Save Scotland's rainforests

Not all rainforest is tropical. In Scotland we have a temperate rainforest along our west coast, a habitat which is globally rare and especially precious.

Scotland’s rainforest is bursting with a unique variety of flora and fauna, from red squirrels and pine martens to wood warblers, pied flycatchers and redstart. It’s renowned for being home to hundreds of spectacular mosses, lichens, liverworts, fungi and iconic Scottish trees, including oak, hazel, ash, birch and Scots pine. It is a habitat like no other, adapted to the wet, humid climate of our Atlantic coast, hence the name.

But Scotland’s rainforest is not well. For many years, it has come under sustained pressures, all of which are driven by human interventions.

Firstly, it has come under pressure from grazing animals – mostly deer, whose numbers have, according to official statistics, exploded in recent decades largely due to management by landowners with commercial stalking objectives, which require high deer numbers for paying guests.

Secondly, Scotland’s rainforest is infested with invasive non-native species (INNS), the main culprit being Rhododendron ponticum and its hybrid forms. This shrub, which originally escaped from private gardens during the Victorian era (and still does today), can spread rapidly, outcompeting native young trees and the diverse vegetation of this fragile ecosystem.

Thirdly, Scotland’s rainforest has become increasingly fragmented. You only need look at a map of Scotland’s rainforest cover to see where this type of woodland should be, and how badly it has shrunk to patches amounting to a fraction of what it should be if we had looked after it.

But all is not lost. Indeed, there’s great cause for hope. The good news is that all of this can be turned around – and that work is already well underway.

Scotland’s rainforest has champions fighting not just for its survival, but for its restoration and expansion too. The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest (ASR) is a voluntary partnership bringing together over 40 organisations including environmental charities, Scottish Government agencies, community groups, private landowners, scientists, a National Park authority and dedicated individuals who are committed to seeing Scotland’s rainforest thrive once again.

The ASR aims to have Scotland’s rainforest restored and its size doubled by 2045. That’s no small ask – but it is possible with commitment from all involved.

During the 2021-2026 session of the Scottish Parliament, huge progress was made:

• recognition of Scotland’s rainforest as a concept grew enormously among MSPs, government officials and in the public consciousness
• the Scottish Government invested millions of pounds in restoring and expanding Scotland’s rainforest
• a new Scottish Government strategy was published, setting out how the government will play its part in that effort
• our 2025 progress report highlighted the growing number of landscape-scale rainforest projects underway
• the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 will make important changes to deer management legislation and introduce binding nature recovery targets which could help the rainforest.

As we approach the Scottish Parliament election in May 2026, efforts to restore and expand Scotland’s rainforest are certainly building from a solid foundation thanks to collaboration, hard work and a clear vision. But more is needed.

In Mair Trees Please, Woodland Trust Scotland – a leading partner in the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest and custodian of significant areas of rainforest in places like Loch Arkaig and Glen Torridon – is asking for the next parliament to deliver meaningful, long-term, upscaled funding and action to regenerate Scotland’s rainforest. That is a shared priority for the environmental charities who advocate for Scotland’s rainforest.

Woodland Trust Scotland also believes that the sale of Rhododendron ponticum should be banned as soon as possible. It seems counterintuitive that this plant is still being sold in Scottish garden centres while costing the taxpayer millions of pounds in removal costs, as well as causing untold environmental damage in the rainforest and beyond. In addition to that, we are pushing for more incentives for active deer management, including the expansion of Scotland’s wild venison market.

We are looking forward to a new Scottish Parliament that builds on the work of this one, adding Mair Trees Please to expand Scotland’s rainforest and restore existing habitat to good health. 

You can help by asking your parliamentary candidates to support Mair Trees Please now!