A WILDLIFE trust has launched a public appeal to restore a rainforest at a farm in Cornwall. 

Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) are hoping to raise £50,000 to kick-start their regeneration efforts on land at West Muchlarnick Farm, near Looe. 

The 150-acre farm was left as a legacy to the wildlife trust and has been identified as a suitable place to start restoration efforts. 

CWT say that temperate rainforests used to thrive in the county, and the appeal will bring one of the 'most biodiverse ecosystems' back to life. 

To find out more, click here. 

Callum Deveney, director of nature recovery at CWT, is urging the public to help.

“Cornwall is home to some of the last remaining areas of temperate rainforest in the UK," he said.

"These unique habitats are magnificent and when you are walking through one it’s hard not to feel like you have been transported to another mystical world.  

South West Farmer: Temperate Rainforest at West Muchlarnick Farm in 2024, vs. estimate in 2074. Image: LJDTemperate Rainforest at West Muchlarnick Farm in 2024, vs. estimate in 2074. Image: LJD (Image: LJD)

“The majority of these rainforests in Britain were destroyed to make space for farming, transport, and development, but we now have an exciting chance to restore this important habitat to a site in Cornwall.

"In 2002, Cornwall Wildlife Trust was gifted 150 acres of land at West Muchlarnick, and this site includes pockets of rainforest already, making it the ideal place to begin the restoration project.  

“Our plan is to plant more native trees to connect these pockets, allowing for the natural regeneration of this lost ecosystem and increasing the cover of temperate rainforest from approximately 8.4% of the site to an estimated 87.2%.

"As temperate rainforests have a huge potential to store carbon in the trees and their spectacular epiphytes (lichens and mosses that cover the trees) the project’s success is essential for winning our fight against climate change. 

“This is the start of an incredible, long-term project to restore thriving temperate rainforest to Cornwall and secure the future of its wildlife. We urgently need your support to help make it possible.”