led to the known population of this rare moss doubling in Scotland in a single afternoon.
This amazing feat was thanks to a training session organised by our Resilience and Recovery, Helping Rare Species Adapt to a Changing World Project Manager, Sam Jones, where volunteers were taught how to ID this marvellous moss.
The elusive epiphyte (a plant which grows on the surface of another plant) is particularly tricky to identify, with tiny features that distinguish it from the other mosses that can be found growing alongside it.
This event, helping uncover hidden populations of Aspen Bristle-moss, gives hope for its future.
We asked people to head to their local grassland in search of bright and beautiful waxcap mushrooms. This year, more people than ever took part, tripling the number of surveys we received from last year.
These surveys provide really important data to help us find rare and important waxcaps as well as identify where fragments of ancient meadows survive.
From 11 recordings of rare Violet Corals, to 265 surveys that recorded Pink Waxcaps, this data is invaluable.
Find out more about Waxcap Watch here.
Following the publication of the new GB Red List in 2025, we were excited to be able to announce that one of the most endangered orchids in Britain, Fen Orchid, is no longer considered threatened.
This great achievement is a result of decades of painstaking conservation work. Overtime, we’ve learnt more about the plant’s ecology, how to safeguard existing plants and then how to boost its numbers.
Read the full blog here – and hear directly from Tim Pankhurst, former Conservation Manager at Plantlife who dedicated his life’s work to protecting Fen Orchids.
This year was the year people really supported the UK’s rare and incredible temperate rainforest habitat.
We teamed up with Cumbria Woodlands to host a full day of activities including trips into real rainforests to experience the wonder of these habitats first hand. We held a sold-out members talk, raised awareness through videos and social media posts that you helped to share with the world and even launched an appeal to rescue UK rainforests from extinction.
Every step of the way, our supporters have been there to speak up for these precious habitats and make sure that they will be protected for the future.
Donate today to rescue UK rainforests.
Lugg Meadows is a Lammas Floodplain Meadow in Herefordshire that boasts a wealth of biodiversity with wildflowers blooming all spring – including a spectacular displays of fritillaries.
But the meadow was put at risk when a planning application was submitted to build around 250 dwellings on land bordering the reserve, which is a legally protected Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
We submitted objections and more than 1,300 other organisations and individuals did too.
In October, after ongoing uncertainty, Herefordshire Council informed the developer that it could not support the application and recommended it for refusal.
Explore this incredible nature reserve here.
We know 2026 will bring a wealth of challenges for nature, but it’s also brimming with possibilities. Our teams will be on the ground supporting some of the rarest species in the world, protecting ancient habitats bursting with biodiversity and raising awareness at the highest level, campaigning for change. We hope that you will join us on this journey.
We would love to welcome you to our growing community, whether you’re interested in learning more about plants and fungi, supporting us through donations, becoming a member, or even joining the team as a citizen scientist or volunteer – every contribution matters.
Get involved
Growers, NGOs, environmentalists and the public stand together urging the government to act to stop the destruction of peatlands
Go behind the scenes with our Policy and Advocacy Intern Aimee Seager as she tells us about her role and explores the journey she took to get into conservation.
One of the UK’s rarest plants, Field Wormwood, has been given a lifeline to try and boost the numbers of this endangered plant.
Lichens on a tree infected with ash dieback have been rescued and given a new home in a bid to save them.
The rescue mission, using tried and tested translocation methods, saved 2 rare lichen species in the Lake District. Read on to find out how our experts did it.
Alongside a beck in the Lake District, our team identified Black-bordered Shingle Lichen and Stinky Sticta on a mature Ash tree.
Stinky Sticta Sticta fuliginosa is so called because it smells like rotten fish when wet! It is blackish brown when wet and dark grey-brown when dry. The lichen has rounded lobes that turn down at the edges.
Black-bordered Shingle Lichen Parmeliella thriptophylla looks like a dark stain on the bark of trees. It has a coral-like structure and can normally be found growing on either bark or rock surfaces in damp shaded woodlands. The lichen is blackish when wet and brown or grey-brown when dry.
Both these lichens are rainforest indicators and are members of a group of lichens that we have an international responsibility to protect.
To translocate the lichens, our experts carefully removed small fragments of both lichens and the top surface of the tree bark with a pen knife. Young and healthy-looking parts of the lichen were chosen as they were still growing.
They were then taken to an area of trees about 10m along the beck, chosen because of their similar conditions, to give the lichens the best chance of survival. In this case, a Hazel tree with similar high bark pH was chosen.
