Celtic rainforest to be revived in Snowdonia with 30,000 saplings a year

One of the last remaining fragments of Celtic rainforest in the UK is to be revived with a new tree nursery growing rare and endangered species.

The National Trust is aiming to grow 30,000 saplings a year at its largest such nursery yet in Eryri, Snowdonia.

They will then be planted in chosen locations in the area to help "future-proof" the woodlands by restoring the sensitive temperate rainforests and making them more resilient to a hotter, changing climate.

Many of the young trees are rare and endangered native species, including black poplar, which is the most endangered timber tree in Britain due to its narrow genetic make-up.

Rangers will also grow hornbeam, which should adapt better to warming conditions than those of Eryri's current climate.

They hope the hornbeam will also help mitigate the damage from ash dieback by supporting wildlife including liverwort, fungi and invertebrates such as beetles, which typically rely on ash.

"Our focus is on planting the right tree in the right place," said David Smith, the National Trust's lead ranger in Eryri.

He added: "The new trees will be growing for thousands of years, providing habitats for lots of different wildlife such as warblers, moths, bats and even otters."

Eryri, where the Trust cares for 58,000 acres (23,471 hectares) of land, constitutes one of the last remaining pieces of Celtic or temperate rainforest in the UK, which now covers just 1% of Britain.

Characterised by especially high rainfall and humidity and a low annual variation in temperature, the ecosystem used to run the length of the west coast of Great Britain and in parts of Northern Ireland, but has deteriorated largely due to invasive species and diseases such as ash dieback.

Now, only small pockets remain, limited to North and West Wales, Devon, Cornwall, Cumbria, the West of Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland.

The key habitat for many rare mosses, liverworts, and lichens has the potential to cover 5% of England and 20% of Britain overall, according to the Lost Rainforests of Britain campaign.

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The trees will be grown from locally collected seeds, making them more biosecure and resilient to local disease than imported counterparts, the Trust said. It wants to link the habitat with other fragments of Celtic rainforest.

Growing them for four years before planting outside improves their chance of surviving long-term.

Martin Lukac, professor of ecosystem science at the University of Reading, who is not involved with the project, called it a "much-needed and logical development".

"Virtually all tree planting targets announced by the UK government in the recent past have been met with exasperation in the forestry industry - we did not and still do not have the capacity to generate sufficient planting stock to meet these targets. Not even close. So any expansion of the tree nursery capacity is welcome."

Planting 30,000 seedlings a year would cover about 15 hectares of woodland a year, he estimates. "So not much, but a very good start," he said.

Sky News has contacted the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs for comment.

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