River Ericht Catchment Initiative
The River Ericht Catchment Restoration Initiative (RECRI) is run by a group of people based in or connected to the area. The water in the Ericht courses south from high ground, merges with the River Isla north of Coupar Angus, then joins the Tay, entering the sea at its estuary between Perth and Dundee.
RECRI is a landscape-scale nature restoration initiative in the heart of Tayside, Scotland. Working alongside landowners, farmers, businesses, communities, educational institutions, and relevant statutory bodies, our aim is to sequester carbon, increase biodiversity, improve water quality, mitigate extreme weather and save the Salmon, enabling the lives and livelihoods of all those that depend on the waters of the Ericht to thrive now and in the future.
The project’s design stage is now completed and described in Report on Stage 1 of developing our community-led, investment ready Riverwoods project (July 2024), which relates both the many achievement to date and obstacles to progress.
The group has also assembled data accumulated over many years into an ArcGIS StoryMap: The River Ericht Catchment – Baseline Assessment of the Catchment’s Biotic and Human Communities dated 18 September 2024. The StoryMap shows water courses, land use and habitats. Data on ‘social, cultural and economic metrics’ of the human communities will be added later.
By any standards the River Ericht initiative is a major success, evidence of deep commitment by a community and its funders, but it also reveals conflicting priorities and some disinterest and opposition among the main players in the landscape.
Many thanks to Clare Cooper and other contacts in Bioregioning Tayside and Cateran Ecomuseum for keeping the Living Field updated on RECRI and related work.
Community-led Food Growing | Tayside
Following its conference on Feeding Tayside through the Climate Crisis in spring 2023, Bioregioning Tayside raised funding to document and map the existing community food growing in the region.
The first results of the work were published earlier in 2024. Bioregioning Tayside’s web gives a summary of the project and findings, introducing the Intervention Wheel –
…. the objective was to visually summarise the many suggestions and recommendations made and make it easier for everyone involved in Tayside’s food system to understand where they could best contribute.
The full report is available from Bioregioning Tayside at Strengthening and developing community-led food growing in Tayside – Recipes for Action 2024 – by Clare Cooper, Donna Holford-Lovell and Ruth Watson.
[Ed. Amazing progress by this community-led initiative…. More to follow ]
Forgotten Woodlands
Much of the country was once covered in woodland. Trees were felled and the woodland cleared. Little of it remains, yet signs of woods and trees remain in the language of place names. Kevin Frediani of Dundee Botanic Gardens (University of Dundee) drew our attention to a comprehensive study described at the Forgotten Woodlands web site (quote below). The site hosts an interactive map. You can zoom in and see what might have been at any location. A great resource.
The Forgotten Woodland dataset aims to catalogue all Scottish place-names indicative of woodland coverage. The extensive research, undertaken by Dr Jake King of Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland , focuses on Gaelic, though names from Scots, English, Old Norse and British are also included.
Regenerative Agriculture | GHG emissions
A recent article from the US-based National Public Radio considers some of the facts and fallacies around the role of regenerative agriculture in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The piece Regenerative Agriculture is sold as a climate solution. Can it do all it says? appeared on 10 September 2024 as a web article and a 4-minute audio. Thanks to Ruth Watson for pointing to this article in the context of the regenerative farming exhibition at Alyth Museum and broader concerns about greenwashing.
One of the arguments centres on the extent to which regenerative practices reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and hence global warming. Some practices generally do: for example, growing nitrogen-fixing legumes such as beans, peas and clovers, can lower the use of mineral nitrogen fertiliser which itself is a major contributor to GHG. More contentious are claims that regenerative practices reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by storing more carbon in the soil. Several researches cited in the piece are (justifiably) wary of blanket claims like the latter, especially when used to gain incentives or another financial advantage. Worth a read!
