LookWild: Breathing Life into the Celtic Rainforest
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Date posted: 23/04/2025
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Time to read: 3 mins
Tucked deep within the valley of Cwm Gwaun lies one of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s quiet wonders – a surviving fragment of Celtic rainforest, where clean air surrounds the dense canopy and the trees drip with moss and mystery.
It’s here that a rare and striking lichen – tree lungwort – is being carefully reintroduced, in a bid to restore what was almost lost.
Once common in ancient woodlands, lichens like tree lungwort have become increasingly rare – vanishing silently as traditional land practices changed and air quality declined. Their retreat marked the slow unravelling of a delicate ecological web, where even the smallest losses leave lasting echoes.
The Lungs of the Rainforest
Lichens thrive in clean, humid air – clinging to old trees, absorbing rain, and creating microhabitats for woodland insects and mosses. But they depend on balance: the right light, moisture, and bark, all undisturbed by modern pressures.
One of the rarest is tree lungwort Lobaria pulmonaria, a lichen so iconic it’s often described as the lungs of the rainforest. Its leafy green fronds are surprisingly beautiful, resembling little underwater plants more than crusty tree growth.
A Lost Fragment Found
In 2007, only five trees across the entire Cwm Gwaun area were found to host tree lungwort. Then, in 2017, a chance encounter sparked something special.
After a storm swept through the Sychpant picnic site, a Park Authority Conservation Officer spotted a fallen fragment of tree lungwort on the forest floor. Knowing it wouldn’t survive long where it lay, they acted with quick instinct and quiet ingenuity – using netting from a discarded fruit bag to secure it to the trunk of a nearby ash.
It worked. Today, that fragment still thrives – and it’s inspired something bigger. As part of the Cysylltu Natur 25×25 project, the Park Authority is now working with a specialist lichenologist to give tree lungwort a fighting chance.
New Hope Takes Hold
In a recent transplanting mission, 46 wind-blown fragments of the lichen were attached to 20 trees across three carefully chosen sites in Cwm Gwaun.
Each tree was carefully chosen through detailed surveys, pinpointing the clean air, companion lichens, and stable bark needed for the transplants to thrive. In addition, every site was mapped and labelled, allowing volunteers to track the lichens as they take hold.
This is slow work,” says Mary Chadwick, Conservation Officer for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. “But it’s also hopeful. Tree lungwort is a stunning lichen that embodies the essence of the Atlantic rainforest. We’re helping it find its way back.
The project is funded through the Nature Networks Programme and delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund on behalf of the Welsh Government. While the work may be quiet and careful, the impact may be profound.
If the fragments take hold – and conditions continue to improve – Cwm Gwaun could once again become a sanctuary for lichens lost to time. And it all began with a single storm-blown scrap, a fruit bag, and one Conservation Officer’s quick thinking.
Sometimes, nature’s biggest comebacks begin with the smallest signs of hope.
It’s not every day you get to see one of our National Parks in biscuit form on @britishbakeoff!
Last night, The Great British Bake Off contestant @itsdoctoryan created a beautiful biscuit mosaic inspired by the Broads National Park, perfectly capturing the view at St Benet’s Mill, Thurne.
And it wasn’t just a feast for the eyes as the mosaic was made using treacle and ginger, honey and lemon, cocoa and malted milk, and pistachio biscuits.
Two great things combined: a beautiful National Park view and delicious biscuits. What could be better than that? 💚
Photo: Channel 4
#GBBO #BakeOff #NorfolkBroads @broadsnationalpark
You’ve likely heard of one - but what does it actually do?
Our 15 Parks wouldn’t be able to function without the authorities working behind the scenes to keep them running.
And each authority relies on people. People within the community, volunteers, staff and members. People that run businesses, or partner as organisations. People that are skilled and knowledgeable in a variety of areas from wildlife to accessibility.
Our National Parks are full of people and action, and it’s the Authorities that bring them all together.
💚
#NationalParksUK #NationalParkAuthorities
The Yorkshire Dales has one of the highest concentrations of caves and caverns of any of our 15 National Parks - a whole landscape hiding beneath the ground.
