News from the Land

By Kajedo Wanderer | Published: 15/03/2025

Much has happened on the land since I last wrote for our newsletter.

Our settlement keeps expanding – a new, exciting stage of building more homes, the Duneridge project – has just begun.

Most of the more dramatic changes have been written about by those more directly involved, for example the dunes restoration project.

This project, and the radical intervention with big machinery, gave me pause… It made me reflect on how we manage the land. We now have a stretch of bare sand dunes reaching all the way to our Wilkie’s Wood. It is a well thought through management intervention to reduce the disproportionate amount of gorse on the land, and to expand the disappearing habitat of some rare ‘star species’, but it is still an experiment. And we are now in the process of planning to extend that sandy stretch northward, toward the open dunes.

While I understand and have come to support the rationale behind these radical interventions, something in me is wondering…

I am looking at our wee woods and it strikes me that you can hardly go anywhere without seeing the human imprint. Some are our beautiful, useful structures like the Conservation Hub, the shelter area, Green Burial, the Shepherd’s Hut and the wee building in the woodland garden next to the memorial wood. There are rustic benches here and there in prominent places. We have made management decisions to help turn the neglected tree-plantation/monoculture we inherited into a healthy bio-diverse woodland, which has included planting around 4000 trees, each with its own green plastic tube protecting it from being eaten by the deer. (Fencing the young trees in wouldn’t work in our situation)

It all makes sense, and yet…

I can’t help wondering – might we be ‘overmanaging’ the land?

Are we really co-creating with the intelligence in Nature rather than imposing our ideas of what is best on our precious environment? Do we need to do the opposite of leaving things ‘wild’ out there to eventually achieve some form of ‘rewilding’?

I know questioning is healthy and I keep asking the land. I try to take the time to listen. But I don’t have the answers yet.

Meanwhile I show up every day for the hundred little unglamorous things that need to be done if we truly care for the land. Creating healthier ‘edges to our woodland’, by cutting up some fallen lodgepole pines and replacing them with more suitable trees – and yes, putting them into yet more plastic tubes.

Endless hours with the brushcutter keeping the regrowth of gorse down, in heathland, grassland, among young trees and on our firebreaks. We’ve not had a drop of rain for more than two weeks – so today I watered the young trees on the Green Burial Ground. And so on and on… My days are full.

It’s still a joy to be tasked with looking after this multifaceted land in our care.

And I trust that the collective decisions we make in our land management team, as well as my day to day ‘love in action’, are for the highest good, and what we do today will leave it healthier for our children – for future generations.

By the time our children will be young adults, all the tree-tubes should have been removed, and the gorse will not be such a dominant feature out there anymore. They can pop out of their homes here and enjoy being surrounded by the magic and beauty of a bit of ‘wilder’ Nature.

May all we do to our environment be for the highest and best of all creatures who share this land.

Blessed be…
Kajedo, March ‘25

 

 

 

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Meet the team: Laura Shreenan

By Adelle Horler | Published: 15/03/2025

A big part of the Hinterland Trust’s work is our Green Burial Ground in Wilkies Wood, right next to the Park, and Laura is a key person in the Green Burials team. The site was created when a severe storm felled a large area of trees, and now it’s a space for around 120 lairs. There is a plan to make further space available in the next year or so as this becomes necessary. Wilkies Wood also has space where celebrations can take place such as weddings and our traditional annual MayPole dance event. Please meet Laura Shreenan!

I’m one of the Funeral Coordinators for the Green Burials team, and also the Funeral Assistant, which means I’m usually the first point of contact when someone wishes to discuss a Green Burial, or wants to buy a plot in the burial ground, which is called a lair.

When I’m contacted for a funeral, I coordinate all the logistics with the team, including liaising with my co-coordinator Juanna Ladaga and Kajedo Wanderer and James Bryson who manage the land side and grave digging, as well as funeral directors and the family.

I’m part of a team, which I love, where we all work alongside each other and recognise our different gifts. It is wonderful to work in a team that respects each other for what we all bring.

When I saw the advert for this role with Findhorn Hinterland Trust it was an automatic ‘yes’ from me. I felt a sense of absolute alignment with who I am in this world. It was a beautiful complement, continuation and completion of my primary role at the time, being the Caring Community Coordinator and having some part to play when community folk passed away. It’s precious to be able to walk this journey with folk and to support family and friends of the deceased through a day they will memorialise for the rest of their lives. Being able to help smooth this pathway is a privilege.

Having a green burial ground as part of our community is an extraordinary gift. Often people approaching the end of their life, or their families, give over all agency to the professionals, who may have a standard way of doing things – this is their business after all. Having our own green burial ground means we don’t have to standardise, we can breathe and dream into creating something that’s deeply personal and important. It allows us to treat death and burial as part of an interdependent process, knowing the land is being nourished, and the person is part of the continuing ecology of the area. Our interconnectedness is not just felt and talked about, it’s actually tangible and manifest.

