Field Notes: Creative rainforest celebration at Nevis

Nevis Manager Steph McKenna reports on a fun evening engaging with partners in the Nevis Landscape Partnership and the local community for a creative celebration of Scotland’s rainforest. 

Last Thursday, Nevis Landscape Partnership hosted a Creative Rainforest Showcase to engage members of the community with the vital work taking place in Glen Nevis to restore globally important temperate rainforest.

Local artists displayed their rainforest-themed art bringing to life the special qualities of rainforest plant communities.

Artwork on display included short films and poems, creating a magical evening that stimulated the public's imagination for the future of temperate rainforest in the UK.

Particluarly memorable was a stirring Gaelic poem shared by Trees for Life's Eilidh Sykes. It described the species that once flourished in the landscape. Many of the varities described in the poem have no translation, bringing home the sobering reality of what has been lost, but also shining a light on the richness that can be brough back by restoring Scotland’s rainforest.

The John Muir Trust's stall was incredibly busy with people of all ages visiting to chat about the amazing lichens, mosses and epiphytes laid out on the table and make prints.

Printing with the plants really brought their detail to life and many people noted how intricate and beautiful they are. Clear favourites were the Common Polypody ferns and Lungwort Lichen.

It's always great fun encouraging people to pick up the plants and have a proper look and smell - if you can't take people to the rainforest, take it to them! 

Photography: Sarah Johnson - Aeon Creative