The Living Field editor comments …. research in Scotland supports a view that regenerative agriculture should and can improve farmland at scales of both field and landscape. It should improve the ‘health’ of field-soil through increasing organic carbon and reducing compaction; then through cooperation among a range of farms, create landscape structures that reduce losses (causing water pollution for example), benefit the microclimate and support wildlife. Doing this will in most cases lead to lower GHG emissions, but GHG reduction should not be the sole or primary aim of the transition. More to follow …..
Legume grain or seed (background image) is an important source of protein for the human diet, while forage legumes (insets left) are fed to livestock. Soil-living bacteria (rhizobia) invade young legume roots, forming nodules in which nitrogen from the air is fixed into plant matter. Legumes improve soil health and rarely need mineral nitrogen fertiliser, so reduce water pollution and GHG emissions. Inset top right is a microscopic section of a root nodule (thanks to Euan James). All other photographs – www.livingfield.co.uk.
Stobo Hope | Mass herbicide spraying
Mass spraying of hill land with herbicide? In Scotland? 4 square kilometers of hillside have been sprayed by forestry contractors at Stobo Hope, north of Peebles, in a phase of clearing existing vegetation before planting mostly non-native trees. What’s the background?
It is a complex case. A company based in the Channel Islands – the Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund (True North Real Asset Partners Ltd) – bought the land and applied for government support to clear vegetation and plant trees, mainly sitka spruce and also some native species. The Scottish Government through the regulatory body Scottish Forestry awarded the buyer over £2 million for woodland creation. The local community was not consulted and say the environmental risks were not formally assessed. The community formed the Stobo Residents Action Group (SRAG), raised money through Crowdfunder, took out a legal challenge, and….. won. The government, through Scottish Forestry, said the work should stop. It came to light that the land had been sprayed before the company applied for the grant.
The work has been stopped, but the case is not yet over. There’s a mass of information coming online. Perhaps begin with the Crowdfunder page: Stobo Residents Action Group – Save Stobo Hope from commercial forestry project. and see their update of 11 September 2024. Then the Scottish Forestry update of 10 September 2024 – Scottish Forestry halts forestry work at Stobo over new information.
Further information and comment: the BBC report – Legal challenge halts £2m forest on black grouse moorland; Raptor Persecution UK – Legal success for Stobo Residents Action Group fighting against commercial forestry project;
John Muir Trust – Sitka spruce plantation at Stobo Hope; and also this FOI response in June 2024 by Scottish Government Response to Freedom of Information request on the Stobo Hope Woodland Creation Scheme FOI/202400412925.
Ed. writes: We’re #GenerationRestoration – living in the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration – but is seems the UN’s 10 Guiding Principles were not followed in this case (e.g., communities not involved, further degradation occurring, inadequate risk assessment and monitoring plans).
Sitka Spruce, a north american tree, is preferred in commercial forestry for its rapid growth. Here is the last stand of a spruce forest in Inverness-shire, planted early 1980s , so hardly 40 years old. What growth! Felling and cutting each tree to give uniform, straight logs needs a high degree of technology and technical skill. But few other plants live under the tree canopy and clearfelling leaves large tracts of bare, disturbed soil. Photographs by curvedflatlands.
Flow Country | UNESCO World Heritage Site
The large area of peatlands, covering 187,000 hectares in Caithness and Sutherland, became a UNESCO World Heritage site in July 2024.
From the UNESCO web site: The Flow country is “considered the most outstanding example of an actively accumulating blanket bog landscape. This peatland ecosystem, which has been accumulating for the past 9,000 years, provides a diversity of habitats home to a distinct combination of bird species and displays a remarkable diversity of features not found anywhere else on Earth. Peatlands play an important role in storing carbon and the property’s ongoing peat-forming ecological processes continue to sequester carbon on a very large scale, representing a significant research and educational resource.”
The Flow Country is one of 26 sites listed this year (24 new and 2 expanded from previous boundaries). The UNESCO web gives summaries of each site with photographs.
