An Atlantic Temperate Rainforest in the Making: Cloudforest Five

On a misty morning at Cloudforest Five, you can see young trees rising through the grass and the Atlantic weather moving across the Dingle Peninsula. It is an early chapter in a much longer story.

We planted nearly 16,000 trees here during the 2022/23 winter planting season. Our ambition is to help this young woodland develop, over generations, into the kind of rich, sheltered habitat associated with an Atlantic temperate rainforest.

What is an Atlantic temperate rainforest?

A temperate rainforest is a woodland shaped by a cool, consistently damp climate. Along the Atlantic coast, frequent rain, high humidity, mild winters and relatively cool summers can create conditions where mosses, liverworts, lichens and ferns flourish.

Unlike a tropical rainforest, it does not need heat. Its character comes from the relationship between native trees, Atlantic moisture and the many smaller species living on trunks, branches, rocks and the woodland floor. Some of the finest surviving examples are found in western coastal areas.

That complexity takes time to develop. Planting trees is the beginning; it does not instantly create a rainforest.

Where is Cloudforest Five?

Cloudforest Five is at Mountoven, near Camp on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, around twenty minutes from Tralee. It is Cloudforests’ first forest creation site in Kerry, with views out towards the ocean.

The peninsula is a remarkable place to begin a forest. Its landscape holds evidence of thousands of years of human life, from ancient stone structures to early Christian sites. At Kilmalkedar, an ogham stone and medieval church are part of that history. Irish language and culture remain a living part of the peninsula today.

Cloudforest Five adds a new chapter to that landscape: one that future generations will be able to watch grow.

Nearly 16,000 trees, planted for the future

During the 2022/23 winter planting season, 15,851 trees were planted at Cloudforest Five. The mix includes Downy Birch, Oak, Rowan, Scots Pine, Alder and Holly.

Each species brings something different as the woodland develops. Birch can establish early and help create shelter. Oak can become a long-lived part of the canopy. Rowan offers flowers and berries, while holly adds evergreen cover. Alder and Scots pine contribute further variety to the developing woodland.

Together, they give Cloudforest Five more than a single kind of tree. They give it the beginnings of a varied forest structure.

What could Cloudforest Five become?

Over the coming years, we hope to see the young trees grow above the grass and begin to shelter one another. As their crowns spread, the woodland should develop patches of shade, open spaces and new places for wildlife to feed and find cover.

Over decades, the trees may create the cooler, more humid conditions that support a richer woodland floor. Mosses, ferns, lichens and other species will have opportunities to establish where conditions suit them. Storms, seasons and the trees’ own growth will continue to shape the site.

An Atlantic temperate rainforest cannot be promised on a planting day. It is an ecological community that develops over a long time. That is why we call Cloudforest Five “an Atlantic temperate rainforest in the making”: it describes the future we are working towards, while being honest about where the forest stands today.

And Cloudforest Five is only one part of the Cloudforests story. Across our sites, we are creating and caring for young native woodlands so that the next generation inherits more forests than we did.

Be part of the next generation of forests

Our CoolPartner community brings businesses into this work. By becoming a CoolPartner, your company can support native woodland creation and give your team a direct connection to the forests they are helping to grow.

You can also take part as an individual. Plant a native Irish tree with us and become a Cloudforester. You can plant for yourself, give a tree to someone you love or mark a moment that deserves to live on.

Cloudforest Five began with young trees on an Atlantic hillside. Its future will be written slowly, season by season. We would love you to be part of what grows next.