I’m originally from Zimbabwe, and moved to the Isle of Man as a single parent of three boys in 2000. I met and married Colin, a Scot and we lived in Central Scotland. In 2008 we started a charity called A2Z World Without Walls and aspired to create supportive bridging between the people of Scotland and Zimbabwe. Our small grassroots funding made a significant positive impact in Zimbabwe. We were subsequently invited to join a ministerial team in Harare in 2009 and moved there permanently in 2010.

In 2016 when my father was diagnosed with a life-limiting untreatable illness we made the decision to relocate to Forres to be close to him and my Mom. They have now both passed away and are buried in Wilkies Wood. When we arrived here I began applying for jobs and was employed by CrossReach in a residential care home in Nairn. I was struck by how few people, whether relatives or indeed care workers, had any idea about end-of-life planning but serendipitously my parents lived next door to Jane Duncan Rogers and in connecting with her I was introduced to Cornelia Featherstone – both members of the community – and this is what led to me applying for the the Caring Community Circle Coordinator job that brought me to Findhorn.

My background is very diverse and wide ranging, in multiple countries. I graduated from Stirling University as a mature student in 2008 with a BSc Midwifery, and worked as a midwife for the NHS for two years post-graduation before moving to Zimbabwe in 2010. I have in my past been ordained as a Pentecostal minister here in Scotland and I have also served as a chaplain’s assistant both on the Isle of Man and in Scottish prisons. My roles seem to have mostly centered on becoming deeply involved in people’s lives, and often this has been as a supportive companion. Being part of people’s life journeys, to listen to them and support when needed, to help people be less afraid, to encourage recovery, enablement and empowerment – that’s been my focus for as long as I can remember.

My connection with nature, unsurprisingly, comes through humans. I seek treasure in people and help them to see it in themselves. So my part in this orchestra of life is people; for others it’s trees or lichen. But the ethos of the Hinterland Trust is awakening me to the wholeness of the Earth, the land, the bees, and the human. The love and connectedness of humans and nature is part of my evolution.

I’m sometimes asked if anyone can be buried here, and yes of course they can. The Green Burial Ground is not closed and isn’t exclusive to the community. It’s loved and tended by community organisations and people, but it’s open to anyone who feels drawn to a green burial. It draws people who have the same ethos and values, who then come and visit their loved ones and enjoy the Hinterland, and that’s very beautiful.

I’m very excited that together with my colleague Juanna Ladaga we will be creating and presenting two educational workshops this year where we will provide insights and information in regard to dying and death and all it encompasses. We are very pleased that Laura Pasetti of Theatre of the 7 Directions, has agreed to partner with us by presenting a short drama to illustrate the interconnected process of life, death and rebirth.

My high dream for the Hinterland Trust, or more specifically for green burials, is that we can offer more funeral director services within the community itself, so that a body needn’t be moved from the Park to a funeral home before burial if this is not wished for, as it can create a sense of disconnect for some. I wish for a purpose-built beautiful structure that allows people to remain on the land. A place where a body can rest, where people can come and conduct their own washing and dressing of their loved one if they wish, a place for final respects or viewing to be offered, and all in a time frame that works for everyone. The structure would also offer a place where we can hold an indoor ceremony if necessary, and be a venue for gathering afterwards with refreshments and for a celebration-of-life event. I can feel it, I can see it and I can believe it will happen if it is meant to be.

 

 

 

 

Posted in News

Lichen spotting – at 50 miles

By Adelle Horler | Published: 15/03/2025

James & Drone landscape Lichen Spotting Findhorn Dunelands, Findhorn Hinterland Trust

Rare lichens, remote research and AI habitat mapping – how new technologies are making conservation more efficient.

Ecologist James Bunyan is closely examining a small patch of lichen on the dunes just outside Findhorn. That’s remarkable for two reasons: first, that some of these lichens are found in only a few other places in the world, and second, that he’s actually sitting on the Black Isle, about 50 miles away.

James, of Tracks Ecology Ltd, is using two technological advances –  high resolution drone photography and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) digital mapping – to monitor the pioneering restoration experiment taking place on our dunes.

Importantly, the results have the speed, efficiency and scale that would be impossible to achieve by a human on foot.

The detail is astonishing. From an image of the Findhorn peninsula, James zooms in to show the Hinterland, then an area of gorse, then a small patch of heather, with the tiny individual flowers clearly visible. He settles on a stone, which he then measures (it’s 12 centimetres long).

 

Heathneuk scale

 

In September 2024 he used his drone to photograph the area of gorse earmarked for the dune restoration project. A second drone flight in November captured baseline images of the newly cleared dune, bare sand that will hopefully over time develop the wild ecosystem that was once part of the second largest sand dune system in Europe, of which only small fragments now remain.