The Flow Country web site states it is the world’s first peatland site and the first in Scotland because of purely natural criteria (rather than archaeological or historical). Descriptions of its ecological and cultural significance, with an array of fine photographs at https://theflowcountry.org.uk/
The North Coast Visitor Centre in Thurso (including an excellent museum) has a display on the Flow Country.
Ed. It’s a large area, equivalent to nearly 27,000 average fields of the agricultural lowlands. Its new status should bring greater awareness and protection of this national treasure.
SEDA Land | Solving the Land Use Jigsaw
A discussion about integrated land use. Wednesday 17th July 2024, Falkland Estate, Fife. In the afternoon.
Major changes to the national landscape are going to be required if Scotland is to meet its 2045 net zero target. We will need to layer many uses on to a limited supply of land using an ecosystems approach.
This SEDA Land event on integrated land use could help shape the Scottish Government’s delivery plan for its Third Land Use Strategy 2021-2026. We will look at how Scotland might balance the competing needs of land for food production, timber for construction and bioproducts as an alternative to fossil fuels, at the same time as allowing space for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and recreation. Should we have national strategic zoning of land use, or should this be done at a regional, or local grassroots level by organisations such as ‘farmer clusters’?
This event forms part of GO Falkland – Groundswell Outreach – the two day regenerative farming festival on 17-18 July 2024, again at Falkland Estate in Fife. Join our expert panel representing different sectors and regions to discuss these issues.
For further info, notes on the artists who will perform and to book tickets – SEDA and Go Falkland.
Restore nature now | March | London
Over 60 thousand people assembled and marched peacefully in London on 22 June 2024 for Restore Nature Now. Why – biodiversity continues to decline, governments are too slow to act. Many organisations combined their resources and membership to support and join the march. More on the Restore Nature Now web.
Nature is an enormous treasure and it’s in our hands to restore it. But right now we’re failing it.
RNN web site
Agriculture and forestry can do much to support threatened species and habitats. But it should be much more widely acknowledged that their success depends on living organisms – microscopic fungi and bacteria in the soil, tiny invertebrates that break down organic matter and control insect pests, and the flying insects that pollinate. We call this Biodiversity for Agriculture or B for A. Get this right and the wider biodiversity of farmland will flourish (Ed.).
Farming Fit for the Future – Alyth Museum
The Farming Fit for the Future exhibition opened on 19 May 2024 at Alyth Museum in Perthshire. The exhibition consists of a set of displays, of words and photographs, first briefly stating today’s problems including soil degradation and loss of biodiversity, and then showing how a diverse group of farmers are innovating to regenerate their land and make their future sustainable.
Displays from ‘Farming Fit for the Future’ exhibition at Alyth Museum on a view of Strathmore from Dunsinnen Hill (www.livingfield.co.uk)
The exhibits make the links between people who farm and people who use the products of the land, whether food, water, nature or landscape. Innovations include reduced soil disturbance, biological nitrogen fixation, livestock creating habitat for rare birds and new products such as hemp for fibre and cooking oil. Much to think about here. This exhibition is open at Alyth Museum until the end of September 2024 but will have a life beyond its present run.
For opening times, directions and parking see Alyth Museum web site. For related activities see Cateran Ecomuseum and Bioregioning Tayside.
LEAF Open Farm Sunday 9 June 2024
Going since 2006 and held this year on 9 June 2024, LEAF reports that OFS this year was a great success. More than 180,000 visitors attended 241 events across the UK. Watch the highlights video and read the press release at farmsunday.org
The Living Field hosted many OFS events in the past. It’s s great way to bring people in to farming.
Make a note – next year’s Open Farm Sunday is on 8 June 2025.
Plant Power Day 2024 – Dundee Botanics
Shining sun, good looking plants, easy vibes – a great day at Plant Power 2024, held Saturday 18 May: based at Dundee Botanic Gardens, and run by the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institute, to show the diversity, the uses, the absolute fascination of the living things that give life to the rest of us.
