30,000 trees planted to create temperate rainforest

Part of a wide-ranging tree planting scheme on the Isle of Man has been completed ahead of schedule, with the team behind it hoping to plant 333,000 more across the island.

The Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT) owns three areas of temperate rainforest on the island - seeking to improve its biodiversity, flood defence and water quality through planting native trees.

The 105-acre (about 42-hectare) site at Creg y Cowin, in the Baldwin Valley, has since seen the last of its 30,000 mixed-native trees go into the ground by a team of volunteers.

MWT chief executive Graham Makepeace-Warne said the woodland benefitted people's physical and mental health, adding livestock may be kept on the land in future.

The three sites on the Isle of Man form part of the Temperate Rainforest Restoration Programme, which looks to restore woodland areas across large swathes of the British Isles, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

The project, led by the Wildlife Trusts, has been funded by Aviva to the tune of £38.9m, Makepeace-Warne said.

He said "almost all" of the Isle of Man was suitable for the project, with the island holding the right climate and geographical makeup "in droves".

"Temperate rainforests can be described as plants growing on plants, growing on plants.

"You'll see trees covered in lichens, mosses and other interesting plants and the species that go with that," he said.

The planting scheme at Creg y Cowin has since been completed two years early, in what was initially a five-year programme.

Makepeace-Warne said: "To plant 30,000 trees in three years in incredible work, our volunteers should be really proud of that".

He hopes to allow livestock like sheep or cattle onto the land at Creg y Cowin in about 15 years' time, once the trees are big enough to withstand such animals.

Cattle were naturally woodland animals, who liked to graze and scratch against trees, therefore avoiding the need for farmers to implement "mechanical" scratching posts, he said.

"Cattle want to be amongst trees, it does lots of great things like provide shade, it keeps the temperature low on hot days and visa versa on cold days."

It could take nearly half a century for the trees to grow fully, with many of the volunteers who planted them not being around to see it.

Makepeace-Warne said, however, that many of the volunteers had brought their children along to the planting session.

"I love the idea of them coming back with their kids, when it is a proper woodland, that they can enjoy - that's a lovely idea," he said.

Alongside Creg y Cowin, the MWT plans to plant more trees and restore more woodland at the Glion Darragh and Glen Auldyn Reserves, near Ramsey, which recently became the largest nature reserve on the island, stretching over 1,000 acres (about 405 hectares).

The project at Glion Darragh was hampered by Storm Darragh in 2024, while shovels are hoping to enter the ground in Glen Auldyn next year, to plant up to 750 acres of suitable land there, Makepeace-Warne said.

He added planting trees was as important for the local community as it was for livestock.

"One study found that people spending time in woodlands, grew more grey matter in their pre-frontal cortex - basically spending time outdoors, makes you smarter.

"The Wildlife Trust are looking to fund a proper study [on this]," he added.

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