Plans submitted by MWT for rainforest recovery programme

Application pending consideration for new nature reserve

The Isle of Man is to lead the charge in restoring and expanding temperate rainforests, if plans from the Manx Wildlife Trust are approved.

The organisation has submitted an application (25/00734/C) to create a new nature reserve at Creg y Cowin.

Last year, it unveiled plans to plant over 70 acres with native tree species as part of a programme backed by the UK grassroots movement The Wildlife Trusts.

The aim is to reinstate British temperate rainforests, which have been largely destroyed over hundreds of years and now cover less than 1% of Britain.

A £38 million donation from insurance company Aviva meant that land could be purchased to launch the scheme here on the Island and at Bryn Ifan in North Wales.

Chief Executive of the Manx Wildlife Trust, Leigh Morris, spoke to Siobhán Fletcher last April when the plans were first revealed:

The new application shows plans for 16 glades to be created, fringed by areas of dense scrub for bird nesting and invertebrate interest.

The glades will be linked by 50m wide belts of open spaced woodland that is particularly permeable for species such as butterflies, grasshoppers, lizards and meadow pipits.

Matrix woodland will also be planted in a denser manner.

The trust wants to plant more than 30,000 native trees over site by 2029.

That tree planting will cover 75 acres of the site - which equals approximately 71% of it.

Planting will take place over five years, during September to March, whilst around 22 acres of Creg-y-Cowin will be left for natural regeneration.

The charity says its vision is that 'in 50 years’ time Creg-y-Cowin will be a mature, open rainforest, grazed by cattle and rich in wildlife'.

You can find the planning application in full HERE.