Reforesting Scotland visited the Hinterland for their 2025 Gathering study trip – FHT’s Kajedo Wanderer and Jonathan Caddy gave them an inspiring day at the ecovillage, exploring the highlights of the dunes and woodlands, big and small.
By Reforesting Scotland director Mia Lalanne
For 27 years, Reforesting Scotland members and directors have gathered on an annual basis, always in a different part of Scotland. While each Gathering serves an important function as the charity’s annual general meeting, it is also a three-day opportunity for connecting with old and new friends; for engaging in a wide range of discussions and practical workshops; and most excitingly, for participating in study trips to learn firsthand about local places and projects.
The moment this year’s Gathering was confirmed for Forres, the directors knew that the neighbouring Park Ecovillage Findhorn would play an outsize role in shaping the 2025 Gathering. However, we could never have expected the generosity, patience and kindness we received. Longtime community member Roger, and an equally gracious neighbour, opened up their hearts and homes to our Building Tour participants. On Friday evening, the pioneering Alan Watson Featherstone braved the wind and rain to deliver a welcome speech that set the scene for the rest of our weekend among the unique Moray Coast landscapes. And as Storm Amy sent our best-laid plans awry, the Findhorn Hinterland Trust (FHT) team did not bat an eye in postponing our highly anticipated study trip until a safer and sunnier time.
Therefore it was on Sunday morning that FHT land manager Kajedo greeted us outside the Phoenix Shop with a smile and a gentle group meditation. Upon learning that for the majority of our group, it was their first time in the ecovillage, Kajedo insisted on a quick side quest to show us the original caravan site and the new community sanctuary. We heard about the humble beginnings of this now world-famous intentional community, and how key decisions across the decades had been shaped by listening to intuition – as in ‘inner tuition’ – and co-creation with the intelligence of nature.
Next we visited the Hinterland, a mosaic of woodland, grassland and dunes managed by FHT for the last 20 years. The woodland was originally dense stands of Scots pine, Corsican pine, and North American lodgepole pine, planted 80 years ago by the previous landowners. However, FHT is in the process of shaping it into a win-win for all facets of nature – including the human visitors: to date FHT’s work has included building 12 campsite pads, two compost toilets, a shelter, a kitchen tent, a hut, a 250-metre trench for drinking water, and many paths that require continual maintenance. However, Kajedo appeared proudest about something he did not actually have a direct hand in: an area called the Fallen Acres.
The Fallen Acres were created when a strong storm in 2004 blew down a large section of lodgepole pines at the edge of the woods. With a mature lodgepole pine producing 50 times more seedlings than a native Scots pine, lodgepoles are known to push out indigenous species. For many years FHT had been carefully extracting both mature and seedling lodgepole pines from across the woodland. However, it was the Fallen Acres that showed Kajedo the way forward: true regeneration actually begins at the edges, where it can become ‘wild and woody’ with brambles and raspberries and hazels and other ‘marginal’ things which, Kajedo mused, are not valued enough in today’s society.
Kajedo also suggested that the Fallen Acres might be an example of how every setback – even when it might feel like a disaster or devastation at the time – in fact leads to opportunity. He also reminded us of the most important principle of all, which is familiar to any permaculture student: you must first observe before you change anything – or, as one of the ecovillage’s co-founders put it, you must ‘be still and listen’.
At teatime we were joined by FHT chair Jonathan Caddy, who turned the group’s attention to the surrounding vegetated shingle dunes. He shared about the recent Nature30 award and other incredible achievements and partnerships organised through FHT, which helped progress the wider conversation – and improve the chances of securing funding – for nature regeneration initiatives across Scotland and the world.
Kajedo and Jonathan added they’d also benefited from inviting experts and researchers to visit the Hinterland, as it enabled them to see the land through ‘people who know where and how to look’. For instance, it was through an official lichen survey that a section of the dunes was identified as a Cinderella Site, unique in the world for the number of different lichen species and other extremophiles located there. Jonathan walked our group to that exact area to have a look.
Now armed with the ability to identify the extraordinarily rare sandy earthtongue fungus, we traveled onwards through sandy ridges the FHT team and volunteers had carved through dense gorse. We encountered a burn pile, which Jonathan admitted was a ‘not ideal’ way of getting rid of the gorse – a preferred method would be putting it through a chipper, or perhaps finding a way to use it for insulation or for heating. However, at the moment they simply had to prioritise making a dent on the dense cover of gorse. The landscape was currently 70% woody scrub, when it should be only a minority feature of a healthy dune habitat.
