Skip to main content

World Rainforest Day: Cumbria – Great How Wood Temperate Rainforest Walk

Experience the sights and sounds of the temperate rainforest first hand, with one of our guided walks to celebrate World Rainforest Day.

We are teaming up with Cumbria Woodlands to host a full day of activities for you to explore, learn and wonder at the beauty of our temperate rainforests. Discover the species that survive nowhere else on earth, and meet the experts working to recover these forgotten habitats. There will even be the chance to take a trip into a real rainforest to experience the wonder of these habitats first hand!

You can find out more about the sessions before the walk here.

After lunch, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in a guided walk at one of four different locations in the northern Lakes. You will be guided along your route and your leader will take every opportunity to show you some of the incredible species of Cumbria’s temperate rainforest, for you to experience the magic first hand!

This walk will take place at Great How Wood, and transport will be provided to and from Rheged Events Centre.

Guided Walk Information

  • Route 4 – Great How Wood (Walk Leader: Angus Walsh) (Capacity: 20 people)
  • Parking: Legburthwaite car park (18 Back Ln, Keswick CA12 4TQ)
  • Length: 3km
  • Elevation: 82m gain/loss
  • Terrain: Paved road followed by rough, uneven path into woods, well trodden
  • No dogs permitted
  • Facilities: Toilets available at Legburthwaite car park
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult

World Rainforest Day: Cumbria – Wesco and Burns Woods Temperate Rainforest Walk

Experience the sights and sounds of the temperate rainforest first hand, with one of our guided walks to celebrate World Rainforest Day.

We are teaming up with Cumbria Woodlands to host a full day of activities for you to explore, learn and wonder at the beauty of our temperate rainforests. Discover the species that survive nowhere else on earth, and meet the experts working to recover these forgotten habitats. There will even be the chance to take a trip into a real rainforest to experience the wonder of these habitats first hand!

You can find out more about the sessions before the walk here.

After lunch, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in a guided walk at one of four different locations in the northern Lakes. You will be guided along your route and your leader will take every opportunity to show you some of the incredible species of Cumbria’s temperate rainforest, for you to experience the magic first hand!

This walk will take place at Wesco and Burns Wood, and transport will be provided to and from Rheged Events Centre.

Guided Walk Information

  • Route 3 – Wesco and Burns Woods (Leader: Carrie Hedges) (Capacity: 20 people)
  • Parking location: Station Road
  • Length: up to 5km
  • Elevation: up to 30m gain/loss
  • Terrain: Flat. a mixture of tarmac, footpaths, cycle paths and small roads
  • Facilities: Toilets and cafe available in Threkeld Village Hall at the top of station road
  • No dogs permitted
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult

World Rainforest Day: Cumbria – Naddle Forest Temperate Rainforest Walk

Experience the sights and sounds of the temperate rainforest first hand, with one of our guided walks to celebrate World Rainforest Day.

We are teaming up with Cumbria Woodlands to host a full day of activities for you to explore, learn and wonder at the beauty of our temperate rainforests. Discover the species that survive nowhere else on earth, and meet the experts working to recover these forgotten habitats. There will even be the chance to take a trip into a real rainforest to experience the wonder of these habitats first hand!

You can find out more about the sessions before the walk here.

After lunch, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in a guided walk at one of four different locations in the northern Lakes. You will be guided along your route and your leader will take every opportunity to show you some of the incredible species of Cumbria’s temperate rainforest, for you to experience the magic first hand!

This walk will take place at Naddle Forest and transport will be provided to and from Rheged Events Centre.

Guided Walk Information

  • Route 2: Naddle Forest (Leader: Georgia Stephens) (Capacity: 20 people)
  • Parking: The RSPB at Haweswater, Naddle Farm, Burn Banks, Bampton, Penrith CA10 2RP
  • Length: UP TO 6km
  • Elevation:
  • Terrain: Rough Path into woods, not well trodden, steep. Main Path paved
  • No dogs permitted
  • Facilities: None
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult

World Rainforest Day: Cumbria – Aira Force Temperate Rainforest Walk

Experience the sights and sounds of the temperate rainforest first hand, with one of our guided walks to celebrate World Rainforest Day.

We are teaming up with Cumbria Woodlands to host a full day of activities for you to explore, learn and wonder at the beauty of our temperate rainforests. Discover the species that survive nowhere else on earth, and meet the experts working to recover these forgotten habitats. There will even be the chance to take a trip into a real rainforest to experience the wonder of these habitats first hand!

You can find out more about the sessions before the walk here.

After lunch, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in a guided walk at one of four different locations in the northern Lakes. You will be guided along your route and your leader will take every opportunity to show you some of the incredible species of Cumbria’s temperate rainforest, for you to experience the magic first hand!

This walk will take place at Aira Force and transport will be provided to and from Rheged Events Centre.

