The Historic Environment in Community Woodlands Workshop, 9 February 11.00-1.00

The Community Woodlands Association is hosting a free, online workshop to help community woodland members, managers and directors to understand more about the historic environment in their woodlands, or proposed woodland creation scheme.

The speakers are Megan MacInnes (Applecross Community Company) and Matt Ritchie (Archaeologist and National Environment Advisor, Forestry & Land Scotland).

This event will cover:

·         what archaeological features we might discover in our woodlands;

·         why archaeology is important and how it is protected;

·         our responsibilities as land managers;

·         where to find information about our sites, desk-based audits and field surveys;

·         how to manage archaeology and the opportunities for interpretation.

Please contact Piers Voysey (piers@communitywoods.org) to register for this event.

Speakers

Megan MacInnes grew up on the Isle of Skye and lives in Applecross, where she is a part-time Local Development Officer for the Applecross Community Company. Her background is in environment and development, she has managed the Land Campaign for the international NGO Global Witness, and is a Scottish Land Commissioner. Since 2019, Megan has facilitated a process to acquire and develop a 14.5ha community woodland in Applecross.

Matt Ritchie is the archaeologist for Forestry and Land Scotland, one of a team of national environment advisors providing advice and guidance in relation to the protection, conservation and presentation of the environment on Scotland's national forests and land. His particular interests are the methodology and visualisation of archaeological measured survey; the potential for place-based archaeology within outdoor learning; and the integration of archaeology and the historic environment within the wider context of sustainable land management. He describes his role as to ‘top and tail’ projects: assessing cultural significance and identifying opportunities; developing and commissioning work; and communicating the results to wider communities of interest. He takes a creative visual approach to archaeology – check out his latest publication A Song in Stone: exploring Scotland’s Neolithic rock art and the short animated film A Song in Stone.