Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest
🌐A partnership of 25 organizations committed to collaborative action for Scotland's temperate rainforest. Formed to address one of the world's most biodiversity-depleted countries, the Alliance works to restore and double the size of Scotland's rainforest by 2045, creating a more resilient and better functioning ecosystem.
Bioregional Context
Scotland's temperate rainforest zone stretches along the country's western coast and islands, characterized by high rainfall, mild temperatures, and remarkable biodiversity. This globally rare ecosystem—found on only about 1% of the planet's land surface—contains ancient woodlands some more than 8,000 years old, with exceptional moss, liverwort, and lichen communities found in few other places worldwide. An estimated 30,000 hectares of rainforest remain in Scotland—a mere 2% of woodland cover and only a fraction of the area that could support rainforest.
Background
Scotland's temperate rainforest woodlands are one of its most precious resources, some more than 8,000 years old, and all of them bursting with life. Hundreds of different species are found here in exceptional quantities, many rare elsewhere—from resident jays and woodpeckers to migrant pied flycatchers and wood warblers, from rare pearl-bordered fritillaries to badgers, red squirrels and pine martens hiding among the trees and crags. It is an incredibly rare habitat, found on only about 1% of our planet's land surface, and the west of Scotland is one of those special places with just the right conditions.
Much of Scotland's temperate rainforest has been lost over the centuries, with an estimated 30,000 hectares remaining—a mere 2% of woodland cover. Despite a plethora of environmental organisations working for decades, with thousands of members, hundreds of nature reserves and countless initiatives, Scotland is still one of the most biodiversity-depleted countries on Earth.
That loss runs deeper than the landscape—it has faded from our collective imagination too. When a community engagement officer asked a group of 27 primary-age children if they knew of the Amazon rainforest, most put their hands up. But when asked if they knew about Scotland's rainforest, only two hands went up.
Origins and Network
The Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest (ASR) was formed in 2021 to address this challenge. The Alliance now has 25 diverse partner organisations and works collaboratively with 20 more, all of whom are committed to pooling their resources for the benefit of Scotland's rainforest. Partners include a range of conservation and environmental organisations, specialist societies and government agencies. In 2021, the Scottish Government made a commitment to expand and restore Scotland's rainforest, and then worked closely with ASR to develop a strategic approach to deliver on that commitment, published in 2024.
Much of the work is about coordinating landscape-scale projects, securing long-term funding, building capacity to deliver on-the-ground work, and communicating about the rainforest and the threats it faces. The partners work together with local people to provide the expertise, resource and capacity needed to deliver the vision for Scotland's rainforest.
Activities
Landscape-Scale Restoration Projects
The Alliance has adopted 11 community-focused projects that cover more than 15% of Scotland's rainforest zone, with more coming soon. These projects include Beò Airceig (an ambitious 30,000-ha collaboration between the community and landowners in the glens surrounding Loch Arkaig), Appin Rainforest Regeneration (created by the local community development trust to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits), and Loch Lomond Rainforest Project(aiming to deliver both habitat restoration and an education programme for locals and visitors). The projects are helping to tackle some of the big issues, such as deer management, invasive non-native species, job creation and even cultural regeneration through folk festivals!
The Common Ground Forum
When the Association of Deer Management Groups first approached the Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest a few years ago, they saw potential for collaboration—something they called "the common ground." But decades of conflict between environmental groups and deer management interests had created a deep-seated lack of trust that made even conversation feel like a distant dream. They brought in the Centre for Good Relations, specialists in civic mediation. Through careful facilitation, people from all sides of upland deer management—environmental charities, government agencies, gamekeepers, private estate managers—began meeting and building relationships of trust. As the mediation process was ending, the people involved insisted they wanted to keep going, to continue the work they'd started together. In Autumn 2023, the Common Ground Forum was born. Today, the Forum has brought together more than 500 people across Scotland's upland deer management sector. They work together through respectful, constructive conversations to make better, more informed decisions about upland deer management. Last November, their work was recognized with the Innovation Award at the Nature of Scotland Awards—the first time such a diverse group of people had received this kind of recognition together. NatureScot has also recruited two new deer management roles in the rainforest.
Our Rainforest Futures
The challenge of restoring Scotland's rainforest is also about building the local capacity to do the work. Our Rainforest Futures, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, creates jobs and skills training opportunities across the west of Scotland, ensuring that local communities have the knowledge and resources to deliver long-term habitat restoration. The project brings people together to share knowledge and learn from each other, building the skills needed for rainforest management—from invasive species control to habitat monitoring—while contributing to rural economies and community wealth.
Nature Finance for Scotland's Rainforest
The Alliance estimates that £500 million in long-term investment is needed to truly restore and expand Scotland's rainforest. To date, the Scottish Government has contributed £3.8 million towards ASR's projects, with an additional £6.3 million provided to Forestry and Land Scotland to develop a Rainforest Team and put more than 2,000 hectares of rainforest habitat on the road to recovery. While £8 million has been secured for current projects, this falls far short of what's needed. That's why ASR members are developing an innovative fundraising model that blends private and public capital. This financing mechanism creates accessible, scalable investment models to harness private capital. The project establishes a comprehensive framework including business cases for ecosystem service investments (initially focusing oncarbon credits), governance structures for scaling investment, ecological and social standards, investor integrity requirements, and community benefit protocols. The model includes: - ASR Integrity Charter: An ethical framework ensuring that financial institutions, businesses, and organizations seeking to invest in or purchase ecosystem services from rainforest restoration projects align with ASR's environmental and ethical values. The charter establishes five key requirements including verifiable net zero commitments, ethical direct activities and investments, responsible lobbying practices, human rights compliance, and fair employment standards. - ASR Project Standards Framework: A comprehensive quality assurance framework establishing verification standards for rainforest restoration projects seeking private investment through ASR's funding mechanism. The standards serve as a qualification benchmark for high-integrity natural capital projects, ensuring they deliver measurable outcomes for climate, nature, and local communities. This creates transparency for investors while maintaining ecological integrity and community benefits.
Vision and Legacy
By 2045, the vision is clear: all of Scotland's rainforest restored, its size doubled, creating a more resilient ecosystem. Local communities will be championing the rainforest, wildlife will be more diverse, and at least 30 landscape-scale projects will be working to fully restore Scotland's rainforest. A £500 million Rainforest Restoration Fund will be established, with every £1 spent on rainforest restoration bringing £2 into the local economy.
Restoring Scotland's rainforest will take decades, and the vision of a healthy network of woodlands across west Scotland is the work of generations. Yet, with so many people and organisations now working together, that possibility feels closer than ever. As one land manager put it: "I've been filled with hope by the number of different people coming together with the aim of saving the rainforest. Our rainforest really could be saved if we continue the momentum!"