Variations in plant form and structure – a few of the many plant species in the Botanic Gardens, 18 May 2024
Old or New? Worlds that is. Where did crop plants originate – the Americas or Eurasia? The solanums – potato and tomato – from the west, and the grain cereals from the east, but what about lettuce and cucumber? And these new grains – quinoa and amaranth – where do they come from? A quiz on the origins of food crops (none from here) was just one of the exhibits, many of the them geared to children (who all, or … well …. most, seemed to have a great time). And what a good idea to have the Nature Collective Art and Craft Fair on site. Looking forward to next year’s event.
2024 | eArth Day | 22 April
“Every April 22nd individuals from all backgrounds and walks of life unite in a global effort to advance sustainability and climate action, marking the annual observation of Earth Day.”
The theme for 2024 is Planet vs Plastics : “ …. our collective commitment to tackle the plastic crisis head-on, aiming for a bold 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040 and aspiring to forge a plastic-free future because recycling is not the answer.”
Global plastics increased from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to 348 million in 2017 and is expected to double by 2040. Plastics are everywhere. They degrade to microplastics. We can’t see them but they’re there: in the soil, in rivers and lakes, in the sea, on mountains. We are eating them.
Policies advocated include raising awareness of the damaging effects of plastics to the environment and also to human health, phasing out single-use plastics by 2030 and curbing fast fashion, which uses synthetic materials made of plastics such as polyester and nylon. An example of raising awareness is the recently published Babies vs Plastics report (read or download here).
Anyone can join in, take action and make a difference. See the EarthDay 24 Action Toolkit for help and ideas.
Further: Update on the continuing deliberations on a global plastics treaty, see UN Environment Programme at Pivotal fourth session of negotiations on a global plastics treaty opens in Ottrawa (23 April 2024).
SEDA LAND – YOU ARE WHAT YOUR FOOD EATS
28 February 2024 Online discussion free to all. More at SEDA Land. Join 13.30 to 16.00 at Eventbright.
In “You Are What Your Food Eats”, we aim to investigate the long-term effects of land-use decisions on climate change and the food chain. This is part of a long-term project that SEDA Land is running in and around Huntly. The event forms part of a collaboration between the community, scientists, landowners, farmers, food processors, distributors and retailers.
We will start by looking at the range of food that could provide the nutrition for a healthy diet for the population in Huntly; which crops can be grown locally, by traditional or alternative methods; and how to achieve that.
A roundtable discussion involving all stakeholders in the production and distribution of food will look at how we can add value to Huntly’s food supply chain to achieve resilience and health equity. We will identify obstacles and propose solutions to achieving a fair and just transition to net zero in the rural land-use sector.
Oddfellows parade | Newburgh Fife
On the south side of the Tay estuary, on the last day of each year, the Caledonian Lodge of Oddfellows parades up and down the main street through the small town of Newburgh from 7 to 8 pm. A great occasion for the community who are out in numbers lining the route, following the parade and giving donations for charity.
A marching band keeps time, playing ‘Hearts of Oak’ and more jaunty tunes. A section of the parade wears grotesque costumes and masks, sometimes running amok in the crowd and frightening the kids. But it’s all good natured.
More on the Oddfellows in general at Wikipedia. The Newburgh Oddfellows has a Fb page. More background at Calendar Customs, and for a collection of good photographs see Photos by Zoe. This Hogmanay parade is the only one of its type in Scotland. Great tradition!
SEDA LAND ONLINE CONVERSATIONS
Advance notice of a SEDA Land Conversation on 28 February 2024: You are what your food eats involving a tour of Knock Farm Aberdeenshire 1000-1200 then a hybrid Conversation 1330 to 1600 (1.30 – to 4 pm). Update and Links above.
And of the two earlier ones on Carbon Finance … reports to follow …
Notice of two online Conversations in the SEDA Land Series 0n Tuesday 7 and Monday 13 November 2023: first Communiy Benefits, then Getting the Balance Right. Information on topics to be discussed and how to join via Eventbright (£2 to 8) at https://www.seda.uk.net/events. Topical but complex. More to follow.