Our National Parks don’t just protect and preserve the landscapes we see every day. They also help care for historic and unique places discovered by our ancestors, like Ingleborough Cave and Gaping Gill, both of which were shrouded in myth and legend until they were explored by Victorians in the 1800s.
There’s so much more to our National Parks than meets the eye and sometimes, quite literally beneath the surface 👀
#YorkshireDales #GapingGill #Ingleborough
A week on from National Parks UK’s Big Volunteer Weekend, we’re still celebrating the people who make a difference across our National Parks.
Last weekend, hundreds of people came together across all 15 National Parks to give their time, share their skills and support our landscapes.
But volunteering in our National Parks doesn’t happen just one weekend a year. All year round, volunteers play an incredible variety of roles – from leading guided walks and supporting education, to conservation, planting and caring for our landscapes.
Every volunteer makes a valuable contribution to protecting our natural and cultural heritage. We simply couldn’t do what we do without you. 💚
So, to all our volunteers: thank you for your time, energy, enthusiasm and everything you bring to our National Parks.
If you know someone who volunteers in a National Park, help us spread the thanks by sharing this post. 🌿
#Volunteers #NationalParks #NationalParksUK
Mae’r Bele yn un o famaliaid prinnaf Cymru, ond mae eu niferoedd yn tyfu yn raddol. Mae hynny’n newyddion da i’n coetiroedd ac i’r Parciau Cenedlaethol, sy’n darparu rhai o’r cynefinoedd pwysicaf ar gyfer bywyd gwyllt ledled Cymru a Phrydain.
Ym Mannau Brycheiniog, mae’r prosiect adfer wedi gosod blychau nythu yn y coed, ac mae gwaith monitro wedi nodi presenoldeb y Bele, gan gynnwys grwpiau teuluol. Mae’r ffilm arbennig hon yn dangos un ohonynt ar waith. 🐾
Mae’n atgof hyfryd o’r hyn sy’n bosibl pan ddaw coetiroedd iach a gwaith cadwraeth arbenigol at ei gilydd i roi’r gofod sydd ei angen ar rywogaethau prin i wella.
Pine Martens are one of Wales’ rarest mammals, but they’re slowly making a comeback. That’s good news for our woodlands, and for National Parks, which provide some of the most important habitats for wildlife across Wales and Britain.
In Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), the recovery project has installed treetop den boxes, with monitoring identifying pine martens, including family groups. This special footage shows one in action. 🐾
It’s a lovely reminder of what can happen when healthy woodlands and specialist conservation work come together to give rare species the space they need to recover.
#BreconBeacons #BannauBrycheiniog #PineMartins #Wales
It’s the Autumn Equinox 🍂
Our National Parks are always changing in time with the rhythm of nature, but this becomes particularly noticeable when autumn arrives.
Deer begin to rut, spiders’ cobwebs glisten in the fresh light, fungi become more prominent, and leaves begin to change colour.
What changes have you noticed so far? 🧡
#Autumn #AutumnEquinox #NationalParks
“You look after the National Park not for yourself, but for people who are coming, the ones who are following you.”
These are the words of Ron Wood, who has been volunteering for the Lake District National Park for over 60 years. His story reflects the vital role volunteering plays across our National Parks: keeping them thriving, communities invested, and people connected to and caring for our landscapes.
Over the decades, Ron’s incredible journey has seen him remain steadfast in his commitment through droughts, hand, foot and mouth disease, and the ever-changing rhythms of nature. Through it all, one thing has remained constant: his dedication to looking after the environment for those who come after him.
You can read Ron`s full story by clicking the link in our bio or learn more about volunteering at nationalparks.uk/volunteering 🔗
📸Photos by @lakedistrictnpa
#LakeDistrict #Volunteering #NationalParks
A quiet autumn transformation is beginning to take place. 🍁
Bracken gradually fades to burnt oranges. Mist sweeps across the horizon. Grasses brown and trees begin their annual shaking of leaves.
Our National Parks are never still. They are constantly changing and transforming with the seasons - a living rhythm of growth, decay, colour and renewal.
These four photographs perfectly capture our Parks on the cusp of autumn 📸
1. Dartmoor @ryanbrowningphotography
2. Lake District @jonny.gios
3. New Forest @acornsandscapes
4. Northumberland @calbrownphoto
#Autumn #NationalParksUK
