Country diary: Precious temperate rainforest, dripping with wildlife | Jennifer Jones

Gwenffrwd-Dinas, Carmarthenshire: Somewhere so marshy, damp and humid may not sound alluring. Yet this kind of habitat is increasingly rare, and full of gemsThe map's contour lines, tight and strained, warned of steep slopes careering down towards the Afon Tywi. Otherwise, it showed little of what to expect from the Gwenffrwd-Dinas RSPB reserve. This 600 hectares of Atlantic oak woodland, glorious though it is, is a mere remnant of what once was a much larger Celtic temperate rainforest, covering most of the west coast of Britain. This kind of habitat is increasingly rare, and indeed it feels aptly precious.Water is monarch here, sustained by westerly Atlantic storms. Rains decant through tree canopies, and creep into cracks and crevices in gnarled sessile oak boughs, while moss cushions trap and retain the water, maintaining forest humidity. Epiphytic ferns cling to oak branches like arboreal hitch-hikers. Mosses not only pave the forest floor, but also creep up fence posts and drape over fallen stones. Continue reading...