HIGHLAND ARCHAEOLOGY FESTIVAL | NOSAS 25
North of Scotland Archaeology Society (NOSAS) will hold its 25th anniversary events late October and early November 2023. Several events are open to the public. Of interest to Living Field readers may be: Old Mill at Breakachy, west of Beauly (mill ruins, pond and lade, 31 October), Prehistoric rock art at Clava Cairns near Inverness (1 November) and Mulchaich Settlements, Black Isle (Ferintosh whisky, chambered cairn, 3 November). Find out more and book at NOSAS 25.
The Archaeology Festival returns for three weeks from 23 September to 13 October 2023 – Celebrating Highland Archaeology, History and Heritage. There’s over 100 events including walks, workshops, visits and exhibitions. Great opportunities to learn also about historic land use in northern Scotland. See what’s on at the Events Calendar. There’s also year-round self-guided trails and if you have never tried Geocaching, now’s the time.
EARTH OVERSHOOT DAY | PLASTIC OVERSHOOT DAY 2023
Earth Overshoot Day is a marker – comparing the natural ecological resources that the earth or a country can generate in a year with the resources used over the same period. The fraction (resources generated over resources used) is multiplied by 365. The two were similar in the early 1970s when Earth Overshoot Day was near the end of December.
Since then, people have used more resources than can be generated – the excess equates to degraded soil, habitat destruction, ecocide and CO2 emissions. The generated/used indicator has gone down to 0.59 in 2023 which gives Earth Overshoot Day as 2 August 2023, day 214 (i.e., 365 x 0.59). Another way of expressing it is that, this year, humans will use the ecological equivalent of 1.7 earths. For origins, methods and examples for your country, see the Earth Overshoot Day web. For a comprehensive explanation of the methodology, see Global Footprint network.
There’s also Plastic Overshoot Day which this year is 28 July 2023. It signifies the huge mass of plastic lost to the environment, not recycled or re-used. The Overshoot Days calculated for the UK are relatively small compared to those of many countries, but there’s still an awful lot of plastic waste here, which goes into waterways or lies in soil and sand where it degrades to microplastic. A legacy!
BIOREGIONING TAYSIDE – Latest
Progress to report on several fronts from Bioregioning Tayside. The report on Feeding Tayside through the Climate Crisis – a meeting on 24 March 2023 is available online at Launch Conference and Future Plans. Recordings of the sessions are available through that link. Next steps under discussion.
The River Ericht Catchment Restoration Initiative – founded by several community-led organisations – has been successful in attracting funding beginning August 2023. Details including map of the catchment, composition of the group and planned activities are on the Bioregioning web at Watershed Management. This is one of two projects funded by Riverwoods Investment Readiness Pioneers.
“The River Ericht: one of the most important spawning grounds for Atlantic salmon in Europe, is in crisis. Extreme weather caused by climate change, historic and current land management practices and invasive species, are damaging the quantity and quality of water in the river and the health of its vegetation, woodlands and wildlife. As a result, salmon numbers are in steep decline and in danger of disappearing altogether.”
SEDA LAND | ONLINE EVENTS | GO FALKLAND | HUNTLY MAPPING
Activities by the SEDA Land community are on the up. We begin with some reports on recent events. A recording of the very successful online conversation Building Futures in Rural Scotland on 18 April 2023 is available at SEDA’s Past events and reports together with notes from the Chat Box. For a summary of the topics discussed, see in Gail Halvorsen’s blog of 12 June. Then Beltane at the Sheiling Project, 28 and 29 April 2023 in Strathfarrar, which brought together young people (ages 15-30) working in rural land use, is covered by Ben Murphy at Fostering Community through Ceilidh’ing.
SEDA Land’s presence at GO Falkland on 1 July 2023 was a great success, as was the event as a whole – see Gail’s account at A Farming Revolution on the SEDA land web. SEDA hosted the Bio-Caledonia presentations and discussion on Scotland’s strategy for biodiversity and talked to many visitors at the display in the communal marquee.
