At less than 10% the height of Mount Everest, the Peaks National Park is located on the tiny island of St Helena, one of the most remote inhabited places in the world in the middle of the vast South Atlantic Ocean. The Park’s globally important cloud forest holds approximately 250 species found nowhere else in the world, equating to about a sixth of the UK’s total endemic biodiversity.
Black Cabbage
Black Cabbage research. Credit: Amy Webster
One of St Helena’s iconic ‘tree daisies’, the Black Cabbage or Melanodendron integrifolium is a flagship cloud forest species.
Relatively short and stout with a beautifully spreading canopy, this magnificent tree is also one of the most distinctive within the Peaks National Park. It provides a haven for a range of endemic bryophytes, ferns, and invertebrate species.
As is the cloud forest in general, the Black Cabbage is threatened by climate change, habitat fragmentation, and threats from emerging tree diseases. Research and conservation efforts are focused on ensuring the continued survival of this keystone species.
Spiky Yellow Woodlouse
Spiky Yellow Woodlouse. Credit: Amy Jayne Dutton
The Spiky Yellow Woodlouse or Pseudolaureola atlantica is one of the more well-known endemic invertebrates of St Helena and is often considered the island’s national invertebrate.
It is not hard to visualise its appearance when you consider its name; this bright yellow woodlouse that boasts an armoured exterior of spikes is unmistakeable and is found clambering over dense ferns in the dark patches of vegetation within the cloud forest of the Peaks National Park.
Despite its popularity, this charismatic species is considered extremely rare with an estimated population of less than 1 000 amongst the fragments of the remaining endemic cloud forest.
What also makes this beautifully created species special is the fact that as recently as 2017, the Spiky Yellow Woodlouse was found to glow under UV light.
St Helena Tree Fern
Tree fern thicket. Credit: Amy Jayne Dutton
Another iconic species found within the cloud forest of the Peaks National Park is the St Helena Tree Fern or Dicksonia arborescens.
While being a critical component of the cloud forest habitat, the endemic St Helena Tree Fern also acts as a natural nursery for many species of native flora and fauna found in the cloud forest, making it all the more significant.
Conservation work on St Helena to increase the numbers of the St Helena Tree Fern has reaped positive results over the years. However, threats such as climate change and non-native invasive species mean that this species is still listed as vulnerable and at threat of extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
These are just three of the hundreds of remarkable species that are only found in St Helena’s unique and treasured cloud forest. But many threats, including the introduction of invasive species such as the New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax) in 1874, has put these and the many other endemics found there under serious threat. The St Helena Cloud Forest Project, one of the most significant and important conservation projects underway on the planet, aims to improve, restore, and recreate the cloud forest habitat, thus supporting the conservation of associated species. The ultimate aim is to safeguard an internationally important wildlife hotspot and the island’s principal source of water for generations to come.
St Helena Cloud Forest. Credit: SHCFP/ Colby Thomas.
For more information: https://www.sthelenatourism.com/st-helenas-cloud-forest-project/
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