Scotland’s native plants and their use in medicine and cosmetics have been the focus of a project with Edinburgh’s Nepalese community
Lasting impressions
“It’s been a good experience for me because for the first time ever in my life I have visited and checked the wonder of the trees and plants. I learned the mystery of the plant world.”
So wrote Keshab Timsina, of Edinburgh’s Nepalese community, after one of his visits as part of the Healing in the Fields and Forests project. The year-long project gave members of the community the chance to discover the traditional medicinal and cosmetic uses of Scotland’s native plant life. The project was developed through Forestry Commission Scotland and SNH funding, and designed by Joanna Boyce of Creative Art Works working with the Gurkha Association Scotland and herbalist Monica Wilde. It brought together a group of Nepalese Scots, botanists from the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (RBGE), medical herbalists and community educators. Together, they explored forests and rural areas to experience Scotland’s variety of plants and their uses. “Being outside and connecting to the countryside is very much part of Nepalese culture,” explained Joanna Boyce, “so it was important to their community in Edinburgh to find a relevant way to discover their local Scottish woodlands. They also wanted to inspire in their children a life-long interest in nature and love of the great outdoors.” The project set out to acheive this using nature and plants as a common
theme. The aim was to exchange knowledge and understanding about the medicinal and cosmetic uses of plants, both in the UK and in Nepal, and also encourage the use of woodlands and green space by the Nepalese community. The folk who took part went on guided walks to learn about the plants and their uses, with links made to related plants in Nepal and how they’re used there. The walks were followed up with workshops that used a selection of plants for practical sessions preparing medicinal tonics, creams, ointments, soaps, perfumes, tinctures and syrups.
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