Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT) has announced a new project to restore a rainforest at Glen Auldyn on the Isle of Man, thanks to The Wildlife Trusts’ long-term partnership with Aviva.
At 1,124 acres – with 750 acres suitable for rainforest habitat – it is the largest plantable area to enter The Wildlife Trusts’ rainforest recovery programme so far and will be the biggest nature reserve in the Island.
Rainforests of Britain & Ireland have been largely destroyed over hundreds of years and now cover less than 1% of Great Britain. The restoration of this precious habitat is part of a wider programme of nature-based projects funded by Aviva to remove carbon from the atmosphere and to help nature recover.
Local communities in and around Ramsey in the north of the Isle of Man will be closely involved in the project and will benefit from increased access to nature, volunteering, educational and employment opportunities. Rainforest restoration will also provide cleaner air and water, and reduced risk from flooding in an area of high flood risk.
The Wildlife Trusts’ partnership with Aviva funds the restoration of temperate rainforests in areas where they used to grow along the damper, western climes of Britain & Ireland. The few remaining fragments of rainforests in the Isle of Man are largely confined to the steep-sided gorges in the national glens, with many in close proximity to Glen Auldyn.
Tree seeds will be gathered from the glens and grown in MWT’s nursery at Milntown at the base of Glen Auldyn. Volunteers are already involved in the tree nursery which was initially set up to provide trees for MWT’s rainforest restoration at Creg y Cowin and Glion Darragh. Local residents are invited to play a central role in the project which will spend an initial two years conducting ecological surveys of the moorland, peatland, glens and existing woodland. During this time the site will continue to be grazed, and thereafter MWT is keen to showcase Glen Auldyn as a model of how Manx uplands could be best managed and farmed for people and wildlife alike. Continuing to farm appropriate areas is paramount to MWT.
David Bellamy, Head of Conservation and Land at Manx Wildlife Trust, says:
“We are thrilled to start this exciting new chapter to restore the Isle of Man’s natural heritage. The recovery of Glen Auldyn’s temperate rainforest will not only create an invaluable habitat for wildlife but will also provide multiple benefits for local communities, including reduced flood risk and greater access to beautiful woodland. This will also be an important contribution to our Island’s international obligation to protect and manage 30% of our land for nature by 2030.”
Claudine Blamey, Chief Sustainability Officer at Aviva, said:
“It’s fantastic to see the ongoing restoration of temperate rainforests in the Isle of Man. Aviva is proud to support such a transformative project, which not only enhances the beauty and biodiversity of the Island but also provides lasting benefits to local communities, including green jobs, tourism and improved flood resilience, helping them get ready for the future.”
Leigh Morris, Manx Wildlife Trust’s CEO says:
“This is a landmark moment for MWT and the Isle of Man. Glen Auldyn is over seven times the size of our largest nature reserve and its size provides a fantastic opportunity for landscape scale nature conservation and create a model for how the Isle of Man uplands could be managed in future. It’s an inspiring example of how corporate businesses can benefit wildlife and increase carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. I am in no doubt that our whole-nation Biosphere could be world leading in this area.”
Tree species at Glen Auldyn will include native Manx oak, downy birch, mountain ash, holly, alder, willows and hazel. Manx Wildlife Trust hopes the reserve will become a haven for threatened birds such as hen harrier, for which the Isle of Man is internationally important, ring ouzel and wood warblers (which both used to breed in the area but are no longer found breeding in the Isle of Man). Wet conditions will support an abundance of mosses, liverworts, lichens, and ferns – many of which grow on the trees or cover boulders and ravines. It will become a special place for nature and the Island’s whole-nation UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
