The Laxay River, once considered as one of the best Salmon fishing rivers on Lewis, has long been a popular spot for traditional angling (and a legendary site for poaching in the 19th and 20th centuries). With Wild Atlantic Salmon numbers declining and the species now protected, the Soval Estate operates a catch and release policy on their waters. The Estate is also working closely with the Wild Atlantic Salmon Trust on a catchment scale restoration partnership to develop long term habitat improvement and environmental monitoring strategies for the coming years. It is here, at this juncture, that the Kinloch Historical Society built their latest engagement project with pupils from Sgoil nan Loch.
The project, Abhainn Lacasaidh, began when the Bumblebee Conservation Trust approached the historical society to lead an intergenerational biodiversity project as part of the Species on the Edge programme. The brief was to take a stretch of local landscape and explore it through eco-cultural mapping.
At its root, eco-cultural mapping is a collaboration between scientific survey work and the memory and knowledge of the people who actually know the land. But more importantly, it is an opportunity for people to engage on a deeper level with the land that houses them and the vast variety of species we share it with.
Eco-cultural mapping was first used by displaced indigenous tribes who were looking to re-connect with the landscape of their ancestors. These tribes would look to the elders of their villages for information on how people used to interact and live alongside the local flora and fauna, helping to create stronger connections with their homeland, and to consider how they would like to interact with it in the future. At the heart of this research method is the intergenerational learning, bringing communities closer together, not just with each other, but with their past, present and future.
Perhaps the most successful example of eco-cultural mapping and intergenerational learning in the UK is the Penpont Project in Wales, the UK’s largest intergenerational nature restoration project. For seven years young people, professionals, estate owners, and local farmers have sought to improve the biodiversity across a 2,000-acre estate in the Bannau Brychieniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park.
It was this very project that inspired Abhainn Lacasaidh, so it was an absolute pleasure to welcome Molly Singleton, from Action for Conservation, and Ellen Wilson, from Peak Cymru, who work on the Penpont Project, to the Hub to meet the pupils and for some information sharing. Molly and Ellen shared their own eco-cultural map, which focused on the River Usk, as well as some words and phrases in the Welsh language. The similarities between Welsh and Gaelic were a big talking point, signifying the link between our two nations and cultures.
For eight weeks, pupils from classes GM 4/5 and GL 4/5 from Sgoil nan Loch, learned all about the various species that inhabit and surround the river and how the local community has engaged with the landscape over a 150-year period. The depth of information the young people consumed over the eight weeks was astonishing; indicator species of river flies, the life cycle of a salmon, local history & lore, traditional healing practices, multiple species of birds, the dangers of invasive non-native species… The list goes on and on.
Not only were we impressed by the young people’s ability to engage with the information they were given, but also by how well they retained that information, and how passionately they created their maps. We asked them what they enjoyed most about the project and the overwhelming response was ‘pond dipping’. Being out in nature really ignited something in these kids—one pupil described it as “fun and experience-sive.”
These maps, as well as an accompanying film documenting their learning journey, were launched to the public on Tuesday 16 June. The young people spoke eloquently when introducing their project, sharing their new knowledge with family and friends, and special guests from Glasgow University who were on Lewis conducting fieldwork as part of their Coastal Conservation course. The overlap with our own work on the Laxay river was striking, and it was a genuinely proud moment watching our young people explain their findings to university researchers!
Dr Anna Nousek-McGregor, senior lecturer, Ecology and Environmental Change, said of the project: “It’s really wonderful to see the work that’s being done here. It aligns very much with what we’re trying to do at the University of Glasgow to bring together understanding of place with animals and culture, and there’s a lot we can learn across all those areas.”
But the project didn’t end there! On Wednesday 24 June, we completed our final task and planted 120 native trees at the school—pupils, professionals and the local community working together to improve the biodiversity of Lochs! Time will tell if these baby trees take root, but what has definitely sprouted is a passion in our young people for their local landscape, a need to protect it, engage with it, and learn from it.
The Abhainn Lacasaidh project has been a huge success for the Kinloch Historical Society. One of our aims is to engage with the local community in new and innovative ways, helping to grow interest in the work of the society and in the local Kinloch heritage and culture. This project not only strengthened our relationship with Sgoil nan Loch and our local communities, it also created new partnerships and opportunities for future working with a multitude of local and national organisations.
The Kinloch Historical Society would like to thank: Sgoil nan Loch, Species on the Edge, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, RSPB, Nature Scot, The Wild Atlantic Salmon Trust, Soval Estate, Woodlands Trust, Action for Conservation, Peak Cymru, and our local crofters and tradition bearers for all their help and expertise with this project.