Jonathan led us to the top of a recently cleared dune, from where we could spot the sea behind the unending wall of green. The gorse had capitalised on the progressive settling of the dunes when local plantations, including the nearby Culbin Forest, grew taller and acted as a windbreak. Jonathan pointed out that the gorse today posed enormous risk not just for the dune ecosystem, but also as a fire hazard for the human settlements around the bay.
Our group had many questions about how FHT was able to successfully finance their charity’s massive body of work. Jonathan led us to part of the puzzle – a ‘chunky bench’ made by locals and visitors during a workshop, using wood from Hinterland pines milled on-site. FHT generates income from courses, green burials, memberships, and also via the ecovillage’s wind turbines that pay rent to the charity. Jonathan shared that the FHT produced a regular newsletter which anyone interested in learning more about their activities – whether they had attended this study trip or not – were welcome to sign up to. (You can sign up here.)
Kajedo had suggested earlier in the morning that every success is built on at least half a dozen failures, especially when working alongside nature. But for all of Kajedo and Jonathan’s transparency about the complex things they’ve learned along the way, our study trip group headed back to the rest of the Gathering feeling inspired about FHT’s vivid connection, effort, and care for the land we all live on. Several of us agreed there was only one thing left to do: we would need to come back again soon to learn more.
Over the past year Findhorn Hinterland Trust (FHT), as custodians of Wilkies Wood Green Burial Site, has been thoughtfully planning for the future of this cherished space. What began as a green burial ground has blossomed into something more profound – a place where our community gathers for festivals and celebrations, where children learn about our diverse natural environment, where ceremonies mark life’s most meaningful moments, and where loved ones return to the land they helped to preserve.
We currently have 93 pre-purchased lairs, and we are deeply grateful for this support. These lair sales provide essential income that flows directly back into maintaining and protecting the land itself. However, we recognise that our burial space is not unlimited, and we are committed to managing this precious resource thoughtfully.
Lair Purchase Price
Ever since I watched the film ‘A United Kingdom’, I have dreamt of us having a Peace or Clearing Bench in our community – a place where two people who have maybe ‘lost sight’ of each other, can come together to (re)connect through clearing whatever it is that has led to their disconnection.
Maria Arper suggests that conflict is naturally present – obviously to a whole range of degrees – when two or more come together. Some we naturally mediate within and between ourselves as we go along. Some reach a stage where we have lost sight of each other to such an extent that we need (at least) a third party to find a way back to listening to and understanding each other. Somewhere in between on this continuum, is a place where we need to clear some disagreement or upset which, without attention, could end up as further disconnection. 
I think the bench is quite beautiful. The wood comes from the Redwood tree that had to be cut down outside Cornelia and Sylvia’s home near the Universal Hall. It has a stunning grain and pink heartwood (yes, we learnt about the biology of trees as well over the weekend!), which looks even better now it has a protective layer of polish. And it’s also the teamwork with which we created it over the weekend (no single one of us could have done it by ourselves) that for me takes it even deeper.
Colin Shreenan will be taking over as Chair of the Findhorn Hinterland Trust when Jonathan Caddy steps down in September. Although he’s new to the team, he’s very closely connected to it! We’ll get to know him more fully in time, but for now, meet Colin Shreenan…
As I step down there are two significant events that are part of my legacy to the land and charity: the 
The last three months have been exceptional in terms of the many things that have happened on the land and also in terms of the weather. It has been so warm and dry most of the time, which is unlike how Scotland usually is. We have had to be so careful because of the wild fire potential. Then, I have not known a summer storm of such intensity as storm Floris that swept through on the 4th of August and blew down a number of trees in the Wilkies Wood, Woodland Garden and also in the Park Ecovillage Findhorn settlement. Luckily it came just after the Woodland Shelter was the venue for night time fun during the Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Lunasa festival.
The warm weather has meant that some of our bee hives have been very busy and we are expecting a bumper honey harvest this year. We presented three one-day bee workshops – one in June and another two in August – which introduced 18 new potential beekeepers to the fascinating world of bees.
Raising awareness of bees and beekeeping was also one of four activities we focussed on when over 100 pupils from Forres Academy visited in June as part of their transition from S2 to S3 days to the Hinterland. They learnt a little more about bees and beekeeping as well as learning the practical task of how to construct bee frames from our now four-strong bee team, Martin Harker, John Willoner, Mathijs Mulder-Barge and I.
