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Duneland


History

Duneland, adjacent to Findhorn Foundation Community was formally owned by the Wilkie family. At the time of purchase, it was over 400 acres, with a large area of ecologically sensitive dunes, a 30 acres of woodland surrounding Pineridge, and lots of gorse. Much of the southern areas of the land were used by the RAF during the war, with dispersal runways littered through it.

It was offered to the Findhorn Foundation in 1996 by the then owners and was a once in a lifetime opportunity. When the Foundation declined to purchase the land, a group of community members and friends set up Duneland Ltd. We raised the funds and bought the property in May of 1997. Many of the key areas of land owned by the Findhorn Foundation border the estate or are separated by it. As well as the shelterbelt created by the woodland, it connects the various separate areas: the Universal Hall, Cullerne, Pineridge and the Central Area. This area of land has become known as the 'Magic Triangle' because of its connecting function. It is approximately 16 acres in size and has significant potential for development in its own right.

The Duneland purchase completes the Findhorn Community's anticipated collective land holding and provides for the future needs of the ecovillage project, both in terms of amenity land like the woodland and dunes areas, as well as providing some land for building and other settlement functions.

In 2000, after two and a half years of negotiation, Dunelands Ltd. gifted 170 acres of the estate to the Findhorn Dunes Trust, a new body made up of representatives of Findhorn Village as well as the Findhorn Foundation Community. This was an historic alliance, the first time the village and the Community came together in a joint project. This special area of wild nature is now protected and mutually benefits all parties on the Findhorn peninsula.

We are also engaged in woodland regeneration, slowly replacing monoculture, non-indigenous trees with natural woodland and expanding the area of planting. From the time we purchased the land, we removed the old fences. Since then, the magic triangle and the woodlands areas have been available for use by the public.
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