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Kilchoan Melfort Trust

@kilchoantrust

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Restoring, rewilding & conserving the land, sea and soul, in the west of Scotland

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📣 🦈 We are excited to announce that our website is now LIVE ~ 🔗 in bio!

Learn about Shark & Skate species found in Scottish waters, report a sighting, identify species and more!
Have a look around the site and let us know what you think - if you spot any glitches please do let us know!

Chris and Lauren would like to say a big thank you to the @kilchoantrust for sponsoring the build of the site and to @rachelbrooksart for her generous permission for the use of her beautiful artwork 🤩

#shark #skate #elasmobranch #websitelaunch #scotland

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MELFORT MUSIC WEEKEND 2026

Now the dust has finally settled and 'recovery' time has been taken at Ceòl Cholasa it's time to take a look back at the brilliant Melfort Music Weekend.

Please share your special moments in comments 🙏

It was such a privilege to see so much fantastic talent from near and far - thanks to Charlie Mckerron and Friends, Astro Bloc, Kris Drever, Good Guy Hank, Adam Brown & David Foley, the Oban High School Traditional Band and our very own Chancers for their magnificent music - and to all the excellent local talent who added to our festival soundtrack. 🎶 ❤️

We're very grateful to our sponsors the Loch Melfort Hotel, Kilchoan Melfort Trust, Green Power and Melfort House for their support in helping make this special weekend a reality ✨🙏🏻

Thanks to the Cuilfail Hotel, and Kilmelford and Kilninver Village Hall and of course to our many hard working and welcoming volunteers.

Roll on MM27 - the dates for your diary are 10,11 and 12 September 2027 😊

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Summer 2026 ☀️

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Special guest on board of our Mustang!👀

We welcomed Jane Jones, the Scottish Food Commissioner, to see our ROV in action underwater 🌊

It was an all-female crew at Open Seas today, joined by our trustees Jean and Lorna. Lorna also works with @seawilding, a rewilding sea meadow project and you can see some of that gorgeous, lush seagrass meadow in the footage our ROV captured. 🌿

Marnik from @kilchoantrust joined us and took us for a look at their oyster nursery + lobster & langoustine pots (they count every single catch!) 🦞🦪

Bonus surprise: a spotted catfish showed up in the pots! Safely returned to the sea, no harm done 🐱🐟

Fun fact: catfish skin feels like sandpaper 🧽

#OpenSeas #MarineConservation #ScottishSeas #Seagrass #Rewilding #ROV #OceanConservation #SustainableFishing

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What an afternoon exploring the beautiful Kilchoan estate open gardens event, we loved all the amazing sculptures, and the cakes were delicious too #tallastravels #abplace2b @west_coast_photos_co_uk

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Kilchoan Melfort Trust Garden Open Weekend. These gardens are stunning. If you get a chance, they are well worth a visit! Open again tomorrow, Sunday 18th May, 10am-5pm. Coffee and cakes available courtesy of the wonderful @pollyscoffee @kilchoantrust

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Community science strikes again! 🌊

By helping identify and monitor important egg-laying habitats, community members and researchers together contributed to protecting one of the most vulnerable marine species in UK waters: the flapper skate.

Dr Lauren Smith, Chris Rickard, and Marnik Van Cauter were aided in their 31-month survey of Loch Melfort by intrepid local divers from the local community. Thanks to their combined efforts, 16 egg cases were confirmed to be laid in the survey site over the 31 months, with successful hatching occurring across all seasons. A fantastic bit of insight into such an elusive creature.

“Understanding reproductive characteristics and essential habitat requirements is necessary to accurately predict population stability. Skate reproductive behaviour and habitat selection play key roles in species survival.” - Lauren Smith.

These sites matter because every egg case represents the next generation of a species recovering from historic decline. Without everyone’s help, these kinds of surveys are nearly impossible to pull off.

Science doesn’t only happen in labs or universities. It also happens on boats, on coastlines, through local knowledge, shared observations, and people who care enough to get involved.