This was part of our partnership work with Forres Academy funded by the Newbold Legacy Trust, which – for the fourth year running – also included about 40 Biology pupils coming out for their field study day to learn about sampling vegetation, investigating minibeasts on the land using pitfall traps, and the world of lichens from Heather Paul, our local expert. Amongst other things!
There were more events worth mentioning back in June. For the second year in a row 13 pupils and two staff from an innovative school just outside New York visited to explore our land and Ecovillage for the day, followed on the 15th June by a special birthday party for Ariane Burgess’ mum, held in the Outdoor Learning Space in the Woodland Garden Ariane helped create. On the 17th June I led our first tour of the land as part of the Moray Walking Festival with a small and very interested group of local people. We will be looking to get more involved with the latter next year.
From bare dunes and a caravan park to a rich natural treasure – the stories of nature, ecology and biodiversity at Ecovillage Findhorn have now been compiled into one comprehensive feature. 
It is one of a series of topics relating to environmental and sustainability themes at Ecovillage Findhorn. 
The purchase of the adjoining Wilkie Estate in 1997 led to the beginning of a new phase of working with nature at the Ecovillage, focused more on land management and biodiversity. The Findhorn Hinterland Trust was established and became a charity in 2015, with one of its main aims being to promote environmental protection and improvement. 
The Findhorn Dunes are a moving miracle, showcasing nature’s awe-inspiring cycles and telling an epic historical story – from neolithic artefacts, natural disasters in 1694 and 1703, to a 1930s golf course now hidden by time. 
News from the land – November 2025
The old man of Winter is announcing his imminent arrival here in Scotland, says land manager Kajedo Wanderer.
Here in the Findhorn Hinterland, temperatures have been close to freezing and the hills have seen their first snow. Most of the leaves from the trees have danced their seasonal dance to the earth now.
We have had a remarkable year so far. For me as an outdoor person, and for the many who have camped on our land this year, it’s been a remarkably beautiful spring, summer and truly golden autumn. Lots of warm sunshine! (And rainbows & Northern Lights!)
Kajedo Wanderer with the Reforesting Scotland study trip participants
And, as we all know, there is another side to this. Climate change. The Earth, as well as its oceans and arctic regions, is warming up at an alarming rate. And that brings with it unpredictable, more extreme weather.
Here we’ve been relatively lucky. Yes, many trees have struggled with the lack of rain during spring and summer. We have spent quite a bit of time trying to keep seedlings alive by carting water across the land. But sadly some have succumbed to the lack of rain.
We’ve had more storms than ever, and lost a number of trees on our land, along with quite a few trees being blown down or damaged in the Park.
The remaining trees are vulnerable – either because their roots got lifted, or because they are now exposed to winds they are not used to. Predictably many more trees will come down in the next storms. And out on the bay more and more of the shoreline and dunes are increasingly getting claimed by the sea at an accelerating rate.
We know that we live in a part of the world with a temperate, moderate climate. And if we see and feel the effect of climate change so clearly here, my heart goes out to the parts of the world where the climate is naturally already more extreme.
We do need to consider the way we care for the land in that context. Here, and everywhere.
And, I am not lost to doom and gloom.
There are many moments when I pause in the woods and watch the sunlight streaming through the trees – so beautifully! I could not improve on that moment, here and now. And as I kneel down to give thanks, my attention is drawn to the tiny things and critters around my feet. Looking through a hand-lens I might get a glimpse of their beauty, might get touched by the magic of tiny things.
And the sums of the tiny things are what makes our days, what makes us who we are.
What matters is how we treat that insect, that rodent or bird, that child or that stranger who happens to cross our path. The choices we make in our heartminds contribute to the violent wars of our world. We can feed judgemental, hateful thoughts, or stop the train (of thought) and act from our capacity for kindness, compassion and generosity.
Here at Findhorn we go with ‘work as love in action’. If we can’t do a job with care, we’d better leave it and find something we can do with love. Taking the time to love means to do things well, like cleaning our tools when the job is done.
In the Findhorn community we used to give household ‘machinery’ names. I guess you tend to treat ‘Frida’ differently from ‘the fridge’. So, yes, we need to do what we can to stop our climate tipping into the catastrophic. For our children, and their children.
And equally, we need to appreciate how lucky most of us here still are, how much beauty there is – all around us in the natural world. Let’s highlight all that is good and beautiful – every day – for our children and their children.
Let’s take the time to become still,
to listen and look deeply…
Over and over again…
And to give thanks.
Wishing us all a nourishing festive season.
Kajedo, November 2025