September 2024 - Pre clearance

Repeat flights at intervals over the coming months and years will monitor the changes and progressions – literally giving us the big picture of how the site develops over time.

‘Before the advent of drones, monitoring and mapping how habitats change with precision was very difficult,’ says James. ‘Not so long ago it involved ecologists out with pencils, paper and maps, which could potentially impact delicate habitats and disturb protected species. The results could be subjective and involve significant errors. So drones and GIS make the information-gathering process that much more robust.’

This technology is particularly useful because dune habitats are mobile – the wind blows and the dunes move. This is why too much gorse becomes a problem: it stabilises the dunes, squeezing out the precious dune habitats. ‘With an aerial view we can more easily measure changes in sand dunes, where sand is accumulating, and where it’s eroding.’

The high resolution imagery offers another advantage: it can show exactly which vegetation is returning, and whether this dune restoration approach is succeeding in fostering the habitats and super-rare species that are critically endangered. At Heathneuk, just outside Findhorn village, the lichens are being monitored on a site that was cleared four years ago. This small area was mapped with very high resolution, with each pixel measuring 3 millimetres, allowing you to zoom in to sub-centimetre level.

(Pixels are the square blocks you see when you zoom right in on an image. The smaller the pixels – or the number of pixels in an image – the more detail you can see.)

This is where machine learning, a useful branch of Artificial Intelligence, can come into play. ‘With machine learning, we can use computers to identify species, by training them to analyse and recognise what a particular pixel is.

‘There are different ways to do this – you can either teach it to recognise objects, such as invasive species like rhododendrons, or to recognise pixels. For example, we are mapping seagrass in intertidal zones based on the differences in the colour of the sand, which show where the sea grass is. That would obviously be impossible on foot. It’s also more robust, more easily repeatable, and far quicker than on-the-ground work.’

Technology can also create 3D models of the land, as you can see in this ‘fly-through’ of the dune restoration area.

Data captured from a drone with a LiDAR sensor or optical camera can be used to create a 3D model of the landscape or object, by collecting data points mapped in three dimensions (a point cloud). The process of photogrammetry matches thousands of recognisable points in at least four separate, overlapping images. The accurate three-dimensional location of each of these points can then be calculated, with the composite of all points forming the point cloud, a 3D model.

There are other very down-to-earth benefits. The Hinterland Trust works with educational groups like the Forres Academy, and now learners can see the land’s full scale (even when it’s raining). Plus, being able to offer visible proof of habitat restoration successes at scale will be invaluable in securing grant funding for the ongoing conservation of the land.

Working with lichen expert Heather Paul, James is trialling whether machine learning can be used to map lichen in small areas – 60 by 60 metres – from the very high resolution imagery. ‘In addition to optical data, like the red-green-blue that our eyes see, we can gather multispectral info, in other words beyond the spectral range of human vision. This gives machine learning more data to train with – additional info to help with identification. This is the beginning of a journey – we  may in time be able to identify if not actual species, then species types and certainly habitats.’

James is working with the Findhorn Hinterland Trust as he’s on a mission to improve the technologies used in ecological consulting and conservation. ‘This is a testing ground for new approaches and I want to get the technology understood more widely. And I believe it can really contribute to the Hinterland’s success.’

This high resolution habitat mapping, plus using GIS to also analyse and store the data gathered by others in the Hinterland Trust team, such as Neil Miekleham and Alan Watson Featherstone, creates an accurate image of what’s happening in the Hinterland right now, as well as an invaluable resource and record of the land, to be handed on through time.

 

 

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Chair’s Report – Winter/ Spring 2025

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 15/03/2025

It seems a long time since our winter gathering event at the Woodland Shelter, when a good crowd coalesced around the fire collecting Christmas trees, and the other event around that time, when Santa Claus was once again installed in the Conservation Hub as part of the Christmas trail put on by Laura Pasetti and the Theatre of the Seven Directions. Now it is spring and the flowers, bees and the light are returning.

 

 

So much has been happening in the intervening months. This was brought home once again when I wrote a summary for our whole team meeting at Cullerne. The main topic was to progress the changes in structure of the charity to ensure its sustainability and resilience well into the future. As part of that I will be stepping down as FHT Chair in September – I will be staying on as a trustee, probably involved in a new Education and Community team that is forming. All will be revealed in the next newsletter when decisions have been finalised and the new structure will hopefully be in place!

Back to my summary of events – it’s a long list!

Land Transfers – Two land transfers, from the Findhorn Foundation Trust and Duneland Ltd, are almost set to go. These will bring the FHT land holding to over fifty hectares – a huge step forward that will be celebrated once the transfer has gone through. Still pending is the in-settlement land offered by Duneland Ltd that now includes other areas with conservation value, over and above the Diamond Woodland already offered. An agreement with Findhorn Wind Park (FWP) has been drawn up and approved by both parties, which will allow FHT to collect an annual income from renting out the land under the turbines, which is about £8k/annum. This income is very welcome as we will use it to carry out the imminent restructuring of the charity.

