#648: Sea, Land and City - The Crown Estate

Sea Land and City is a new documentary, supported by The Crown Estate.

Series such as David Attenborough’s Wild Isles have made audiences aware that the UK is one the most nature depleted countries on earth, but what can we do about that?

With The Crown Estate’s diverse portfolio which includes urban centres, rural land, the seabed and much of the coastline, the connection between these ecosystems needs to be at the heart of how we approach nature recovery for the UK.

That’s why we are thrilled to have supported a new adventure and documentary, ‘Sea, Land and City’, alongside Triodos Bank and distributed by Waterbear, to spotlight powerful nature positive solutions across South-West England. The documentary was premiered at the Blue Earth Summit in October 2024 following months of filming.

Produced by Wonderoom, the documentary aims to generate public awareness and business support for under-represented nature-based solutions that are at the heart of what it will take to turn our nature-depleted country around and restore our connection to nature.

From tripling the size of the UK’s temperate rainforest, to restoring the South Coasts’ lost sea grass and kelp forests, to growing access to regenerative food in a changing climate — the documentary features some of the most exciting projects with the potential to lead big impact. The team, led by Mairead Cahill, Founder of Wonderoom, trekked, climbed, wade and foraged their way through the region to meet exceptional projects and the people behind them, giving the audience a direct and intimate experience of nature restoration in action.

Our Head of Nature and Environment for Marine, Caroline Price, joins Mairead in Dorset to discuss how The Crown Estate is working in partnership with a range of organisations under The Studland Bay Marine Partnership to support nature recovery in the region through the use of eco-moorings.

View the film on Waterbear - free account necessary. 

Plenty of other interesting films on there which may be relevant to Natural History.

Here's the trailer.

#457: World Rainforest Day

Happy World Rainforest Day! Join @aprilwindle from the British Lichen Society to explore one of Devon’s finest temperate rainforests and the #lichens found there. Full video can be found on YouTube: https://t.co/wjWigtrrqd. #worldrainforestday #worldrainforestday2025 pic.twitter.com/Hv6mxqZfBc

— The British Lichen Society (@BLSlichens) June 22, 2025

Here's the video:

Happy World Rainforest Day! #Lichens are an important feature of these wonderful habitats. From loop lichens, to yellow speckle-belly’s to the red eyed shingle lichen & everything in between - they add so much beauty to our rainforests! #worldrainforestday2025 #worldrainforestday pic.twitter.com/Q5CTzpTQIy

— The British Lichen Society (@BLSlichens) June 22, 2025

#220: Winterwatch

The new series of Winterwatch starts tomorrow and as always there will be plenty of interest for those who are interested in the wildlife to be found in the UK, and a range of explainer videos and props to explain how animals and plants survive.

The trailer tonight mentioned a look at the temperate rainforest ecosystem along Lydford gorge, and also a look at the red squirrel population on Brownsea Island.

There's some useful content on the accompanying website e.g. a quiz to help identify UK birds of prey.

You can also sign up for natural history emails. This may be well worth doing.

#218: Natural History Reading List #15: 'The Lost Rainforests of Britain' by Guy Shrubsole

 I have a copy of this book and will be reading it when I get a moment.

Delighted that The Lost Rainforests of Britain has been shortlisted for the ⁦@wainwrightprize⁩ this year - I’ll be in Kendal on 14th Sept to chat nature recovery with other shortlisted authors :) Filmed this clip today in the temperate rainforest of Black Tor Copse: pic.twitter.com/eabi1n901V

— Guy Shrubsole (@guyshrubsole) September 9, 2023

Congratulations to Guy for his success...  

The investigation of temperate rainforests would be a suitable field visit opportunity for those who teach in the appropriate areas, depending on access, and the issue of damaging the very ecosystem that we are also told is fragile.

I've been to Wistman's Wood several times over the years. It's a dramatic location. I first went on an undergraduate field trip in the mid 1980s.

It was great to join @wildcardrewild & hundreds of other Devon residents yesterday to march for a wilder Dartmoor.

The Duchy has started to regenerate Wistman's Wood - there is much more to be done to restore temperate rainforest, peat & heath on Dartmoor https://t.co/ol7BVZLLsW

— Guy Shrubsole (@guyshrubsole) October 1, 2023

#139: Lydford Gorge: temperate rainforests

A news report from the BBC explores the UK's few temperate rainforests. I have mentioned Guy Shrubsole's book before - a copy is in my Natural History library and will be featured on the blog as well and in the reading lists we are making.

The story looks at Lydford Gorge in Devon, a place I've visited a few times over the years.

A reminder of the need to protect what we have. There are some particularly rare lichens in the woods, including one in Somerset which is the only known location where it is found.

The article says:

Lichens are a particularly unusual class of organisms found in temperate rainforests.

The plant-like living things are made up of fungi growing in association with other life forms, such as algae. There are more than 2,000 species in Britain and Ireland alone, many of which are found in temperate rainforests,

The horsehair lichen Bryoria smithii is known at only two rainforest sites in Britain and Arthonia thoriana, a rare comma lichen, is not known anywhere else in the world other than at Horner Wood in Somerset. 

Temperate rainforests are made up of oak, birch, ash, pine and hazel woodland, but the ash trees are suffering from ash dieback.