Can natural capital finance help save Scotland’s rainforest?

Congratulations to Argyll Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT), who have been awarded FIRNS (Facility for Investment Ready Nature Scotland) funding as lead partner in an ASR bid. ACT plan to scope out how natural capital finance could be funnelled into rainforest restoration projects in a way that has positive benefits for rainforest biodiversity and the people living and working there. A team from the ASR and beyond will be working on the project for the next 18 months.

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Tarzan and the water horse working together at Loch Arkaig

Woodland Trust Scotland has employed two kinds of horses to help restore the rainforest at Loch Arkaig Pine Forest. Tarzan is a logging horse that has been pulling timber from the steep slopes; the timber is then transported over the loch by a special barge named Each-Uisge (Gaelic for 'Water Horse'). Over a period of five years, a total of 70,000 tonnes of mainly Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine will be removed to allow the ancient woodland to recover.

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Want to work in the rainforest?

If you’ve got green fingers and fancy a job on the beautiful Morvern peninsula, then RSPB Scotland would like to hear from you. They are recruiting for a part-time post to set up and run their new tree nursery – part of their plans to expand rainforest habitat in the area. The tree nursery, supported by Forestry and Land Scotland, will provide a central hub for the whole Saving Morvern’s Rainforest project and an access and engagement point for the local community. The deadline for applications is 1 November.

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Why we need a resilient rainforest

A new report published by the British Ecological Society has singled out temperate rainforest as a particularly vulnerable habitat affected by increasing drought in Scotland. Despite recent deluges, our west coast climate is predicted to become drier in the future, impacting specialist plants that depend on humid conditions. We urgently need to expand and connect existing remnants of rainforest to help provide more resilience to climate change.  

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The State of Nature and Scotland’s rainforest

Another reason for urgency comes from the UK State of Nature Report, which shows alarming declines in lichens and bryophytes – the species that make the rainforest internationally important. Plantlife’s Lichen and Bryophytes Advisor, Oliver Moore, has analysed the report and explains what these figures mean for Scotland’s rainforest.

> Read Oliver’s blog

The Common Ground Forum launches

A new forum has been launched which brings people from Scotland’s upland deer management sector together to look at how a more collaborative approach, based on mutual respect and consensus building, can contribute to a vision of a greener, healthier and economically vibrant future. The forum evolved out of the Finding the Common Ground project, initiated through the ASR as part of its work to find solutions to addressing the impact of deer on Scotland’s rainforest.

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The incredible wildlife of Scotland’s rainforest

Temperate rainforests have some of the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth, and our own rainforest is no exception. It’s the sheer quantity, diversity and rarity of lichens and bryophytes that makes Scotland’s rainforest internationally important, but there are many other species to marvel at too. So we’ve created a series of new wildlife pages on our website to help visitors to the rainforest know what to look out for.

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Rainforest art from Sunart and Morvern

If you’re near Strontian this autumn, don’t miss a new art exhibition called Atlantic Remnants by Inverness-shire based artists Jonathan Shearer and Michelle Knight. The stunning artworks depict landscapes and tangled trees festooned with lichens, all inspired by time spent immersed in the temperate rainforests of Sunart and Morvern. You can view the exhibition at Resipole Studios from 15 October–24 November. 

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Find out more at www.savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk
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