Looking for lost rainforest in Kintyre

Only around 30,000 hectares of temperate rainforest survives in Scotland, made up of fragmented patches that stretch out over a huge area along the west coast. Some areas of rainforest are well known, and many restoration projects are already underway. But some are still waiting to be discovered.  

One such area, which has historically been under recorded and poorly mapped, in the Kintyre peninsula. At 30 miles long and 11 miles wide, this narrow stretch of land runs between Arran and Gigha to the south of Knapdale, and its location and isolation could well have created perfect conditions for biodiverse rainforest habitats to form.  

To uncover and protect these woodlands, a small local community group, called the Kintyre Rainforest Alliance, has recently launched, and this February, they received a visit from ASR representatives who provided the new group with advice and support.  

During the trip, Oliver Moore (Plantlife Scotland’s Lichen and Bryophyte Specialist) and workshop participants, made several exciting discoveries.

Sticta canariensis, or the Canary Islands lungwort. Credit Oliver Moore

This included a nationally rare lichen known as Sticta canariensis, or the Canary Islands lungwort. Lichens are a symbiosis between a fungus and either algae or cyanobacteria. This species can contain either, but the algae version (or green morph as it’s called) is much rarer, and this is the one that was found in Kintyre. You can find out more about it on the British Lichen Society’s website.

 The group also visited stands of ancient hazel woodland where both the hazel gloves and glue fungus were growing. The presence of these fungi and other indicator species, not only suggest that the hazels have escaped historic coppicing, but also that the woodland could be classed as temperate rainforest.  

The wonderful hazel gloves fungus. Credit Oliver Moore