Rare lichens discovered in Cumbria’s Naddle Forest

June 2025

Hidden treasures in a Cumbrian Rainforest

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When we think of rainforests, our minds often leap to the tropics – tangled jungles buzzing with birds and insects. Tucked away in the Lake District, you’ll find a very different kind of rainforest.  These are the UK’s temperate rainforests and they are every bit as important as their tropical cousins for biodiversity and the climate.

One of the largest remaining fragments is Naddle Forest, which is on one of Cumbria Connect’s core nature recovery sites at Wild Haweswater.  And just recently, it has given us a wonderful surprise.

Volunteers from the Cumbria Lichens and Bryophytes Group have discovered two species of rare lichen never before recorded in northern England.  It’s the sort of quiet but powerful discoveries that tells us this woodlands is in the best of health.

Why Lichens matter

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Now lichens might not seem headline grabbing, but in ecological terms they’re hugely important.

Cloaking trees and boulders in layers of colour and texture, lichens are made up of a partnership between fungi and algae and can only thrive in clean air and stable, undisturbed habitats.  The two newly-found species only have scientific names: Dendrographa latebrarum and Lecanographa abscondita.  Both species are considered indicators of high-quality habitat and their presence is a strong sign of the forest’s ecological importance.

“It’s very exciting to find these species in Naddle.  These lichens, found on a sheltered rock face in old humid woodland, are obscure and easily overlooked – part of a mosaic of habitats within old woodland.”

Chris Cant, Cumbria Lichen and Bryophyte Group

A rare lichen, Dendrographa latebrarum, has been found in Cumbria

At the same time, another rare lichen, Lecanographa abscondita was found. Both are an indicator of good forest health.

Naddle Forest - A remnant of a disappearing habitat

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Naddle Forest, alongside woodlands such as Borrowdale and Staveley Woods in Cumbria, is a precious remnant of Atlantic Oak woodland, one of the rarest types of temperate rainforest globally.  They are characterised by constant humidity, clean air and a rich abundance of mosses, lichens and liverworts.

Once stretching across 20% of the UK,  today less than 1% remains due to centuries of deforestation, pollution and industrial impacts.

Owned by United Utilities and managed by the RSPB team at Wild Haweswater, Naddle is now one of the largest surviving examples in Cumbria and vitally important for nature’s recovery.

 

“This discovery, although tiny in scale, is massive in importance.  Finding these lichens here shows that Naddle is functioning as true temperate rainforest, with the clean air, constant humidity and high-quality, ancient woodland habitat needed to sustain them and highlights how crucial it is we ensure its long-term protection.”

Bill Kenmir, Conservation Manager, Cumbria Connect

A group of people admire the Atlantic oakwoods of Naddle Forest, one of Cumbria's last remaining fragments of temperate rainforest

Restoring temperate rainforest with the Species Survival Fund

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The lichen discoveries feed into a wider biodiversity mapping effort in Cumbria under the #Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund.

Led by the Woodland Trust, the project brings together partners including:

The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

In Naddle Forest, the project is enabling us to expand and restore more rainforest habitat using high-density native tree planting to increase its resilience and protecting it for the longer term.

Managed by Cumbria Connect, some 9,000 native trees will be planted in clusters within 300 protective tree cages. This technique improves young trees’ chances of survival by shielding them from grazing and browsing by livestock and deer. These trees – including species like Juniper, Sessile Oak and Rowan – have been grown from locally-collected seed at the Wild Haweswater tree nursery, ensuring resilience to the local environmental conditions.

 

Trees are grown from locally-collected seed at the Wild Haweswater tree nursery

A day to celebrate: World Rainforest Day

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The discovery was celebrated as part of an event at Rheged, near Penrith for World Rainforest Day on 22 June 2025. Visitors enjoyed guided walks in Cumbria’s rainforest zone, a special performance of Saturama by Werkha Music – an immersive audio-visual journey into temperate rainforest filmed at Naddle Forest and further talks and activities highlighting the importance of rainforest conservation.

Get involved

To keep up to date with the restoration efforts at Naddle Forest as part of the #Species Survival Fund Rainforest Restoration Project or to find out how you can get involved, sign up to the newsletter via the link below or register with us via the contact form and we will keep you updated on volunteer days, events and activities.

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