Joining up fragments of temperate rainforest
Remnant birch & rowan cling to burn showing potential for regeneration. Credit Phil Formby / WTML
Populations of rare bryophytes and lichens are more vulnerable in small and isolated fragments of temperate rainforest compared to larger stands.
Expansion of existing woodland and linking up isolated stands of various sizes is more valuable than creating separate new blocks, allowing easier dispersal of rainforest biodiversity. However, newly regenerating or planted woodland will still take time to become quality temperate rainforest habitat, and while populations of less specialist old-growth woodland lichens may show signs of recovery within 100 years, the more specialist species can take much longer.
You can find more advice in The Woodland Trust’s guidance on woodland creation and on the woodland creation pages at Scottish Forestry. You may also wish to contact the ASR.
Before considering natural regeneration or new woodland creation it is recommended that you have plans in place to address the main threats described above from invasive non-native plants such as rhododendron, inappropriate levels of browsing and the potential impact of shading out the lichens on the trunks of old trees by abundant tree regeneration or smothering rare bryophytes on the ground through growth of a coarse field layer.
It is important that a proper assessment of existing biodiversity of open spaces has been carried out before woodland creation and expansion schemes go ahead. This will ensure that new woodland schemes occur in the right places and without harming priority habitats and species.
An Environmental Impact Assessment is a formal requirement in certain circumstances.