The lichens were attached to the tree using plastic mesh netting and stapled in place.
Both Black-bordered Shingle Lichen and Stinky Sticta need air flow, light and access to water – which the mesh can allow. The lichens were translocated onto a horizontal branch, with similar conditions to their original location, allowing the lichens to be easily wetted by rainfall.
Many lichen species rely on Ash trees for survival .Ash Fraxinus excelsior is especially important for a community of lichens which grow on more alkaline or ‘basic’ tree bark. The survival threat facing Ash trees, caused by ash dieback, means these important habitats are gradually disappearing.
Ash dieback is a fatal fungal disease caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. More than a quarter of the UK’s lichen species can be found on ash trees, but ash dieback is now widespread across much of the UK.
Both lichens in this rescue mission needed to be saved from the infected Ash tree because we did not know how long it would remain a viable host tree. As Ash trees die off, the bark dies and falls from the tree, taking any lichens on the bark with it.
Translocation is never a first option for lichen conservation work, but to ensure the survival of some species, it is necessary.
Careful consideration is given to the species of lichen and the recipient tree in all cases.
This is a long-term project and we won’t know how successful the translocation has been for some time. The Stinky Sticta should show signs of taking to its new tree earlier than Black-bordered Shingle Lichen.
The site will be monitored regularly, but signs of complete success could take up to 10 years to show.
Britain is home to one of the rarest habitats in the world – the temperate rainforest. But how would you know if you were walking in one?
Dave Lamacraft, Plantlife’s Lichen and Bryophyte Specialist, heads out to discover a wealth of extraordinary lichens which call Wales’ rainforests home.
Air pollution often poses the biggest danger to internationally rare habitats and nitrogen gases have the potential to destroy our temperate rainforests.
Did you know that the rainforest can glow in the dark? Or that it’s home to plants which were on the Earth before the dinosaurs?
If you go down to the woods today, you might be in for a big surprise!
Join us on a deep dive into temperate rainforests to find out some facts that might surprise you.
Read on for our most fun, fascinating and fantastical facts.
Often when we think about rare rainforest habitats, our minds are drawn to the tropical forests such as the Amazon rainforest in South America, or the Congo rainforest in Africa.
However, temperate rainforests are actually rarer than its tropical cousin.
This incredible habitat once covered up to 20% of the UK, however now it’s been reduced to less than 1% of the land area. In England, this means that only about 18,870 hectares remain. [2]
The remnants of the last rainforests are at risk still and face a number of threats including inappropriate grazing and browsing, pollution and invasive species – meaning protecting our rainforests is more important than ever before.
Temperate rainforests right here in the UK, are not only stunningly beautiful habitats – but also globally important ones. They are home to some of the rarest species on the planet, and in fact there are species in our forests that are found nowhere else on Earth.
These species include:
Temperate Rainforests have a vital role in improving air quality – filled with oxygen producing trees and plants. While it’s tricky to show data specifically for temperate rainforests, we know that UK woodlands, which include rainforests, drastically reduce air pollution.
In fact, in 2020, our woodlands removed 32,800 tonnes of PM10 (particles in the air with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less, which can cause health problems when inhaled), from the atmosphere. These include some vehicle emissions, dust and smoke. [4]
Like a portal to a time before humans – temperate rainforests contain a link to what the world was like when dinosaurs walked the earth!
These habitats are ancient ecosystems themselves – but some ferns, mosses, liverworts and lichens pre-date humans, flowers, trees and even dinosaurs! In fact mosses and liverworts are examples of ancient non-flowering plants that have been around for 400 million years.
The UK’s precious, prehistoric rainforests are dangerously close to extinction due to invasive species, pollution and disease. But we cannot afford to lose them.
Will you join the national movement of people saving our magnificent rainforests? Please donate to rescue UK rainforests from extinction.
OK, so the rainforest isn’t going to be all aglow like a scene from Avatar – but if you’re lucky, you might just see some of the glowing species that call the rainforest home.
Bioluminescence is a phenomenon where a living organism can produce and emit light. While biofluorescence is where organisms reflect a different colour than the one they absorbed. These processes can be seen in species of lichen, moss, fungi and even insects, that can be found in woodlands, including temperate rainforests in the UK.
Unfortunately, most of the species in the UK don’t produce enough light to see with the human eye.