Jonathan Caddy, Findhorn Hinterland Trust, Findhorn, MorayDune Restoration Project Phase 2 – The Land Management Subgroup (LMSG) gave the go ahead to extend this work this year by a further 0.5ha, and to seek funding for this and associated survey work, particularly for beetles. An expression of interest has been submitted to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Foundation (HEIF) fund for the physical work and project management. Further PR work continues – I spoke about the project at the North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership seminar in Inverurie, alongside Alan who was there to speak about rewilding Caledonian Forest work. The seminar was a real eye opener, showcasing 12 other inspiring and very different projects along with ours. It was great to feel part of a much bigger and positive environmental movement and see so many younger people enthusiastically involved.

Local Biodiversity Action Plan – The LMSG has been working with ecological consultant Sean Reed to review and look at creating a new plan, which will be an important tool to guide our future work. It’s still in its early stages but should be complete later in the year. We have applied for funding through the Neighbourhood Ecosystem Fund, along with the beetle survey work mentioned above.

Land Management Plan – The LMSG believes a working document setting out the vision and priorities for the next five years and beyond is necessary, and has set aside time over the coming months to look at this. Included is the future of Wilkies Wood as well as ways forward for the green burial work, as well as other fellings and plantings.

Partnership with Forres Academy – FHT is looking to host 180 S1 and S2 pupils on the land during their activity days in May, plus the regular biology field trip event in June with a further 80 pupils. Talks in the school are still to go ahead.

Partnership with Findhorn Bay Holiday Park (FBHP) – We are looking forward to exploring what works with FBHP, as they had about 10,000 visitors to the site last year. This is a large potential audience that might like to get involved in some of our activities and workshops. FBHP is also willing to book our 12 camping spaces on the edge of Wilkies Wood, which would help create another source of income as well as introduce more people to our work. Right now George is creating a map of how to reach our camp pads, to be used in a brochure. We’re in discussions with the bee group about including campers in our weekly inspections, and Roy is looking to offer regular ‘sharing nature’ mornings for families. There are still many details to sort but it will be good to be trying something different this year to engage more people and develop other income streams.

2025 Educational Programme – This will be a repeat of many of the offerings made last year and it is hoped that some of the Holiday Park visitors might get involved. Laura is developing a new workshop around green burials in conjunction with Laura Pasetti.

FHT Personnel – There has been some movement here: our secretary Talitha has left, and Fiona is now temporarily filling that role. Carolin joined the team as Membership Secretary and will be back this month after some time in India. Jacqueline has been taking time out as a trustee but is now back this month. Dell was asked if she could take over production of the newsletter from Jonathan and has joined the team. Kajedo our Land Manager expressed dissatisfaction about elements of his present role which triggered discussion – challenges have been looked at and many resolved. There is a need for one or two more trustees, and a big unresolved question is: who will take on the Chair role from September?

Completed Projects – FHT involvement in the new Sanctuary build is almost there and the Local Place Plan for the Park Ecovillage Findhorn has now been submitted, so our involvement is no longer needed at this time.

Ongoing Projects – With Jaqueline taking a pause and Val of Digital Routes having a parallel large project, work on the New Website Project has been slow, but momentum will pick up now.

Community member Jane Rasbash, who died at the end of last year, very kindly left a bequest to FHT, stipulating it be used to support young people engaging with the work on the land, and suggesting it could go towards purchasing or building appropriate accommodation. Her family is still sorting out her estate, which will take some time. The exact amount has yet to be determined but it could be in the region of £20k. This has inspired the charity to seek further legacy financial support for our good work, which is being included in a new green burial leaflet.

There’s plenty more happening that’s not on the list! So far this winter all hives in our apiary are buzzing with all but one in good condition – we look forward to a productive season with the bees but as usual this all depends on the weather. We are actively looking for younger people in our community who might be interested in learning more about beekeeping, so that our huge knowledge can be passed on to the next generation – do get in touch if this could be you.

Another happening has been the repair of some of our structures in Wilkies Wood, such as the seating around the fireplace at the Woodland Shelter and the picnic bench by the main track. This work has been carried out by a small, enthusiastic team led by George and I and includes new members Sam and Ida Nye.

One other event to add was a visit from mover and shaker Ariane Burgess, our local MSP and former Park Ecovillage Findhorn resident and active FHT member who helped get our Woodland Garden established. It was good to show her what we have been up to and also to connect with the larger green initiatives happening in Moray.

FHT members, with the help of some of our chainsaw equipment and Isle of Erraid residents, were also involved in a week’s chainsaw work party on the West Coast in January tackling a pile of over forty tonnes of firewood. Our efforts were much appreciated by the new Findhorn Foundation SCIO as they prepare for a new and busy guest season this summer.