#CommunityScience #CitizenScience #MarineConservation #FlapperSkate #OceanRecovery

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📣 Shark & Skate Scotland and Kilchoan Melfort Trust are delighted to announce that our paper titled “Monitoring a Flapper Skate (Dipturus intermedius) Egg-Laying Site in Loch Melfort, Scotland, by a Community Science Group” has today been published in: Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems!
📑 Our publication marks the culmination of a dedicated voluntary effort of which we are incredibly proud, we would like to thank everyone involved who helped make this project possible.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.70374

#newpaperalert #publication #flapperskate #communityscience

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Studio and nature moments from 2025 I’m thankful for including material learnings with local clay-soils, studio visits from vvv talented friends and artists (tysm @adamgruning & @h__fielder), clear nights, clouds that look like things (❣️🍄‍🟫), London Craft Week w/ @wondering.people <33, sun-baked soils, polished beach stones, clay sinkholes in the sand, cloud inversions, geological and ecological entanglements with @projectseagrass / @aca_plas_sac, tree covered with porcelain fungus, fieldwork in Scotland with @ma_regenerativedesign and a research visit to @mparysm to gather clay samples thanks to @trish_bould and Martin Schwaller from @geomon_geoparc.

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda / HNY to all !! Here’s to more coexistence, collaboration and care between people and planet in 2026 🪲🪨🌀

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An deach agaibh air an taisbeanadh “Holdfast” fhaicinn ann an taigh-tasgaidh Chille Mhàrtainn?

Bha e na urram dhomh gun deach iarraidh orm leis an luchd-ealain, a bha air mhuinntireas san @argyllhopespot ann an 2024, mo chuid a chur ris an taisbeanadh aca a chaidh a chumail eadar an t-Sultain gus an Dùbhlachd am-bliadhna. Chaidh mo chlàradh sa Ghàidhlig mar phàirt dheth, a’ bruidhinn mun cheangal domhainn eadar na h-uisgeachan seo agus Gàidhlig.

Nuair a thig e gu bhith a’ beachachadh air ath-fhiadhachadh na tìre is mu ath-bheothachadh na mara, ‘s ann tro shùilean nan Gàidheal a dh’fheumas sinn na h-àrainneachdan seo fhaicinn is a thuigsinn.

‘S mar sin, tha mi air mo dhòigh glan gu bheil an luchd-ealain a’ cur luach air cho deatamach ‘s a tha seo agus gun deach aca air sùim a thoirt don Ghàidhlig tro chuid den obair-ealain, gus na h-uisgeachan seo far chosta siar na h-Alba a chomarrachadh. Tha mi a’ nochdadh fiù ‘s sa chomaig le @illustrationetc 😁

Thathar an dòchas gun tèid an taisbeanadh seo air chuairt air feadh Alba rè na bliadhna a tha romhainn. ‘S mar sin, mura deach agaibh air fhaicinn cumaibh cluas ri claisneachd!
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Did you manage to see the exhibition “Holdfast” in @kilmartinmuseum?

I was honored to be asked by the artists, who were in residence in the Argyll Hope Spot in 2024, to contribute to their exhibition which was held between September and December this year. I was recorded speaking Gaelic as part of it, talking about the deep connection between these waters and Gaelic.

When it comes to considering issues such as rewilding of the land and the restoring of the sea, it is through the lens of the Gael that we must understand and see these environments.
So I am delighted that the artists appreciate how vital this is and that they managed to demonstrate respect to the Gaelic language through some of the artwork, in order to celebrate these waters off the west coast of Scotland. And I am even immortalised in the comic by Rosie Cunningham!

It’s hoped that the exhibition will go on tour across Scotland during the year ahead. So if you didn’t manage to see it, stayed tuned!

#argyll #hopespot #missionblue #sea #gaelic #art

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✨ What can plants growing in harsh environments teach us?

For Zsolt Fodor, horticulture is shaped by plants that thrive against the odds, from alpine species to conservation collections at Scotland's Kilchoan Melfort Trust.

🌱 Read his December Community Spotlight to explore a career inspired by resilience, science, and care for the natural world. #linkinbio

#IrisBG #irisbgcommunity #irisbgcommunityspotlight #alpineplants #kilchoanmelforttrust #horticulture

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Had the absolute pleasure in attending the Scottish Plant Recovery partner event yesterday at @rbgedinburgh Such an inspiring and informative event to be apart of, knowing the scale of the impact we are having in restoring these at risk species. Thank you @rbgescottishplants for having us! Looking forward to the next chapter!

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