A project with John Muir Award participants from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), 2018/19

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Refu-Trees is a project that replaced some of the lost Elms in Merkinch Nature Reserve, Inverness with Birch saplings that were considered an invasive species in a  Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Black Isle. The saplings were re-homed in the nature reserve.

 

As an act of reciprocity, the participants made unfired clay bells that they melded with wildflower seeds. The bells were hung on the saplings, waiting for the rain to dissolve them and disperse the seeds into the earth around the trees. 

 

On another occasion, participants spent some time mediating in the local forest. Afterwards, they were asked to say one word in response to their experience. These words were carved into recycle wood and made into signs that were placed in the Well Being Garden at UHI. 

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