Shrubsole discovered that Britain was once a rainforest nation while walking through patches of temperate rainforest on the edges of Dartmoor. He defines temperate rainforest as ‘a wood where it’s wet and mild enough for plants to grow on other plants. Temperate rainforest is actually rarer than the tropical variety: it covers just 1% of the world’s surface.’ This book tells his story of researching and visiting places with temperate rainforests across the UK. He shares his pleasure at their lush greenness while also emphasising that without protection, we risk losing them forever from the landscape. Using extracts from this book could bring a lesson on woodland ecosystems to life, encouraging students to see the beauty of this habitat as well as learning about it as a scientific system. (There is a useful website associated with the book that includes resources, maps and case studies: https://lostrainforestsofbritain.org.)

This set of easy-to-use and interesting identification cards will enable teachers and students with access to woodlands to identify the trees, flowers and fungi they come across. This could be used along a transect across a woodland or using quadrats (easy to make by pulling a wire coat hanger into a square) to record different species found. The cards are fold-out, lightweight and showerproof, making them ideal for work outside the classroom. As they are laminated, students could circle the organisms they find with board pens, with cards being wiped clean after use. Exploring woodlands in this way will enable students to make connections and deepen their understanding of this ecosystem as well as give them the opportunity to engage with nature.

This resource starts with an introduction to woodlands, including what they are and who cares for them in the UK, with useful links to follow for further information. The remainder of the resource suggests the best woodlands and forests to visit in different parts of the UK, which could provide useful information and inspiration for geography teachers looking to take their students to a woodland for fieldwork. An alternative would be to give pairs of students one of the woodlands from this list and ask them to prepare a virtual field visit to share with their class.

These four videos from ‘Time for Geography’ consider temperate deciduous woodlands as the UK’s climatic climax ecosystem, in terms of biotic and abiotic components, through their different habitat layers and in relation to topography. The videos are presented by Dr Sarah Arnold, who researches and lectures on ecology and entomology at the University of Greenwich, making a valuable link between school and university geography. Each video is between two and four minutes long, making them ideal to use in the classroom to illustrate key points about woodland ecosystems. If students cannot get out of the classroom to see a woodland for themselves, this well-shot video is the next best option.