Tristan Dougan: My experience as a Long-Term Volunteer at Dundreggan

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I joined Trees for Life in May, joining two other volunteers in the long-term volunteer cottage at Dundreggan. The following day I was given an induction to Trees for Life, and introduced to all the staff members in the nursery and the estate. I learned about all the areas on the estate and how things would operate in the coming months. A highlight of the talk was learning some Gaelic names for small and large hill, Binnilidh Bheag and Binnilidh Mhor, which would become some of my favourite places to sit and watch the estate and the time fly by during the weeks to come.

Life on the estate is never dull, and I would never feel the urge to have a lie in! During the month of May we spent a lot of time in the nursery. Here I learned how to stratify hazels and prick out a large variety of trees native to the Caledonian Forest, also meeting and working with volunteers who would occasionally lend a hand from the Conservation Weeks. There is a great amount of time and care that goes into the growing of trees, and a lot to learn from the superb staff who manage the nursery. One of most interesting parts of the nursery for me was learning how to propagate aspen (Populus tremula) through taking cuttings from a root that has been collected in the winter, that then sends out suckers until its energy source is depleted. These suckers are cut then potted into root trainers that then continue to grow in the polytunnel to be planted out next year. Aspen have the ability to clone through suckers under the ground connecting the young sapling to mature trees, making this propagation process possible. This is just one of many fascinating elements of the environment you will learn about with Trees for Life.

Being in Dundreggan during May and July meant that I had some long days to enjoy exploring though out the estate and the surrounding areas. These expeditions would take the form of traversing the winding burns and rivers, bathing in the plunge pools and showering beneath the waterfalls on hot days. Taking walks through the dappled light of the forests with the birds singing in the trees, observing the layers of growth throughout the forest from the wood ants to the towering Scots pine that seemed to be ablaze with the light of the evening sun. On the weekends we would venture off into the Highlands, staying in bothies and climbing Munros to see ptarmigan, mountain hares and golden eagles. We also headed to Skye and Glen Coe on a few occasions to be blessed with a school of dolphins swimming past, and enjoyed hiking through Glen Coe on the Aonach Eagach ridge walk.

I came to Dundreggan having completed my Bachelors Degree in Fine Art and Visual Culture in the summer of 2013. Throughout my studies I was always confronted with the struggle between the natural environment and the environment we construct in a post-industrial world. My desire to volunteer with Trees for Life came from a wish to immerse myself within a diverse natural environment, from which to gain knowledge and material to mediate on through my art my thoughts on this conflict. This has now blossomed into more than just interest, as I now feel assured that I would be able to persue a career within ecology or conservation – as not only does it interest me, but it also makes me happy to be working within our natural world.

I am now enrolled as a fundraising research volunteer with Trees for Life. Here I am able to see the other side of how the organisation works; learning how to develop relationships between the charity and its Trusts and Corporate donors, as well as being able to see how the practical projects are funded. This has now established a further desire to learn how to manage fundraising within a charity through partaking in a postgraduate course in Fundraising or Market Research, to cement the skills to confidently pursue my desired career.  

I have gained some invaluable knowledge throughout my time with Trees for Life and feel confident that this knowledge will be transferable to all my future endeavours. One of the most impressive qualities of Trees for Life is its strength of community throughout the organisation, a key aspect I will be seeking out in future employment. I would like to end with the beauty of the estate at Dundreggan and the surrounding glen. Sitting on Binnilidh Mhor for hours on end, watching the natural cinema that unfolds all around you, with the changing of light on the hills and the wispy forms of the clouds that obscure, highlight, wrap themselves around, and open up the beautiful landscape that is Dundreggan.

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