Country diary: The perfect day to be in a rainforest | Andrea Meanwell

Borrowdale, Lake District: We're here to mark the declaration of this rare temperate rainforest as a nature reserve - in appropriately soggy conditionsIt is a very wet day in Borrowdale and the valley is dripping with nature as well as torrential rain. As we walk through the temperate rainforest looking for rare lichens as part of the declaration of Borrowdale as a national nature reserve (NNR), cuckoos and green woodpeckers sing through the rain.The declaration is the culmination of a lot of work for the Natural England and National Trust staff who have been involved in the designation, a lifetime's work for some of the tenant farmers and environmental experts on the walk, and generations of previous inhabitants who worked the woods sustainably. The woods in the Lake District have been used as a resource for fodder, fuel and charcoal for hundreds of years. Continue reading...