One species found in UK woodlands is Honey Fungus Armillaria mellea, which is bioluminescent, and has glow in the dark gills! The glow from Honey Fungus is very weak however, and is usually too faint to be seen by the naked eye in a woodland environment. There’s also the rare Synarthonia astroidestera lichen. [5] [6]
Woodlands, including rainforests, keep a huge amount of air pollution out of our atmosphere. This pollution can be inhaled and enter our bodies causing health problems.
It’s estimated that the pollution our woodlands removed in 2020 could have caused health problems that would have cost the UK around £995 million in healthcare. [7]
According to the Office for National Statistics, these avoided health problems not only include respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, but also deaths.
Therefore, UK woodlands, including temperate rainforests, have not only helped save us almost £1bn, but they’ve even saved lives!
Temperate rainforests play a crucial role in carbon sequestration. While it’s well known that trees store carbon, did you know that lichens, moss and even fungi found in our temperate rainforests can all help to lock carbon away. What’s more, these species can lock away extra carbon, on top of the carbon that the trees they live on store. This makes temperate rainforests some of the most efficient carbon stores. [8]
It’s not hard to understand how the mystical majesty of these stunning habitats has inspired humans over the years.
The mist settling over dense ferns in the early morning, dappling light streaming through the trees and being surrounded by song from countless birds, has certainly been a source for many creatives.
In fact, temperate rainforests have been a muse for poets, storytellers, artists and authors. One of the most famous examples is Wistman’s Woods on Dartmoor – which was said to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s setting for The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Our connection with temperate rainforests goes way back to our ancestors, who believed they were magical places.
There were many stories of fairies, witches, mythical beings and magical happenings.
In Scotland there are tales of the sprite, Ghillie Dhu who is said to be the guardian of the forest. [9]
Temperate rainforests in the UK are not just home to a rich variety of plant and fungi life, they’re also buzzing with insects!
This thriving insect life can attract visitors from thousands of miles away. A number of birds fly all the way from Africa to nest and rear their young in our rainforests. Visiting birds to look out for include Wood Warblers, Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers. [10]
Read how 2 lichens were saved, from a tree infected with ash dieback, in a translocation rescue mission in the temperate rainforest.
An incredible story of returning one of England’s rarest lichens to its historic home – more than 350 miles away.
Let’s learn how expert Dave Lamacraft translocated the lichen across the country.
The Scrambled Egg Lichen, a rare and endangered lichen, has been reintroduced to its historic home in East Anglia.
This yellow lichen with a white fungus on top really does look like an egg. But before you start imagining carrying it in a frying pan, let’s follow the amazing journey of transporting this lichen 350 miles.
The Breckland, in the east of England, has suffered more than other places with habitat loss. One of the casualties is the Scrambled Egg Lichen. It became extinct in the Breckland due to habitat loss resulting from changes in farming practices, an increase in tree cover and a loss of rabbits. The Scrambled Egg Lichen is 1 of 3 specialist lichens lost from the region, where they were once common, along with the Starry Breck and Scaly Breck Lichen.
The rare Scrambled Egg Lichen Gyalolechia fulgens is not just striking, but also a crucial part of the biological soil crust community which stabilises soils and facilitates the growth of other plants. It also hosts a globally rare fungus Lichenochora epifulgens which is even rarer than the Scrambled Egg lichen itself.
The UK is home to globally significant populations of rare lichen species, some of which are found nowhere else on earth. However, lichens face increasing threats from habitat loss, climate change and air pollution. Projects such as this are vital and will help us to reverse these declines.
Translocation is a process used in conservation which involves moving an organism to a new location, where it will hopefully survive and thrive. To translocate the Scrambled Egg Lichen, small patches of the lichen were carefully removed and reattached using a combination of water and bookbinding glue.
Some 200 small pieces of the lichen – about the size of a 20p piece – were removed from Cornwall and 160 transplanted into the Breckland chalky landscape. The site in Cornwall is managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
About 160 lichens were translocated to a small area of about 100m at a site managed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
Measuring long term success of this translocation will take a few years, but it is hoped that if successful, the lichen will show evidence of growing after one year and spread naturally afterwards.
None of this work would have been possible without the support from Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust, with funding from Natural England as part of the Species Recovery Programme.
200 small patches of Scrambled Egg Lichen were transported from Cornwall to Norfolk
The Scrambled Egg Lichen was transported to the east of England in seed trays
The lichen was transplanted across an area of about 100m at a site managed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Glue and water was used to transplant the lichen
Reverse the red
Hazel Gloves Fungus is a priority species on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and a rare find for any fungi fan.
