Environment Articles

by Environment Festival attendees

For a week in October, members of the Environment Team had the pleasure of coming together in person to experience the wilds of the Scottish Highlands and learn a little Gaelic to boot! We asked them to share some of their favourite moments from the event:

Sheila Doucet, AAWE Paris

Rewilding. Tree planting. Ecosystem restoration. Gentle hikes. Stargazing. Learning. Doing. Exchanging. Bonding friendships. Healing ... a sampling of what brought eleven hearty souls representing six countries from eight FAWCO clubs together in late October for the Environment Team’s first in-person Environment Festival.

One example of a magical moment: As we toured the various grounds of the tree nursery, we happened upon the founder of the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre, Alan Watson Featherstone, a nature photographer whose drive led him to plant the first trees on the property in 1991. It was inspirational to hear “his-story” of the Centre, his motivations and guiding principles. For him, ecological restoration is essentially first observing the land and then favoring the conditions for nature to do its work. “Recovery is a natural process. What we want to do is to help it on its way, to co-create with Nature.” This work is also beneficial on a personal level. Our modest efforts also help us to recenter our connection to and appreciation of our place in the cycle of life.

The one who plants trees knowing they will never sit in their shade, has started to understand the meaning of life.

– Author unknown

You can find additional inspiration by watching Alan's 20-minute TED talk.

Ayuska Motha, AIWC Cologne

For me, one of the highlights of the first-ever in-person Environment Festival 2025 was how much the 11 of us had in common. Despite being different ages, living in different places and having such different lives, we all shared our love of the environment, trees and nature. Together, we were able to enjoy the wonderful highlands and learn more about the fabulous work the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre is leading. It was also a chance for me to finally meet several of the environment team members like Amanda, Anne and Rosie in person. I have been working virtually with Amanda and Anne for many years but this was the first time we actually got to meet each other in person instead of on a screen.

Anne van Oorschot, AWC The Hague

On Thursday afternoon, nine of us headed over to Dundreggan’s tree nursery to volunteer for two hours. We split into two groups: one in the field by a row of 2-year-old Alder seedlings and the other group in a spacious shed to do “quality control” on seedlings.

The “field workers” were instructed to: 1) clear the weeds between the seedlings; 2) push in a pitchfork a distance from the seedlings and parallel to the roots and tip up and down to loosen the soil without damaging the roots; 3) repeat step 2 from a few angles around the seedlings until you can grasp the seedling and gently pull it loose from the ground; 4) carefully shake off excess soil and place the seedling – roots down – in a waiting plastic bag to protect the bare roots.

The volunteers in the shed had the next step in the process: 1) remove a few alder seedlings from the plastic bag and visually check for dead sections and damage to the plant or roots; 2) using a handy stick as a guide, measure the height of the aboveground part of the seedling – if too short, discard; 3) gently hold the roots and lay them out straight; using the same measuring guide, cut off any excess roots. 4) make piles of five seedlings which the Dundreggan staff member briefly double checks, puts in the final bag and keeps count.

We were helping with an order placed at the center for 6,000 alder saplings and we succeeded in getting about 900 seedlings ready to go. The seedlings would be planted the following week as part of a rewilding project. The field work was physically a bit tough, but the entire process gave me a new respect for the time and care required to do successful rewilding!

Amanda Drollinger, AWC Central Scotland

This is a part of Scotland that I love visiting, and being able to share it through the FAWCO Environment Festival has been amazing. I enjoy the forest and hills of Glenmoriston and the Trees for Life Dundreggan Rewilding Centre makes the beauty and wealth of nature of the area accessible to a wide range of people – from those of us with a strong, relentless dedication to climate action and the environment to those just coming to grips with the concept of climate change and biodiversity loss.

It is a place of real UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) action – where ideas become reality. Here, SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 15 Life on Land come to life for visitors without pretension or judgment, allowing anyone to get involved and be a part of positive change. Although not advertised in this way, it is the physical manifestation of many of the ideas contained in these SDGs, while at the same time allowing visitors to gain the benefits that only time in nature provides, as enjoyable recreation. I have loved the enthusiasm of the group and of all the staff at the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre. The passion for nature and the dedication to sharing it as openly and broadly as possible is inspirational.

Rebekka & Linus Klingshirn (Heidelberg IWC)

It never takes much to convince us to visit Scotland – we just love it! Linus joined the Youth Program in 2024, also visiting the Rewilding Center in the Highlands, and I always said that I would have loved to be there with him. So when this opportunity opened up, we gladly joined the Environment Team! I studied in Stirling so many years ago and since we’ve always, since then, flown into Edinburgh to visit Scotland, we went to Glasgow instead this time. What a wonderful, vibrant city! Celebrating its 850th anniversary this year, we were not disappointed with all it had to offer. Learning that Glasgow is a “world leader in lifelong learning” prepared us well for all our endeavours at the Rewilding Centre with the whole group. We learned so much about why the process of rewilding – not only flora but also fauna – is so difficult that I would like to add SDG 4 to the mix: Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. The incredible knowledge about the area that our guide Frannie shared with us and also the inclusive accessibility of the centre really does promote inclusive learning opportunities for all. Our favorite moment? Everything! The night walk with the incredibly clear sky stood out because of all the visible stars. Thank you to the Environment Team for inviting us to join and for an incredibly well organised festival!

Rosie Deane, AWBS – Berkshire and Surrey and Environment Team Co-chair

As a new member of the Environment Team, as well as new Co-Chair, I jumped at the opportunity to join the "E-Team" at this Rewilding Festival, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I got to meet such a dynamic group of people from across the world who all care deeply about our planet and its human and non-human residents.

I had the chance to visit such a beautiful part of my own country (although some Scots might dispute that!) and to witness the decades-long dedication with which Trees for Life and the Dundreggan Rewilding team have sought to recreate the natural Scottish wilderness and educate as many people as they can as to why protecting our natural environment is so essential for our survival.

This is exactly why the FAWCO Environment Team exists and why I am so humbled to be co-chairing, with Maria, this vitally important part of the Global Issues Teams.

Thank you to Amanda and Ayuska for organising this uplifting Festival and looking forward to hosting future events.

Slàinte!