Giant slugs and octopus suckers: the weird and wonderful wildlife at risk in Britain’s vanishing rainforests | Endangered species

Britain’s rare rainforests are home to wildlife from eagles to the world’s largest slugs and lichen looks like dragon skin, say conservationists battling to save them.

The Woodland Trust has unveiled a list of 11 “weird and wonderful” species that make their home in and around temperate rainforests found in the south-west and north-west of England, Wales and Scotland.

The forests once covered a fifth of Britain, but they have been lost from all but 1% of land area in the face of felling, overgrazing and conversion to other uses, face ongoing pressures including invasive species and are more threatened than their tropical counterparts, conservationists say.

Yet they are home to a “huge diversity and abundance of species”, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth, according to conservation experts who have launched a project to restore and increase rainforests in the UK.

Close to the ocean, with temperate climates and high rainfall of more than 1.4 metres a year, the forests provide damp, humid conditions that can be a haven for more than 200 species of bryophytes such as mosses, and 100 to 200 species of lichen.

The species making their home in Britain’s rainforests include:

Stinky lichen (Sticta sylvatica), which has a smell like fish.

Tree lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria), which has frilly fronds like the inside of lungs and was thought to be a treatment for lung disease by Anglo Saxons and medieval people. It is one of England’s rarest lichens, a survivor of the ancient wildwood that grew in Britain after the last ice age, and its presence has traditionally been an indicator of a healthy woodland.

The blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus), one of the UK’s rarest and a sign of a healthy rainforest.

The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), the UK’s largest bird of prey, which is making a comeback after becoming extinct here in the early 20th century, and which often nests in rainforests and hunts in the nearby sea, bringing nutrients back to the forest.

Hazel gloves fungus (Hypocreopsis rhododendri), which grows exclusively on old hazel trees and looks like intestines, is a sign of clean air and a wood’s ancient roots.

Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), a bird that loves rainforests for their abundance of insects, including flying insects that they catch from the air using perches among tree branches from which to dart at passing prey.

The ash black slug (Limax cinereoniger), considered to be the world’s largest land slug as it can grow to 25cm long (10in) and which has a bizarre mating ritual in which a couple suspend themselves from a tree in a sticky mucus to mate.

Beavers (Castor fiber), another once-extinct species that has returned to the UK, this time to its rivers, where they build dams and create new wetland habitats which help maintain the damp conditions crucial for the rainforests.

Green satin lichen (Lobaria virens), which turns green when wet and stretches out like a dragon’s skin.

Octopus suckers (Collema fasciculare) – a jelly lichen that looks like clusters of dark octopus suckers, and performs a useful role in taking nitrogen out of the atmosphere and making it available as fertiliser for other plants.

Wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), which can be found in the rivers that often run through temperate rainforests, and bring ocean nutrients into the woodland as they swim upstream into the freshwater environment.

The Woodland Trust and Plantlife are working together in the north-west and south-west of England to manage and restore ancient woodland habitats within and around temperate rainforests over 27 sites, as part of the government’s £2.9m rainforest restoration project.

Sam Manning, the Woodland Trust project officer for south-west rainforests, said: “Our rainforests were once a well-used resource, providing timber, charcoal and tannin for tanning leather. But they have suffered from clearances, chronic overgrazing and conversion to other uses, leaving them small and fragmented.

“As our top 11 shows, these rainforests are home to some really special wildlife, which is why we are working with other charities and partners to form alliances to restore these unique environments.”

Georgia Stephens, rainforest adviser north-west for Plantlife, said: “Temperate rainforests are precious habitats that can support a huge diversity and abundance of species, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

“They are home to some incredibly rare lichens and bryophytes that have been around for millions of years, pre-dating humans, flowers, trees and even dinosaurs.

“This list demonstrates the unique qualities of these species and the urgent need to protect, restore and manage rainforests well for future generations.”