Guided Walk Information

  • Route 1: Aira Force (Leader: April Windle) (Capacity: 20 people)
  • Parking: Located at National Trust – Aira force and Gowbarrow park
  • Length: 2.5km
  • Elevation: 100m Elevation gain/loss
  • Terrain: Steep, rocky and uneven terrain, well-trodden path
  • Facilities: Toilets, cafe and gift shop available at the car park
  • No dogs permitted
  • Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult

World Rainforest Day: Cumbria

Get ready for a full day of celebrations! Discover the secrets of the temperate rainforest through talks, music and even guided walks to experience the wonder of these habitats first hand.

branches and tree covered with lichens

We’re teaming up with Cumbria Woodlands to host a full day of activities for you to explore, learn and wonder at the beauty of our temperate rainforests. Discover the species that survive nowhere else on earth and meet the experts working to recover these forgotten habitats. There will even be the opportunity to take a trip into a real rainforest to experience the wonder of these habitats first hand! You can book onto a walk separately using the links in our What’s On page here.

Our rainforest activities will take place on World Rainforest Day on June 22. The day will begin with a drop-in session where you can explore Cumbria’s temperate rainforest and meet the organisations who are on the forefront of the work being done to protect these special habitats. Tea and coffee will be available.

We will then be showing an exclusive screening of Cumbrian music producer DJ Werka’s SATURAMA. This beautiful, immersive film shot at Naddle Forest by Joel Hepworth and Ryan Cooper, is designed to show you the magic of temperate rainforests, and is brought to life with a live soundscape installation by Tom Leah. Werka’s SATURAMA inspires us to form a deeper connection with our natural world and protect it as we would each other.

Following SATURAMA, we will be hosting a panel discussion bringing together experts from across the country who represent a variety of different professional sectors. Together we will be exploring how collaboration between sectors can make us so much more than the sum of our parts when it comes to making a positive change for nature.

Itinerary:

9am – 10am: Arrival at Rheged Discovery Centre. Attendees must register their parking with the venue to avoid paying a parking fee. Tea and coffee will be available in the Blencathra room, while you take some time to learn about Cumbria’s temperate rainforest from our partners.

10am – 11am: SATURAMA – live installation by DJ Werkha in Screen 2

11am – 11.15am: An opportunity to stretch your legs and grab a hot drink before returning to Screen 2 for the panel discussion

11.15am – 11.45am: ‘How can we work together to save our rainforests?’ – Your chance to ask questions to our experts to discover how everyone can be involved to protect and restore our temperate rainforests

12.00pm – 12.30pm: Lunch will be served in the Blencathra Room. Please indicate when booking your ticket if you have any dietary requirements or allergies

12.30pm – 1pm: Get ready to leave for your guided walk! Walk leaders will be waiting outside in the car park with minibuses ready to transport you to your guided walk location! Please ensure you have booked your space on the guided walk of your choice

1pm – 1.30pm: Travel to guided walks – find out more about the individual walks on our What’s On page here.

1.30pm – 3.30pm: Guided walks. This is your opportunity to experience the magic of temperate rainforests up close! Please inform your walk leader if you have any accessibility requirements or pre-existing medical conditions that they need to be aware of.

3.30pm – 4pm: Travel back to Rheged Discovery Centre

#Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project

The Rainforest Restoration Project aims to increase the quality and resilience of temperate rainforests
across the northwest and southwest of England, including Cumbria.

branches and tree covered with lichens
  • Go to:

What is the Rainforest Restoration Project?

The Rainforest Restoration Project is a collaboration to protect one of the rarest and most amazing habitats on Earth – the temperate rainforest!

We have joined forces with a number of organisations and conservation charities with the shared goal of improving the quality and resilience of our amazing rainforests.

Across the northwest and southwest of England, including Cumbria, we will be working on the ground to restore this incredible habitat.

What Work is the Rainforest Restoration Project Doing?

We want to shout from the treetops about these incredible habitats to raise awareness. Many people don’t know we have temperate rainforests in the UK, what they look like, or why it’s so vital that we protect them.

Our aim is to inspire people to love and care for the rainforest – through outreach, training events and sharing practical advice on woodland management.

A tiny curled fern growing through moss

And of course we’ll be getting hands on too! Some of our planned work includes:

  • Cluster planting native broadleaf species to expand the existing rainforest habitat.
  • Surveying the diverse lichen and bryophyte species found in the temperate rainforest.
  • Assessing possibilities for translocation opportunities.
  • Creating deadwood and veteran trees to increase the availability of microhabitats and niches for specialist species.
  • Removing invasive species such as Rhododendron from rainforests.
  • Working to create more space and light within the woodland canopy.
  • Completing Rapid Rainforest Assessments (a tool that has been designed to assess the condition of the UK’s temperate rainforest).

 

Why do Plantlife Work on Temperate Rainforest in Cumbria?

In Britain, temperate rainforest is only found in areas of western Scotland, Cumbria, Wales and southwest England, where suitable climatic conditions prevail and ancient woodland and trees have survived. 

The high annual rainfall and low annual temperate variation in these areas provides ideal conditions for lichens, bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), and ferns to flourish. The nature of the rainforest changes significantly with variations in this climate and with human influence on the landscape.