There will be other things I will have missed but I am sure that is enough information for now. Enjoy the coming of spring with its new growth and flowering as the weather warms and we connect more deeply with the wonder of the world around us.

 

 

Jonathan Caddy
FHT Chair
9th March 2025

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Chair’s Report – Autumn/Winter 2024

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 17/12/2024

Autumn on the land has been beautiful with the seasonal change of colours and fungi making their presence known with their fruiting bodies once again present to our eyes – the natural world has been busy and so have the FHT human team with so much going on.  

This busyness was particularly evident during our recent whole FHT team meeting at Cullerne House where we came together to progress the restructuring of the charity as well as to recognise this time of major change  with so much happening – you can get some idea of all the things in the overview of activities document that was shared at that event. The suggested restructuring will include creating a new subgroup with an Education and Community focus where our new Membership Secretary, Carolin Waldmann, will be able to meet with others such as Roy Simpson, Birgit Carow who does our marketing and others to focus on these important charitable purposes of the trust. 

We will need a few more enthusiastic people to get involved with a particular need for a new FHT  Secretary as Talitha Ross unexpectedly left the area so do not be shy in coming forward – contact me directly if you are interested.  Other personnel changes happened at the September AGM where Neil Miekleham became a new trustee (see article elsewhere in the newsletter to find a little more about him), Arun Patel stepped down as a trustee and Membership Secretary and in October Chris Latini, who had been a long term volunteer and staying the Shepherd’s Hut, left.  As well as working alongside Kajedo, Chris had been involved in a number of small construction projects with George Paul and I including replacing the rotten bench around the fire up at the Woodland Shelter, completing and installing the chunky bench for the West Whins affordable housing cluster and getting wood we had previously milled and stored for the sarking for the new sanctuary roof.  Further FHT  work for the sanctuary has been undertaken in this last week with the partially burnt timber from the sanctuary site that we had transported, milled and stored for the FF Gardeners being converted into beautiful benches for the vestibule and outside covered area of the new sanctuary by a skilled team led by Steven Porter. (see article elsewhere)  This has been a very creative project involving collaboration with the FF who have allowed us to use the Maintenance Building, Sven Skatun over at Marcassie who offered the use of his large planer thicknesser to initially dress the wood, Kathy Tyler who is an important part of the sanctuary build focus group and the time and skill of the construction team comprised of Steven Porter, Donald MacDonald, Andrew Newman, Hugo Klip and I with occasional appearances by Lester Chilman, George Paul and John Willoner.  

By far the most significant project on the land to date has been the completion of the first part of the Dune Restoration Project details of which you can read in another article in this newsletter. This was the culmination of at least a year’s meticulous preparatory work by ecologist Sean Reed and was carefully carried out by contractor Gary McKay’s local business Northern Construction Solutions.  There were large machines on the ground doing some incredible work.  Before this happened, Sue Clutterbuck carried out a land blessing involving adults and children at the spiral site next to the area that has now been converted back to sand dunes.

The above have overshadowed other happenings such as attendance at the CWA (Community Woodland Association) annual conference which this year was in Inverness and attended by George, Ash and myself, the continued use of the land by children including Fiona’s regular group, WildThings! Led weekly work with a class of Kinloss Primary pupils and fairly regular storytelling events around the fire despite the long standing Fledgling group having disbanded, the end of year bedding down of our bees in the apiary by the bee team and the regular work parties the most recent of which involved clearing wood from areas where the gorse basher had mulched to make future grassland areas up by the wind turbines. The study of our lichens has also continued with an interesting visit from an academic team headed by Dr Nathan Chrismas of the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. (See article elsewhere)

 

Two other activities are important to mention and those are the funeral of community member Jane Rashbash which took place last month and the Findhorn Foundation and Duneland Ltd land transfer   progress. With Jane, the burial team were in operation and carried out the high quality service that they have been providing for the past couple of year’s.  Jane highly regarded the work of the trust and wished to leave a generous amount of money for the FHT to create some accommodation for young people to learn from and engage in the land – we will have to take some time to think about what might be appropriate but a huge thank you to Jane for this generous offer,  As for the land transfers, all is taking some time but with Duneland the main thing still to be completed is the drawing up of the plan connected to the transfer which is being altered to include the Diamond Wood – FHT trustees have agreed that the charity would take the Diamond Wood on as a nature park if it was going to be for nature and people and if some way of paying for ongoing maintenance could be worked out.  Again watch this space. With the FF, they have agreed in principle to the transfer starting in January after they have had the go ahead with OSCR the Scottish charities governing body that this is all ok by them.  The FF have been particularly generous towards FHT by making this a gift, offering to pay their own legal fees and allowing FHT to benefit from the rental income which will come from the Findhorn Wind Park use of the land.  A huge thank you to the FF trustees for this offer. 

Wishing all a peaceful festive season with time to connect to loved ones and the wonders of the land.

