Crowds can't wait to Devon’s magical rainforest with waterfall and amazing wildlife

While the UK is famous for its woodland trails, lakes, rivers, beaches and waterfalls, many people don’t realise it is also home to its very own rainforests.

These rare habitats, more commonly linked to tropical places like the Amazon in Brazil, are defined by heavy rainfall and thick, diverse plant life.

UK travel creator Amy Hulley recently explored this hidden gem in Devon, the deepest river gorge in the South West, which is home to one of these temperate rainforests.

Photo © Mike Dodman (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Amy shared her trip to Lydford Gorge in a short TikTok video. The nine-second clip, which opened with the words “The UK has a rainforest... and it looks like this”, showed her walking along a narrow path shaded by an overhead canopy of trees.

The video also included a glimpse of a waterfall and ancient tree, but the real star was the rainforest’s dense, vibrant greenery. In her caption she wrote: “This is one of the UK’s rare temperate rainforests.

They cover less than 1% of the country but are filled with mossy trees, ferns, and fascinating wildlife. You can also find them on Scotland’s west coast and in parts of Wales.”

She added: “I’m so glad I finally got to visit and see one for myself. There’s something truly magical about walking through such a lush, thriving place.”

Photo © Lewis Clarke (cc-by-sa/2.0)

The Woodland Trust, the UK’s largest woodland charity, explains more about these special forests, often called Atlantic or Celtic rainforests.

It describes them as “incredibly rare” and warns they are now “thought to be more threatened than tropical rainforest.”

According to the charity, the damp, mild conditions of a temperate rainforest make it the perfect home for unusual plants, lichens, fungi and a range of unique birds and mammals.

It explains further: “Also known as Atlantic woodland, temperate rainforest is found in areas strongly influenced by the sea, with very high rainfall, lots of humidity and little change in temperature through the year.”

These habitats are often made up of ancient oak, birch, ash, pine and hazel woodland, with even more diversity created by open clearings, crags, ravines, boulders and dramatic river gorges.

Remember - LeaveNoTrace!

As with anywhere outdoors, kindly keep these areas pristine and wild by taking all trash with you. The amount of complaints we have seen since the pandemic is crazy. It's really not that hard to take your rubbish with you!

Litter tends to spread, so if you see any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the hidden gem, it will help keep the area tidy.

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