The Huntly Mapping project – Mapping Land Use, climate change and food – is starting to roll: see the poster (below right). A description of the proposed work and a request for involvement from the local community is being circulated by SEDA Land and is now available on the Living Field web.
And finally (for now) here is advance notice of an Online Conversation to be held 9 October 2023 – Number 2 in the series Building Futures in Rural Scotland on the topic of “Can Local Government Lead? Flyer below left, info and booking at SEDA Land current events. And just out, notice of another Conversation in the Building Futures series, this one titles “How to help communities” on 30 October, more to follow.
ARCHAEOLOGY | NOSAS | MULCHAICH | BLACK ISLE | BERE
On one of Andrew Wights journeys (1778-1784), he linked the neglect of the agriculture around Ferintosh on the Black Isle to the local preoccupation with distilling barley or its landrace bere. In recent years, NOSAS (North of Scotland Archaeological Society) has been excavating a site at Mulchaich, near Ferintosh, including the kilns that were probably used for drying malt (germinated bere seed). The site is now open to visitors. Information on the excavation, links to related sources and a leaflet for visitors can all be read and downloaded from the NOSAS web at Visit the site of an 18th century distillery.
Notes on Wright’s journey on the Black Isle are on the Living Field web at Great quantities of Aquavitae. Bere was grown at the Living Field garden for many years: see Garden | Cereals, Bere barley at the Living Field, and for links to all bere articles on this site – the Bere line. (Posted 22/07/2023)
ARTWORKS | DUNDEE SLESSOR GARDENS | AURORA AUSTRALIS
The book was Aurora Australis, made in the Antarctic in 1908 by the crew of the Nimrod during their 1907-09 expedition to Antarctica led by Shackleton. Some of the pages are displayed online by the Dundee Heritage Trust (DHT). Now a public art installation of the same name is on display on the hoardings around a building plot next to Slessor Gardens in Dundee Waterfront. Two of the prints are shown here – see the full set at Sharing Not Hoarding. The artworks originated from Art Night’s InWith programme and were created by DHT’s Creative Communities Network.
More at Creative Dundee and Art Night. Was great to see all these prints, outdoors and for free.
BIOSPHERE RENEWED AND EXTENDED
The area of Galloway and South Ayrshire designated as a UNESCO Biosphere for the past 10 years has been renewed for a further 10 and had its area extended following reassessment (4 July 2023). UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – Biospheres contain areas of outstanding landscapes and wildlife but do not exclude people. Living and working alongside nature are integral to the concept of a Biosphere. Each of the 740+ biospheres in the world share the same aims in Conservation, Learning, Sustainable Development and Climate resilience.
The achievements of Galloway and South Ayrshire are listed in this News page on their web site and include a Biosphere Certification Mark for local businesses, a Learning for Sustainability Toolkit and the Blackface Wool Project.
UNESCO states that its Biospheres ‘promote solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use’ and are ‘sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention ….’
SEDA LAND EVENT – BIO-CALEDONIA at GO FALKLAND
The next SEDA Land Conversation will be held at GO Falkland in Fife on 1 July 2023. The panel will present and discuss an effective long-term strategy for halting and reversing declines in farmland biodiversity.
GO Falkland is an all-day event on regenerative and sustainable agriculture and food production to be held at the Falkland Estate on 1 July 2023. Links: Bio-Caledonia and GO Falkland. More to follow ….
KAFFE FACETTE at DOVECOT STUDIOS EDINBURGH
Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh is hosting an exhibition Kaffe Facette The Power of Pattern from 31 March to 8 July 2023. Kaffe Facette is renown in textile design, pattern, colour and craftwork. Many have learnt from his methods and created their own style. This exhibition brings together a range of quilts – or to the unskilled and uninitiated (like the ed.) bits of coloured fabric sown together. Quilting on this scale is high art, high craft, a level of intricacy that’s hard to fathom. Here’s one of them – based on Durer’s rhinoceros.