Sarah Shuttleworth discovers this funky fungi for Reverse the Red month, and the secrets it reveals about the area it’s found in.
Hazel Gloves Fungus’ common name comes from the finger-like projections of the stromata, cushion-like plate of solid mycelium. Found on Hazel trees in Britain, it is actually parasitic on the Glue Crust fungus Hymenochaete corrugate, and not the Hazel tree itself.
It was incredibly exciting to find Hazel Glove fungus. I knew about its importance as a rainforest indicator species and also its rarity status. I had seen many photos of it and so when I turned to take a second look at something I saw in the corner of my eye, I knew at once what it was.
I couldn’t share my unbridled joy at my discovery with anyone else in that moment, unless you include telling the singing Dipper I had just spotted or indeed talking to myself about it as I walked back along the trail. However, I was able to capture that moment on camera to relive again.
Hazel Glove fungus is an indicator of good air quality and temperate rainforest conditions, making it a flagship species for this threatened habitat. Temperate rainforests are found in areas that are influenced by the sea, with high rainfall and humidity and damp climate.
They are home to some intriguing and sometimes rare bryophytes, plants and fungi. Plantlife are working in many ways to protect and restore this globally threatened habitat.
I have since sent in my record to the county fungi recorder with a 10 figure grid reference, only to discover that this species has not been officially recorded in that area before, which only heightened my sense of achievement.
Recording fungi and sending your finds to local wildlife recorders creates a more accurate picture of the wild and wonderful world around us – and helps people like us know where to target conservation efforts.
It’s estimated that more than 90% of fungi are unknown to science, and only 0.4% of the fungi we know about have enough data to be assessed for global conservation status – letting us know if they’re critically endangered or not.
In the last few years there have been brand new species discovered right here in the UK, but we wouldn’t know about them if people like you didn’t get out and look for them.
To get started, find your local fungi recording group…
Did you know that a simple walk in nature can have positive effects on your family's physical and mental health? Join 9-year-old Flora on an outdoor adventure and explore the wonders of the wild!
Our annual citizen survey campaign Waxcap Watch is making a big difference to fungus conservation work.
Join Senior Ecologist Sarah Shuttleworth for a deadwood date, as she takes a deep dive into the wood wide web.
Rob Hodgson started learning about lichens in lockdown, as a complete beginner.
Exploring his hometown of Bristol, he learnt to love these amazing green plants, even bringing them into his work as an illustrator.
“Lichens are cool because they are everywhere. Once you notice them, you realise they are crazy, weird, colourful and interesting.”
Rob Hodgson started his lichen journey in lockdown as a complete beginner. Walking around Bristol one day, a lichen peaked his interest and from then on he was gripped by these secret miniature forests.
As an illustrator, Rob has created dynamic and lifelike lichen characters to help more people starting out.
We went to chat to Rob and join him on a lichen hunt.
“It was kind of my lockdown project and I just got interested one day, like what is this crazy thing. When I first started looking at lichens, you go online and there’s a million Latin names and I was just like, no this isn’t for me – I’m not a lichen expert. But once you learn the common names and you start to spot different ones, it gets easier. You don’t have to go anywhere far away, you can see these things just on the street. There’s one called chewing Chewing Gum lichen that you can see everywhere once you tune into it, just on the pavement.
“You do definitely notice if you go to the countryside, it’s like a lichen explosion. But I live in the centre of Bristol pretty much and there’s still lichens everywhere. On my doorstep, you see them on the pavements, you see them on walls and in my local parks there’s loads of lichens.
It’s a really good time of year to go lichen hunting [autumn/winter] and you don’t need any stuff. You can just go and as soon as you get out of the house you are on a lichen hunt – that’s as easy as it is. You just need to look on the floor, look in the tress and you’re good to go.
“The way I work things out sometimes is through my work. When I was looking at lichens, I thought how can I make this more interesting than all of these super technical, botanical drawings. I drew one, and then once you notice one, you notice another, and then all of sudden I had drawn 20 different lichens.
There was a lot of back and forth between going out and looking at lichens and going back and modifying them.
That was where I was coming from, trying to make them fun and accessible.”
Rob has made beautifully designed lichen characters including dust lichen, shield lichen and oak moss. Follow him on social media here.
Our Global Advocacy Coordinator, Claire Rumsey, will be at COP28 to speak up for the vital role of wild plants and fungi in the fight against climate change.
