Scotland’s rainforest is made up of the native woodlands found on Scotland’s west coast where consistent levels of rainfall and relatively mild, year-round temperatures provide just the right conditions for some of the world’s rarest mosses, liverworts and lichens.
It’s the diversity of these mosses and lichens, which are found in vast quantities on trees, boulders, in ravines and on the ground, that make Scotland’s rainforest internationally important. We have some of the best remaining rainforest sites in Europe.
Some of the ancient hazel woods on the west coast of Scotland are thought to have been growing on the same spot since the ice age 10,000 years ago!