Many blessings,

Jonathan Caddy
FHT Chair
1st December 2024    

 

 

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Posted in News

CWA Conference Networking Opportunity 

By Ash Balderstone | Published: 17/12/2024

At the beginning of October I was delighted to attend the annual Community Woodland Association conference in Inverness representing the Hinterland with Jonathan. The CWA (if, like me, you didn’t already know) promotes, supports and celebrates community woodlands across the whole of Scotland – and beyond. Their ethos is that ‘every community deserves a woodland’ – which is definitely something our community can appreciate, for sure! There are over 200 groups who are members and this year 31 community groups attended, with around 70 delegates and presenters in total. The attendees came from across the whole of Scotland – from Dunnet on the north coast to Carsphairn and Tarras Valley down in southern Scotland. From here in Findhorn and Forres across to the west coast including Mull, Skye and Applecross. And remarkably, some visiting community woodlanders from Wales, near Machynlleth, all wanting to share their experiences and ideas. The wonderful thing is that nearly all these people are volunteers – giving their time and energy to these valuable community projects with enthusiasm and love. How inspiring! It was also interesting for me to note that there was a wide age range from late twenties upwards – good news for the sustainability of our community woodlands!

The conference started Friday lunchtime with a gathering of attendees chatting, exchanging ideas, offering support and opportunities, and creating new friendships. This is probably one of the key aspects of this annual get-together – the opportunity for great networking and extended community building. The afternoon offered us some interesting and informative presentations and workshops ranging from encouraging youth volunteers and growing future foresters to financial management & tools, and fundraising. 

The workshop I attended was by Dunnent Community forest on the north coast. Titled ‘Just Add Biscuits’ we learned about their youth volunteers – young people aged 13-17 who volunteer every weekend and during holidays, clearing ditches, moving and stripping logs, and much more. These young people come in their own time and are clearly thriving in the outdoor environment. Our presenter made it very clear that all the work they did was ‘biscuit led’ with at least half the funding spent on biscuits to incentivise them! However, the benefits to everyone involved were substantial. They have been holding these programmes for several years with great success and it was thought provoking to imagine what could be possible here, in our Hinterland and woodland…

Friday night there was a group dinner followed by a ceilidh – of course! Saturday and Sunday were more outdoors focused (a relief for all of us outdoorsy people!) with opportunities to visit some local community woodlands and see first hand what they’re doing. There was a visit to Dunain community woods where there was plenty of learning, networking, and snacks shared with the community woodland groups and experts from all over Scotland. A highlight was a site visit to Culduthel Community Woodlands with lessons learned over a roaring fire and tea.

It was a weekend of learning from each other and sharing our common issues such as volunteers, sustainability,and resources of time and money. Sharing struggles and achievements and making new friends, and extended community building – the community of ecological caring people working within local communities in woodlands across Scotland.

If you’re interested, you can take a look at the CWA facebook page and maybe you too will be inspired to support our own wonderful community woodland even more.

Ash Balderstone
FHT Land Management Subgroup
FF Trust Asset Manager
October 2024

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Dune Restoration Project – Celebrating the First Phase Completion

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 17/12/2024

It has taken over a year of planning, fundraising, connecting with other organisations and similar projects, gathering and reading background material,  disseminating information to raise public awareness, writing articles, organising information sharing events and simply thinking about our Dune Restoration project. It is with a great feeling of relief and pride that on Wednesday 20th November we finally finished the first phase  – converting 0.8ha of dense gorse back to open sand dunes.

So what does it take to do this work, where we are restoring important habitat which has been disappearing over the decades due to encroaching gorse and trees – for some rare, small, delicate creatures?  The work on the ground has taken two mighty big machines that arrived and were off loaded one evening next to Woodside in the Park Ecovillage Findhorn to initially reduce the gorse to a mulch.  It took the machines two long days to clear the majority of the area of the 3m+ high impenetrable gorse.  The underlying undulating topography of the land has been revealed including the top of one of the high dunes with fabulous distant views.  

Gary and Damian from Northern Contracting Solutions, based locally in Auldern, were meticulous operators of their machines, really interested in the project and great people to work with.  This was particularly important as the next phase involved removing all the gorse roots, scraping them off with all the organic matter and piling this material up into great heaps.  This was essential as if left the created area would simply revert back to gorse in a year or two as it is surrounded by a prolific sea of gorse with a huge potential seed source..  The whole idea behind the project  is to create a reset in the landscape with the open sand areas taken back to the first stages of biological succession which will in time create habitat for the rarer species to survive and hopefully thrive. 

Once the organic matter was piled up it was then necessary to create gigantic holes – over twenty of them – 5m+ deep – and in most cases over 8m by 8m in dimension.  We got to see the underlying structure of the sand and in some cases layers of organic soil as these holes were created.  Any organic material and very stoney material had to be kept aside and was returned to these holes with the gorse heaps.

The last phase was to spread the dug out sand over the area covering the holes with at least half a metre of that material.  We wanted as much as possible to retain the original topography of the land so again this phase had to be completed with much thought and care. 

Within a few days James Bunyan, an ecologist living on the Black Isle who is particularly interested in using drones and cutting edge techniques to record ecological change, arrived and took images of the project area to compare with those taken earlier in the year to give a baseline for monitoring any change.  More about his work will be shared in the next newsletter but here are some of the remarkable images he captured first giving an overview of the area and then a flyover so you can see what has been created.  His work will be particularly important in documenting the movement of sand and the slow recolonising of the area which is likely to take decades..

Thanks goes to many people including those in our community and beyond that helped fund this project, first with the Go Fund Me appeal last Christmas time and then through the Big Give Green Match Fund around last Easter with further financial help granted by Fabio /TSI Moray through the Climate Action Fund and our Hygeia charity friends in the USA. The project has been held jointly between myself and ecologist Sean Reed who did much of the meticulous project planning and a fantastic job at the PR work involved.  

As mentioned, Sean managed to find Gary McKay of Northern Contracting Solutions to come in as the excellent contractor to do the actual physical work.  He also found Mark Sharrock that works for Brimstone Ltd that specialise in dealing with unexploded ordnance. Mark was present on site during the digging – an essential precautionary move to safeguard the charity on this medium risk site.   Before any work started, Sue Clutterbuck, a longtime resident of the Park Ecovillage Findhorn community, held an important  land blessing out on the spiral near the site that was appreciated by all who attended,both young and old.

Such projects have been carried out on other sites in the UK and in Europe but this is an experimental first for the FHT and it will be fascinating to see how the dunescapes develop over the coming decades.  

Huge thanks to all who helped make this pioneering work happen.  With this first phase successfully completed it is now time to secure further funding and plan the next phases of this important environmental work!  

Jonathan Caddy
FHT Chair
December 2024

Posted in News

Eco Theater on the Hinterland – From Ecosystem Threat to Co-creation

By Laura Pasetti | Published: 16/12/2024

Last June I created a performance as a result of my TheatreQuest – a journey of self-discovery through art that I offer regularly to locals. In this case it was an adaptation of a Shakespeare’s masterpiece, an intergenerational experience with children and adults using the theatre form of a procession: the audience walked from one “station” to another to watch different scenes.

After my MA in Engaged Ecology at Schumacher College and one year course in nature-based practices at Ecodharma (Catalunya) my mission as a playwright and stage director has drastically moved from the realm of entertainment to well-being and re-connection with that vast and profound part of us (physical and metaphysical) that we call Nature. What I offer is eco-theatre, from Oikos (Greek term for home): it can be described as a journey home. What I do it’s not a job for me, it is a mission, I am an activist through the medium of theater.

Midsummer Day’s Dream performed in the woods was a real dream come true for me with nature being the lead role. I attuned with the land (I never create a theatre piece without attunement) and I chose the locations for each scene, checking with Kajedo that we were not disturbing the land and its dwellers in any way… BUT…. At the last minute, I added one location that felt perfect for the last scene: a ceremony where the audience were asked to make a vow to the land, a sort of wedding ceremony.

The play was a success! So it was like a cold shower when Kajedo, after the performance, told me that I had chosen a location where a very rare lichen was growing and that I might have killed an entire ecosystem… My heart dropped. After the initial shock and inevitable sense of guilt, I had only one choice: respond to my action and learn from it. I asked Kajedo to join one of his guided tours. I wanted to learn about the land, and I wanted to make this hard lesson (for me) useful. I fell in love with the lichens almost immediately. It was probably the first time I understood the word “kinship” as I literally felt it under my skin.

That encounter inspired other two performances: Something Matters and Everything Matters that took place in summer as a result of two 10-day TheatreQuests in the same wood. My relationship with the land is in constant mutation, deepening, growing: we dance together. I see myself in every tree and I wonder if the trees see some of themselves in me. We talk, the trees and I, usually through breathing together, in silence. My hands expressing my presence, touching the cortex, my feet consciously “listening” at every step, who thought we could listen through our feet?! When I have a problem, I tell the land and when I am happy, I tell the land; I expand my minuscule self into the vastness of creation. We are a symphony when we play together: land and humans, we are the expression of love. I think this is what true love means, quoting from Midsummer Day’s Dream: “Love is like breathing, it is an inevitable movement of care”.

P.S. I didn’t kill the ecosystem after all, a few weeks later Kajedo informed me that the lichens not only survived but they were actually thriving there. I like to believe that it was all orchestrated by the lichens.. And that they are smiling :). Thank you Hinterland Trust for all you do!

With gratitude, Laura Pasetti
[email protected]
If you wish to know more about my work: www.theatreofthe7directions.com

Posted in News

Lichens- Microbiology Project Visit to Findhorn.

By heather.paul | Published: 16/12/2024

In September 2024 three researchers from Iceland, Colombia and Spain visited Findhorn, accompanied by biologist Dr Nathan Chrismas from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. Duneland and FHT Chairs, Eian Smith and Jonathan Caddy, met the group to introduce the work of Duneland and of the Findhorn Hinterland Trust and Heather Paul showed the visitors around.

Many of the Peltigera lichens that can be found around Findhorn also grow in the tundra-like habitats of northern Iceland. The project is focussing on discovering how the communities of bacteria associated with these lichens differ in temperate and sub-arctic habitats, and whether these lichen communities can be used as indicators of environmental change.
A number of Peltigera species were collected for further study.

Here they are collecting Peltigera rufescens which grows well at the north west edge of the dancing green. The lichens are being carefully cleaned before being stored in paper packets.

Collection of Peltigera hymenina from Findhorn Hinterland Trust

We hope to hear the results of the research which was taking place on a number of UK sites. The first stages of analysis have now begun, but it may take some time before the final results are ready.

Heather Paul
Local Lichen Enthusiast

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Meet the Team – Neil Meikleham

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 16/12/2024

Neil and his wife Heather have newly arrived from living in Auroville in the south of India and are now living in Kinloss. With his background in science, plants and communities he was naturally drawn to the work of the FHT and was voted onto the board of trustees at our September AGM.  Welcome Neil and thanks for sharing a little more about yourself in the following interview.

Tell us a little about yourself including what sort of work you have been involved in in the past?

I have always felt a deep love and connection to nature.  This was partly formed as a result of growing up in South Africa, where I was fortunate to  be able to experience the wildness and biodiversity of the country.  I went on to study plant sciences at university, and then pursued a PhD in plant chemistry.  After graduation I got a job researching and producing herbal medicines for Neal’s Yard Remedies in London.  Surrounded by medicinal plants and essential oils I became interested in a more holistic approach to science, which led me to pursue an MSc at Schumacher College.  It was in learning about Gaia Theory that my interest in herbal medicine, and natural ways of healing the human body, developed into my work of restoring degraded landscapes, which I have come to see as a way of trying to heal the wounds of the earth body.  I have worked on a range of ecorestoration projects since that time, both in British Columbia, Canada (where my wife is from), as well as in South India, where I was a member of the Auroville community.  This has included wetland and forest ecorestoration, rehabilitating lands damaged by mines, plant biodiversity conservation, and biological monitoring and mapping.  As a result of these experiences I have been privileged to witness how quickly nature can heal itself when we are able to support it. 

Why did you decide to become a trustee and in what way do you expect to contribute?

My parents are from Glasgow, and through them I have always felt a deep connection to the land and culture of Scotland. My visits to them often included trips to Findhorn, which I was interested in because of my involvement in Auroville.  I am excited about the potential arising here as the extended community buys the land and assets from the Findhorn Foundation, and I am particularly drawn to the FHT and the critical work it is doing to protect the endangered dune systems of the Moray Coast.  I look forward to learning more about the plants and animals of the region and to supporting the FHT to develop long-term strategies for appropriate stewardship of the land.  I am also interested in helping the FHT with its biological monitoring and ecological restoration programs. 

While working in the Auroville Botanical Gardens I became fascinated by the interface between cultural and ecological landscapes, and the impact of worldview in ensuring biodiversity protection.  In South India, for example, the ancient worldview that perceives a sacred, interconnected relationship between humans, the divine, and nature has helped to preserve forests in temple areas.  Some of the work I did involved monitoring the biodiversity of these temple groves, as well as propagating seeds to regenerate indigenous forest in areas that had been deforested.  Scotland also has a long tradition of beliefs in sacred interconnection with the land, as can be seen in the various holy wells and sacred groves that dot the landscape, however this has mostly been forgotten.  Now that I am partly based in Scotland one of the questions I am sitting with is how to include these ancestral voices and stories into the ecological restoration and stewardship of the land that we can do here. 

Even though you have only been here a very short time, with your fresh eyes, are you able to sense a vision for the future of the trust?

The FHT is in an exciting transitional time as it moves from its role of managing land owned by others to taking on ownership of these lands.  The fact that the extended Findhorn community has put its trust in the FHT to take on this new role is a testament to all the good work the FHT has done over the years.   I believe that going forward the FHT is in a good position to develop both its ecological restoration as well as its educational programs.  I see the ocean, dunes, forests and grasslands of the Hinterland as offering a great opportunity to personally explore Findhorn’s guiding principles of inner listening, co-creation with nature and love in action, while protecting a nationally significant biodiversity hotspot. 

Interviewed by Jonathan Caddy
November 2024 

 

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Findhorn Hinterland Trust, Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) SC045806
228 Pineridge, Findhorn, Forres, Moray IV36 3TB