Our rainforests are home to some intriguing and rare species of lichens, ferns and lower plants like mosses or liverworts, that cannot survive anywhere else. Some of these pre-date humans, flowers, trees and even dinosaurs!

Once covering up to 20% of the UK, temperate rainforest is now confined to less than 1%, due to a number of threats including:

  • Climate change
  • Air pollution
  • Habitat fragmentation
  • Invasive species
  • Inappropriate grazing/browsing levels
  • Inappropriate historic or current management

We need to work now, to protect these amazing habitats.

Who is Plantlife Working with on the Rainforest Restoration Project?

The #Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project is being led by the Woodland Trust in partnership with Plantlife and other organisations including Cumbria Woodlands, Cumbria Connect, Rusland LSG and Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

This project is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Explore the Temperate Rainforest

#Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project

#Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project

The Rainforest Restoration Project is a collaboration to protect one of the rarest and most amazing habitats on Earth – the temperate rainforest!

Species we are Working with in Scotland
One of the two heads of a twinflower in bloom and in focus, with the other remaining closed

Species we are Working with in Scotland

From our work deep in the forests of the Caledonian Pine woods to the wild north coast – species are at the very heart of what we do.

Natur Am Byth! Pen Llŷn ac Ynys Môn
A close up of a lichen growing on the ground

Natur Am Byth! Pen Llŷn ac Ynys Môn

Discover how Wales’ flagship green recovery project Natur am Byth! is helping to unravel the mystery of a vanishing lichen.

The Rare Lichen that Travelled from Cornwall to Norfolk

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.

 

Dave Lamacraft translocating Scrambled Egg Lichen in Norfolk

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.

Translocating Scrambled Egg Lichen

Taking a Lichen from Cornwall to Norfolk

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.

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.

Scrambled Egg Lichen

What is the Scrambled Egg Lichen?

The rare Scrambled Egg Lichen Fulgensia 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.

What is Translocation?

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.

Did it work?

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.

More Nature Stories

Go Wild in the Garden with these Gardening Jobs
A garden with long grass and mown paths with hammocks hanging from trees

Go Wild in the Garden with these Gardening Jobs

If you want to create a home for wildlife in your garden, here’s a couple of nature-friendly gardening jobs to inspire you. If you create the right space, nature will come.

Increase the Number of Wildflowers in Your Lawn 
Clover, Selfheal and Birds-foot Trefoil all growing on a short lawn

Increase the Number of Wildflowers in Your Lawn 

A rainbow of wildflowers in your lawn doesn’t just bring garden owners joy, but is also the sign of a healthy and thriving garden.

No Mow May: Can your Garden be a Carbon Store?  
A close up look out across a lawn from amongst the grasses. The grass has dew drops on each blade. Hedges can be seen in the background and a small peak at a clear blue sky.

No Mow May: Can your Garden be a Carbon Store?  

It’s not just trees that capture and store carbon – our meadows and grasslands can play an important role too.

Introduction to Ferns in Temperate Rainforests

This online workshop will teach you the basic biology of ferns, to help you identify some of the key species found in temperate rainforest.

A Limestone Fern

Ferns can act as indicators of temperate rainforest or oceanic woodland habitat. Some of the species seen in the UK’s temperate rainforests are found nowhere else on earth.

This online training workshop will cover the following topics:

  • Species morphology and reproductive processes
  • Ecological value and habitat requirements
  • Temperate rainforest species
  • Introduction to species identification
  • The use of data and biological records

The #Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project is being led by the Woodland Trust in partnership with Plantlife and other organisations. This project is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency

Introduction to Bryophytes in Temperate Rainforests

This workshop will teach you the basic biology of bryophytes, to help you identify some of the key species found in temperate rainforest.

Small patch of jagged, white Reindeer Moss amongst bright green plants

Bryophytes can be indicators of temperate rainforest or oceanic woodland habitat. Some of the species seen in the UK’s temperate rainforests are found nowhere else on earth.

This online training workshop will cover the following topics:

  • Species morphology and reproductive processes
  • Ecological value and habitat requirements
  • Temperate rainforest species
  • Introduction to species identification
  • The use of data and biological records

The #Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project is being led by the Woodland Trust in partnership with Plantlife and other organisations. This project is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Introduction to Lichens in Temperate Rainforests

This online workshop will teach you the basic biology of lichens and how to identify some key species found in temperate rainforest habitat.

branches and tree covered with lichens

Lichens can act as indicators of temperate rainforest or oceanic woodland habitat. Some of the species seen in the UK’s temperate rainforests are found nowhere else on earth.

This online workshop will teach you the basic biology of lichens, and give you the skills and confidence to identify some of the key species in the Lake District rainforest zone.

This two hour workshop will cover the following topics:

  • Species morphology and reproductive processes
  • Ecological value and habitat requirements
  • Temperate rainforest species
  • Introduction to species identification
  • The use of data and biological records

The #Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project is being led by the Woodland Trust in partnership with Plantlife and other organisations. This project is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency