Scientists in Scotland are marking International Forest Day over this weekend with events to show members of the public how special the rain forest is. They're not talking about the Amazon rain forest, but British rain forest. Also known as Atlantic oak woodland, it's a habitat which once covered most of the west coast of Scotland. Now it's reduced to a few isolated, but very precious, areas of woodland which were too remote or too rocky to be worth exploiting in the past. There's a guided tour that'll show off typical species at the Benmore Botanic Garden on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll on Friday 21st March, and two talks on the afternoon of Saturday 22nd March at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.
People traditionally go to Benmore to enjoy its enormous redwood trees, and its spectacular displays of rhododendrons and azaleas. But curator Peter Baxter says visitors need to learn to love mosses, lichens, and liverworts too.