For every hand-illustrated Kip gift card, £1 goes to the Thousand Year Trust – the only UK charity dedicated to restoring our temperate rainforests.
We spoke to founder Merlin Hanbury-Tenison about where it began – and why these landscapes matter more than most of us realise.
Merlin grew up on Bodmin Moor, in a valley where rainforest still exists.
“I spent my childhood running through rainforest glades and swimming in the river that runs through the valley.”
Years later, after serving in Afghanistan and returning with complex PTSD, he found himself back there.
“The rainforest helped to heal me and bring me back to myself.”
That experience led to Cabilla Cornwall – but also to something bigger.
“We realised the habitat itself was in a perilous state.”
A fifth of the British Isles was once rainforest.
Now, less than 1% remains.
Why it matters.
These aren’t showy landscapes. You could walk through one and not realise what you’re in. But look closer – moss climbing everything it can reach, lichens mapping the bark, air that holds onto moisture.
“They’re one of our most important environments for carbon, biodiversity and human wellbeing.”
And yet, what’s left exists in fragments – scattered and often disconnected.
Building something that lasts.
The Thousand Year Trust’s aim is to triple rainforest cover in the UK over the next 30 years. Expand what’s left. Join it up. Let it function properly again.
“We are, after all, a rainforest people living on a rainforest island.”
The name is deliberate.
“An oak tree can live for a thousand years. If we’re serious about restoration, we need to think on that timescale.”
On Bodmin Moor, the Trust is creating Europe’s first temperate rainforest research station. A working site – not a concept – where scientists and researchers can study how these ecosystems actually recover.
“Until the science is there, we can’t make these habitats a priority.”
The work looks at everything from how forests regenerate to what happens – physically and mentally – when people spend time within them.
What happens next.
There are two directions from here. One where these landscapes continue to shrink. Another where they return – gradually, but properly.
“The choice we have is how we get there.”
Support doesn’t need to be dramatic. “Write to your MP. Volunteer. Plant a tree. Learn about the nature around you.” Or simply pay attention to these places when you’re in them.
The Thousand Year Trust is Kip’s charity partner. For every gift card sold, £1 will be donated to support their incredible work. You can shop the gift cards here, and find out more about the Thousand Year Trust here.
A small action, tied to something much longer lasting.