As I pack my bags and head off to Dubai, I wanted to share a few thoughts about what’s at stake at the climate COP and what role Plantlife can play at this huge global event. So, what is COP 28?
It’s the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Given the urgency of tackling climate change, these meetings of the world’s governments happen every year; two years ago, COP26 was hosted by the UK in Glasgow.
This COP will be a pivotal moment for the planet and people around the world will be watching closely. At the conference, the first Global Stocktake will take place – this is where Parties will report on their progress towards slashing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (also known as the Paris Agreement, adopted back in 2016).
We already know that progress needs to go faster and further – we are currently heading for about 2.5°C of warming by 2100, even if current pledges to tackle emissions are achieved. So, at COP28 we need to see governments commit to taking more action to cut emissions – and fast.
Alongside that, we’re calling for the framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation to be finalised with references to nature and the vital role it will play in ensuring we adapt to the impacts of climate change.
We’re calling for the framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation to be finalised with references to nature and the vital role it will play in ensuring we adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Well, the first reason is that climate change and biodiversity loss are two of the greatest challenges we’re facing globally, and they are intrinsically linked. There is simply no way to look at one crisis without considering the other.
Wild plants and fungi underpin all life on earth, they provide us with oxygen, food and fibres for our clothes, fuel, medicines and building materials. But on top of all of that, they are also a powerful force to tackle climate change; much of Plantlife’s work focuses on securing recognition of this. For example:
Despite all the incredible work that is being done worldwide to reduce biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change, it is thought by experts that we are currently in the 6th mass extinction. Latest estimates show that 45 % of flowering plant species could be at risk of extinction. Plant species are going extinct 500 times faster than they would be without the impacts of human activities – and faster than we can describe and name them.
This is the same for fungi, which can be directly affected by shifts in temperature and moisture levels. The overwhelming majority of fungal diversity is directly dependant on plants– whether as beneficial partners, decomposers or parasites – climate-related habitat change that harms plants in turn affects their co-existing fungi.
COP 28 is naturally facing some controversy, and people are understandably voicing concerns about how much will be achieved.
As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “It’s time to wake up and step up.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
We’re at a pivotal moment worldwide as to whether we will meet the Paris Agreement and we need a global commitment to ‘phase out’ not just ‘phase back’ fossil fuel production; otherwise, the outcomes of this COP may not be strong or ambitious enough to see us reach the 1.5°C goal in time.
Armed with the overwhelming scientific evidence about the critical role that wild plants and fungi can play in climate action, we’ll be speaking up at COP28 in person and online. We’ll be joining forces with partners from around the world to fight for urgent and ambitious action on nature and climate together.
For more than thirty years, Plantlife has spoken up for wild plants and fungi; making our voice heard at a global level has never been more important. We will continue to do all that we can to ensure that wild plants and fungi stay at the forefront of governments’ minds when making commitments for climate mitigation, adaptation, and building resilience.
We’re on a mission to raise awareness of how important wild plants and fungi are to life and to inspire more people to take action to help them thrive again and I hope you’ll follow our updates for how the meeting goes, here and on our social media channels!
In 2022 Lizzie Wilberforce took up the challenge of trying to learn some of Britain’s most common moss and liverwort species, near her home in damp, mossy west Wales.
‘Inspired by Lief Bersweden’s Couch to 10 Mosses on Twitter, I decided to give it a go and independently teach myself some mosses and liverworts out on my walks.
I have always been interested in identifying plants, even as a child. As an adult, I’m now able to identify most common species on my patch, but still with a huge amount still to learn. Bryophytes, known as mosses and liverworts, were even more of a mystery to me.
I’d always appreciated the aesthetics of their soft cloaks of green that envelop damp woodland, and the sheer resilience of the small, tufty species eking out a living in the harsh conditions of our sun-baked stone walls.
Naming them, however, always felt like an art that was out of my reach.
The first step is to spot just 1 or 2 interesting but abundant species when out for a walk, and to then bring home a very small piece of them to ‘key out’ – using an ID guide to identify the species.
Here are some tips which have helped me, for when you’ve spotted your first moss species.
Don’t be intimidated! Mosses and liverworts have a bit of a reputation for being tricky, but it’s great fun when you get into it. Looking a bit closer through a hand lens also reveals whole new levels of intricacy and beauty in these glorious plants.
These 2 publications have been incredibly helpful as ID guides: the British Bryological Society’s ‘Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland’ has been my go-to book for keying samples out, and of course a hand lens is vital.
