The new site manager at Wild Haweswater has revealed ambitious plans for the site.
Glen Swainson was appointed to Wild Haweswater, a partnership between the RSPB and landowner United Utilities, earlier this year.
A new large-scale native tree planting scheme will begin this winter to extend the temperate rainforest of Naddle Forest, a rare habitat type once common across Britain, but now, only fragments are left.
The scheme will involve 16,500 trees being planted or protected over the next three years, including native species such as Sessile Oak, rowan, and juniper. The work will be funded by Defra through a Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
Wild Haweswater’s tree nursery has recently been extended to double the size, now making it the largest native tree and plant nursery in the Lake District, where a small team of RSPB staff and volunteers grow all the trees and plants needed to plant back into the landscape, restoring what has been lost in previous decades.
Glen said: “I’m looking forward to leading the groundbreaking conservation work here at Wild Haweswater. By protecting temperate rainforest, restoring upland plants and returning natural processes, Wild Haweswater is a place where wildlife can thrive; from red squirrels to salmon, to Pied Flycatchers, rare lichens, and the recently recolonised Marsh Fritillary butterfly, this mountainous landscape holds a richness of life.”
“England’s temperature rainforests are precious, and we need to do all we can to restore and protect them for future generations. They are wet wonderful places, full of life. And not only that they are a great store of carbon. So, I’m looking forward to working with our partners on this ambitious new tree planting project.”
At Wild Haweswater, 30,000 plants are being grown of about 50 different native species at the on-site tree and plant nursery and 200,000 native trees have been planted on site since 2011. 200 hectares of peat bog has been restored, helping to capture carbon, 1km of river has been re-wiggled, and 30 hectares of species-rich wildflower hay meadow has been revived. The site’s nature-friendly farming operation using native breed livestock, supports the conservation aims through grazing.
Glen will lead a team of 18 staff – an increase from just four when the Wild Haweswater project began – and around 40 volunteers. Events and experiences for the public will be expanded too, along with knowledge sharing with those from across the agriculture, water, and conservation sectors.
Glen comes to head up the RSPB team at Wild Haweswater following a stint as site manager at RSPB Geltsdale near Brampton before which he spent over two decades working for Natural England, working with farmers to help improve wildlife opportunities on their farms.
Glen added: “During my career in conservation I have worked in different places in England, but being able to come home to Cumbria to work here has been a dream come true. Particularly to help nature recover on a landscape scale, in my home county where I grew up, that I have a deep connection to, is important to me.”
Wild Haweswater is also part of two ambitious landscape programmes, that extend beyond the site’s borders.
Working with neighbouring farmers and landowners, these projects are creating a connected corridor of land from Penrith to Kendal, delivering benefits to wildlife by creating and enhancing habitats, as well as benefits to society by improving drinking water quality, storing carbon in the fight against climate change and helping to reduce flood and drought risk.
Andrew Wright, woodland officer for United Utilities in Cumbria, said: “We don’t really think of having rainforests in this country but due to our warm, wet temperate climate, they once covered much larger areas of the UK.
“Naddle Forest at Wild Haweswater is one of the fragments we have left so it’s crucial to protect and enhance it.
“By planting trees to extend the remaining woodland, we’re creating future rainforest, which has multiple benefits. Haweswater reservoir supplies over two million people in Cumbria and the North West with their daily drinking water, so the trees help provide natural filtration to improve the water quality.”
Work also began earlier this year to restore the spinning barn at Wild Haweswater, thanks to funding from FCC Communities Fund and private donors, it is underway and is due to be completed in 2025.
Once complete it will provide a community space for local people and events, as well as a science lab.
