Scotland's 'Celtic Rainforests'
Mention rainforests and most people will picture the iconic Amazon with its lush, deep, dense foliage and its myriad of animals and plants. However there is another kind of rainforest that we can experience a little closer to home, right here in the UK.
Celtic rainforests are a fragile and magical habitat, and are best seen on the western side of Scotland and Ireland. Tropical rainforests recieve a lot of coverage in the media, but few know about the temperate rainforests we have here in the UK-these habitats are in fact rarer than their tropical cousins!
Temperate Rainforests
Temperate forests thrive in areas which are very wet and mild. This combination creates a humid environment, in which special organisms flourish. The Celtic rainforests of Scotland are very precious. The unique climatic conditions create trees that are dripping with lichens and moss that carpets the forest floor and rocks. Mosses and lichens thrive in locations with low air pollution, and so the West of Scotland with its high air quality has become a brilliant place to find them growing in mass.
Walking through these forests, the moss and the lichens seem to muffle all sound and it feels as if the land is in a deep state of drowsy slumber, yet life is prospering here.
One branch is seen to be supporting at least 3 different species of lichen- jostling for space
a mossy silver birch
Birch trees
a close-up on some ferns
a close-up on the lush, green plants that thrive here.
A fallen Scot’s pine, coated in moss