It’s called Tickled Pink, made 2005, by Susan Carlson who lives in Maine USA. Like many of the quilts on display, this one has a message. The artist writes: “… these rhinos are having a hard time in our world. They are losing habitat and are being killed for their body parts, especially their horns”. She hopes the artwork will help to raise awareness of their plight.
Information and links: Dovecot Studios general info and the Power of Pattern exhibition; web page Kaffe Facette. To see a copy of one of Durer’s originals: The Library of Innerpeffray.
CELTIC ART CONFERENCE
Ruth Black – celtic artist, weaver, feltmaker (among her many talents) – is taking part in the 2nd International Day of Celtic Art Conference at Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, June 8-10 2023. Ruth described, in a Living Field article, how she creates artwork using natural fibres, mainly wool – Ancient and Modern – techniques with wool in textile art.
LESLEY HARRISON | BOOK OF POEMS | KITCHEN MUSIC
Lesley Harrison, writer and poet, based on the Angus coast has a new book of poetry titled Kitchen Music, published by Carcanet in the UK and New Directions in New York, US.
John Glenday writes: “Lesley Harrison is a writer of consistent brilliance, who with just a handful of words can conjure song from silence. These are warnings, elegies and celebrations… Kitchen Music is a meticulously crafted Northern Hymnal – a brilliantly conceived orison to the flora and fauna of the higher latitudes. This collection is essential reading for anyone keen to understand why poetry remains a unique force for change on this planet.’
Kitchen Music will be launched online at 19:00 Wednesday 31 May by Carcanet – register here for £2. ‘The event will feature readings and discussion, and audience members will have the opportunity to ask their own questions. We will show the text during readings so that you can read along.’
Lesley’s contributions to the Living Field web can be seen at Poems, projects, writing. More to follow after the launch.
NEW EXHIBITION BY TINA SCOPA 17-30 APRIL 2023
Tina Scopa has worked with the Living Field and at Hutton open days in the past, basing her art and materials on plant and soil. She now has a new exhibition in St Andrews, 17-30 April, Upstairs at J & G Innes, 107 South St. See more on Tina’s work at her Living Field pages: Tina Scopa and Edaphic Plant Art.
BELTANE @ THE SHIELING PROJECT
29-30 April 2023, a unique one and a half day event on land use, wellbeing and biodiversity at Dunmaglass, near Struy, Strathfarrar. More on the event at the SEDA web, tickets via Eventbrite
“We are holding this event to enable young people working in sustainability, land use and other rural jobs to make connections and to foster opportunities for collaboration. The event is also a chance to discuss some of the issues and barriers to living and working rurally today, including depopulation, isolation and limited employment opportunities.”
“The event aims to bring together young people working in land use and sustainability, the local community and sector stakeholders to learn, make connections and explore solutions that integrate traditional knowledge and new thinking. Web site for the Shieling Project.
SEDA LAND CONVERSATION – BUILDING FUTURES IN RURAL SCOTLAND
18 April 2023, 4 – 6 pm, online. Latest in the series of highly successful online Land Conversations held by the Scottish Ecological Design Association. Info at SEDA Land Building Futures in Rural Scotland. Tickets at Eventbrite.
“Join our inspiring panel to discuss how we might build more sustainable rural communities and encourage the repopulation of the Scottish countryside.”
“We will discuss how to build more sustainable rural communities and encourage the repopulation of the Scottish countryside. While some large landowners are prioritising rewilding, this event will focus on those who lean more towards reviving communities.”
BIOREGIONING TAYSIDE
“Bioregioning Tayside is a new platform which is bringing people in Tayside together to build community resilience in the face of …. climate warming ….. mass extinction ….. and a broken economic model.” Find out about it here.
Bioregioning Tayside is organising a meeting Feeding Tayside through the Climate Crisis to be held at Discovery Point, Dundee on Friday 24 March 2023. Read about it on the Scottish Rural Network web. More to follow with the Living Field editor’s blog on the event.