I’ve also found that the Species Recovery Trust’s booklet ‘A Field Guide to Bryophytes’ has been helpful for quickly spotting some of the most common species I was likely to encounter based on habitat.
Going wrong and getting stuck has been an inevitable part of being a beginner. I’ve found that the Google Lens mobile phone app – whilst it does a poor job of species identification, can sometimes do enough to point me in a new direction if I’ve gone wrong early in the key.
A guidebook will take you to the right species, but it won’t always tell you which one or two features are the easiest to spot in the field – an expert will help you learn that shortcut much more quickly.
My county recorder, Sam Bosanquet, has been incredibly patient and helpful. Your local county recorder could have access to distribution maps such as Sam’s Carmarthenshire County Flora, which are a good sense check – find your county recorder here.
I’ve also recently joined the British Bryological Society, which gives me access to supportive recording groups and events.
I’ve also had to accept that my learning is seasonal – but one of the great things about mosses and liverworts is that it has provided me with new things to do in the tail ends of the year.
Sometimes it’s felt like one step forward and two steps back, with long names and complex features that I struggle to keep in my brain. However, embracing it as a slow process has meant it’s always stayed fun.
I’m gradually getting better at recognising some of the commoner species in the field, and every now and then, I’m even filling in a gap on the distribution maps – which help protect these species for the future.
Bryophytes desperately need more advocates and recorders. So, if you’ve ever thought about giving it a go, but thought them a bit intimidating- don’t! Set yourself a target of 10 and give it a go. Who knows where it’ll take you next?‘
Thuidium tamariscinum has a name that is a little tricky to commit to memory, but its wonderful complex fern-like structure is very distinctive. It’s abundant in my local woodlands and hedge banks, and is one of the first mosses I learned to recognise in the field.
Plagiochila asplenioides, a large leafy liverwort that was one of the first to catch my attention on local road verges.
Discover the names of temperate rainforest mosses which could be in woodlands near you!
From citizen science, to volunteering and from making space for nature to forging a deeper connection with it – conservation is for everyone.
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Meg Griffiths
Ever wondered why we need to go out and count rare plants?
Meg Griffiths from the Plantlife Cymru team, reflects on a summer of lichen hunting and data collection for the Natur am Byth! Project.
Natur am Byth! is a cross-taxa partnership, which means many different organisations are working together to save a variety of species – from insects and plants to birds. This is important as when any species is lost from an ecosystem, it can make the whole ecosystem weaker and less able to cope with change, regardless of what kind of species it is.
One element the Natur am Byth programme focuses on is the mini-wonders of the Welsh Marches. The area has a rich diversity of mosses and liverworts, lichens, fungi and insects. These species all have one thing in common: they are generally pretty tiny. Many people just aren’t looking closely enough to spot them –and that’s what we want to change.
But before we can get started protecting rare species, we need to know where we’re currently at. ‘Baseline monitoring’ gives us a picture of how our target species, and the sites where they exist, are doing – we can then use this data to plan how we’ll manage those areas for nature. We can also track how these species recover in the future.
So, I went out to some very beautiful sites in Mid-Wales, hunting for some of the project target lichen species. This is what I found
Lichen hunting can be like looking for a needle in a haystack – except the needle is as small as a pinhead, and the haystack is a woodland.
I got rained on heavily, I got lost hunting for trees, I had to shoo away cattle who were trying to eat my notebook, and I spent far too long peering through my hand lens checking every gnarly nook and cranny for some of these miniscule marvels.
At times I felt like I was living in that miniature kingdom. I’d come across insects and die of fright thinking they were enormous, and I’d pull my eye away from the hand lens only to be dizzied by the astonishing complexity of the enormous world we occupy.
It has been a joy working to collect the data which can be used to demonstrate that the Natur am Byth project is having a positive impact and supporting these species.
Not only does the project have the potential to support these rare lichens with recovery, it also has the potential to change perceptions – magnifying the hidden worlds we overlook daily and showcasing the rare and special mini wonders that occupy them
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The Natur am Byth partnership is Wales’ flagship Green Recovery project. It unites nine environmental charities with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to deliver the country’s largest natural heritage and outreach programme to save species from extinction and reconnect people to nature. Thanks to players of the National Lottery over £4.1m from the Heritage Fund was awarded to the partnership in June 2023. NRW has contributed £1.7m and the Natur am Byth partners have secured a further £1.4m from Welsh Government, Arts Council of Wales and a number of charitable trusts, foundations and corporate donors. These include donations from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and significant support from Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme administered by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA).
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