Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall is helping double one of the last surviving temperate rainforests
Dartmoor Nature Alliance launch their rainforests campaign at Black-a-Tor copse on Dartmoor national park (Photograph: Fern Leigh Albert) Campaigners push for wider land recovery The
Dartmoor Nature Alliance launch their rainforests campaign at Black-a-Tor copse on Dartmoor national park (Photograph: Fern Leigh Albert) Campaigners push for wider land recovery The ancient woodland has only survived in spots where there is natural protection by granite boulders or spiky gorse (Photograph: Fern Leigh Albert) Collecting seeds and protecting young trees Farm grazing rights and shared land Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall is helping double one of England’s last surviving temperate rainforests, where 1,200 young trees have already been planted at one site alone as part of wider expansion efforts.According to a report by The Guardian, the Duchy estate, which owns a third of Dartmoor Park, has promised to double the size of two ancient rainforest areas under its care by the early 2040s. The plan covers Black-a-Tor Copse and Wistman’s Wood, two rare groups of ancient oak trees hidden inside the Devon national park.The pledge comes alongside a new £30 million government funding package given out through the Farming in Protected Landscapes fund. The dedicated grants aim to restore wildlife spaces and ancient woods across England, stretching from Dartmoor up to the Lake District.Temperate rainforests are among the rarest natural habitats on Earth. While surviving pieces exist across western Scotland, Cornwall, Devon, Wales and parts of Cumbria, most are in poor health because farm animals have grazed on them for many decades.The new pledge follows a campaign by the Dartmoor Nature Alliance (DNA), a group that gathered at Black-a-Tor Copse to demand that rainforest areas across the whole national park be doubled in size.Sitting along the West Okement River valley, the 29-hectare Black-a-Tor Copse features short, tightly packed oak trees covered in thick moss and lichens.
Dating back to the Bronze Age, the site is one of only three surviving rainforest fragments on Dartmoor. Experts estimate that similar oak woods once covered 20% of the British Isles. Today, these trees only survive where heavy granite rocks or spiky gorse bushes block farm animals from eating them.Welcoming the new targets, Emma Magee, head of communities and nature on Dartmoor at the Duchy of Cornwall, outlined the estate's expanded environmental goals.“The level and pace of commitment from the duchy and our partners is increasing,” Magee said. “Our ambition is to double the extent of duchy-managed Atlantic rainforest on Dartmoor by the early 2040s, and we welcome the focus this campaign brings to these rare, beautiful and important habitats.”However, campaigners stress that long-term recovery depends on keeping farm animals away from the edges of the woods.Lisa Schneidau from the Dartmoor Nature Alliance explained that heavy livestock grazing stops young saplings from growing into full trees.“These woodlands are part of our heritage – they are some of the best in Europe – and yet they are not in a good condition,” Schneidau said. “To extend and regenerate them we need to exclude grazing around these areas, because all of these sites are dying on their roots. We are not talking about much land area – we are talking about a gesture towards nature. We could see a lot more woodland along the valley areas that are not particularly good for grazing and are really marginal for farming.
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