Cove Park and ACT: Argyll & the Isles Coast & Countryside Trust, working in partnership as the Argyll Beacon, have established Argyll Rainforest Community Network, a programme initiated in 2024 that seeks to bring together isolated rural communities in our region to build a network of rainforest habitats, and to connect these communities through creativity, education, and a shared interest in preserving this important habitat.

As part of this project, we commissioned cellist and teacher Jessica Kerr to compose new music in connection with the Argyll Rainforest Community Network, following time spent in Argyll’s temperate rainforests.This Is Our Home is a collaborative work with contributions from the children of Tighnabruaich Primary School and Lochgilphead Primary School.

Notes from the Composer 

Four days of workshops across these two primary schools revealed children who were knowledgeable about the temperate rainforest in their area, keen to protect it, and most of all enthusiastic about getting outdoors and enjoying and exploring the rainforest in their own way. The lyrics to the children’s song in the middle section of the piece – recorded live in the schools – reflect the children’s conversations about what can be found in the forests, and the way in which children feel a connection to their rainforest.  This connection is rooted in curiosity, playfulness, joy, and care for nature. Field recordings from rainforest sites visited during the project provide the aural backdrop to the piece, particularly birdsong recorded at Glenan Wood, along with snippets of conversation.

During the research for this project I was able to spend time in two areas of temperate rainforest: Glenan Wood near Tighnabruaich, and Barrandaimh, on the site of the Argyll Beaver Centre near Lochgilphead. Both sites host incredibly beautiful forest, but visiting them allowed me to experience just how fragmented the temperate rainforests in Scotland are. The music opens and closes with tiny scattered fragments of the melody – unrecognisable as a whole – as a reminder of the striking geographical spread of this habitat.

The music attempts to capture two aspects of my time spent in the rainforest and with their local communities. First is the sheer beauty the rainforest. Glades of dappled light with an overwhelming richness of textures, patterns and myriad shades of green, ancient trees with character and stories to tell, fascinating fungi and tiny worlds-within-worlds of moss and lichen. There were spots within the trees where time slowed down, new possibilities opened up, and it was possible to feel completely at peace surrounded by the quiet abundance of life. The second aspect that I wanted to capture in music is the infectious energy of the children I met in the local schools, combined with the busy complexity of the rainforest ecosystem, where a single rock or tree stump can be bursting with life. This is an exuberant celebration of thriving rainforest communities where diversity and complexity bring resilience and joy.

This Is Our Home was commissioned in 2024 by ACT and Cove Park for the Argyll Rainforest Community Network, with partnership funding from Creative Carbon Scotland.