Volunteers Restore England's Vanishing Rainforest

Deep in Cumbria's Rusland Valley, volunteers are bringing back a rainforest most people don't even know England has.

Friends of the Lake District manages two neighboring woods filled with the telltale signs of temperate rainforest: thick carpets of moss, rare lichens clinging to ancient bark, and fungi that exist almost nowhere else in Britain. These aren't tropical jungles, but cool, misty forests once covering 20% of the UK. Today, less than 1% remains.

"You could spend an entire day in these woods and still not find all the amazing rainforest species hiding in there," said Marion Brown, a local volunteer who's spent two years helping restore the habitat. She describes every tree and stone wall as "a mini city" of rare wildlife.

The restoration work isn't glamorous. It means caring for veteran trees, clearing invasive species that threaten native plants, and creating glades where sunlight can reach the forest floor. But land manager Jan Darrall says the idea of "a rainforest in Cumbria enchants and inspires people."

Why This Inspires

This story matters because it shows what's possible when communities refuse to accept loss as permanent. These ancient woodlands survived centuries of decline, disease, and climate threats because small fragments held on in Cumbria's sheltered valleys.

Now volunteers are proving those fragments can grow again. The group is about to receive additional neighboring woodland, expanding their care to 72 acres of protected habitat.

During Earth Week (April 22-29), donations through the Big Give's Earth Raise campaign will be doubled through match funding. That means every pound given has twice the impact on protecting mosses, lichens, and ferns found almost nowhere else.

England's temperate rainforests may never cover 20% of the country again, but in the Rusland Valley, they're coming back one ancient tree at a time.