“Bioregioning reframes the way we see the places where we live and work, helping us reconnect to and restore the ecological systems of which we are a part and upon which we all depend.”
Ed: a great day at the Bioregioning Tayside meeting, many interests expressed, diverse views considered. Waiting for the report on the day and then …. more on the Living Field web.
WESTER ROSS BIOSPHERE | CULTIVATE PROJECT
The Wester Ross Biosphere continues to integrate its unique biophysical character with its people and cultural heritage. The CULTIVATE Project – Co-creating cultural heritage and narratives for sustainable rural landscapes – is a partnership between Biosphere regions in Scotland. Czech Republic, Estonia and Norway and is led by the University of the Highlands and Islands. Find out more here.
Gairloch Museum – among its varied activities – will be holding a Winter Talk on 28 March 2023 on ‘Exploring sustainable rural; landscapes through cultural heritage objects in Wester Ross Biosphere” – an evening facilitated by researchers from the University of the Highlands and Islands working on the CULTIVATE Project.
Wester Ross is one of seven UNESCO Biospheres in the UK. UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere programme has led globally on placing equal importance on the natural history of a region and its people.
GEFRIN | YEAVERING
Ad Gefrin – By the Hill of the Goats – was the place of the Northumbrian kings in the 600s. Known more commonly as Yeavering today (same root), the site was excavated first in the 1960s. In March this year a stunning new museum with distillery attached, opened in Wooler to tell Ad Gefrin’ story. The museum and archaeological site are set within an extensive landscape that has been farmed since at least the Bronze Age. [More to follow …]
PLANT ATLAS 2020
The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland launched the new Plant Atlas on 9 March 2023. What an achievement – 30 million records of 3495 species collected in field survey over 20 years followed by 3 years of analysis. The data can be accessed online for free. The Atlas documents the massive changes in plant species over the past few decades: decrease in 53% of of native species, increase in 58% of recent introductions.
Hard copies of the books can be bought at plantatlas2020.org. More to follow on the Living Field.
REAL BREAD FESTIVAL ST MONANS FIFE
The first Scottish bread Festival will be held at the Bowhouse, St Monans Fife on 23 February 2023, 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. It’s run jointly by The Read Bread Campaign and Scotland the Bread.
Scotland grows very little of its own bread-making wheat … and who these days makes flatbreads from oatmeal, beremeal and peasmeal? . The event hosts a range of stalls, cafes, exhibits, talks, films and things to do for children. Here’s the Programme. It’s the first – not to be missed!
COUNTRYSIDE VISITORS – WHO PAYS?
The next SEDA Land Conversation – 13 February 2023 online, book through eventbright, see below.
This event will explore how Scotland could direct more of the revenue raised from visitors to the countryside towards rural communities. The revenue would help improve facilities both for those living there and for the visitors themselves.
This event will be in the format of SEDA Land’s popular two-hour “Conversations”. As always, the events will be led by the science, but inspired by artists and practitioners who are already experimenting with these ideas. Full details of the event here and tickets at eventbright here.
BATTLE OF THE BRAES, SKYE – ONLINE EXHIBITION
The UN Biodiversity Conference in December 2022 (below) raised awareness of the rights of indigenous peoples and the protection they should get to stop the erosion of their land, culture, income and way for life. It’s been a hard road for most indigenous societies, and oppression continues – activists murdered to gain land for beef and soy, and ancient sacred sites knowingly destroyed by international mining interests.
The clearances in Scotland had similar cause – land taken for agricultural ‘improvement’; and similar effects – people uprooted, livelihood lost, culture lost. But one community resisted the landed elites. It led to an insurrection known as the Battle of the Braes in Skye on 19 April 1882. An exhibition on the battle was held in 2022 at the Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre and continues now online at the Highlife Highland web. Perhaps begin with the Introduction then move to the. Exhibition pages. More on the battle at Sabal Mor Ostaig.
Page 2 : news items from 2022 and earlier