MEMBERS of Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) are to work with Somerset Wildlife Trust to try to create a new Atlantic rainforest.

The partnership with the charity is part of the authority's response to ‘nature and climate crises’.

ENPA has already been working to encourage woodland expansion and increase canopy cover and management of existing trees and woodland to ensure resilient wooded landscapes on Exmoor.

The rainforest plans will be subject to securing funding from insurance firm Aviva, which has invested £38 million in a programme to restore nearly 13,000 acres of lost British temperate rainforests in the next 60 years.

An ENPA spokesperson said: “Hopefully, there is exciting stuff on the horizon as part of our ongoing work to restore and expand temperate rainforest on Exmoor and our partnership with South West Rainforest Alliance and others.”

ENPA has a vision to increase Exmoor’s woodland cover by more than 5,100 acres by 2030.