Work to expand 'UK's last ancient rainforests'

Work to create a "mirror image" of one of Britain's last remaining ancient temperate rainforests has started in Devon.

Last week, volunteers from Moor Trees planted 450 saplings grown from acorns specially collected from Wistman's Wood on Dartmoor.

This work, which took place near the collection site, aims to support an expansion and regeneration plan by the Duchy of Cornwall to double the size of the woodland by the early 2040s.

Jenny Isaac, chair of Moor Trees, said it was "brilliant to be putting something back and creating a habitat for the future".

The charity said the oak and rowan trees, which were grown in the Moor Trees community tree nursery at Dartington, were of "hyper-local provenance" and "should stand the best chance to thrive".

Jeremy Clitherow, from the Duchy of Cornwall, said the new wood could "provide a stepping stone for wildlife".

He said: "It's an opportunity for us to create a mirror image of Wistman's Wood to allow wildlife that's special at Wistman's, the lichens and the mosses and breeding birds, to find a new home over this side of the hill."

Helen Aldis, Moor Trees' chief executive, said the work to rebuild the environment was a "long game".

"You're looking at 15-20 years until you're properly seeing something like the beginnings of a woodland that will mature," she said.

"It's the long game, so anyone who's in the tree business or restoring nature in this way, it's very much an action you can take today for somebody else's future whether that's your child, grandchildren or society as a whole."

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