DOZENS of trees are to be planted in Moffat next month to honour those lost to covid in the region.
It is one of the designated sites for the Dispersed Memorial Forest project, which will see 400 trees in total planted locally as part of Remembering Together Dumfries and Galloway.
Artists TS Beall and Katie Anderson, pictured, will be working with communities across the region to collaboratively design and plant the forest across five sites – Castle Douglas, Dumfries, Sanquhar, Stranraer and at the community nature reserve in Moffat.
They said: “We want to plant one tree for each person we lost to covid in the region, and additional trees to represent other types of loss and resilience; to highlight the different ways communities ‘grew together’ over the pandemic.”
The forest comprises the central part of the official covid memorial for Dumfries and Galloway, which will also include community events in all five locations, and a permanent archive sharing stories from the community.
Moffat residents are being invited to help with the planting, which is scheduled for March 25-30, weather dependent, as well as be a part of its launch.
There will also be chances to connect with the project, comment on the works and ideas in development, and to volunteer and get involved in co-designing specific aspects of the Community Covid Memorial.
Over the coming months, through to spring, there will be opportunities to plant trees, attend creative workshops, and contribute to community events.
Anyone interested should email [email protected].
Remembering Together Dumfries and Galloway is commissioned by greenspace scotland, DG Unlimited, and Dumfries and Galloway Council with funding from the Scottish Government.
Councillor Ian Blake said: “During the pandemic many of us found that doing something creative helped us to cope with very difficult experiences. It’s great to see how communities and individuals from across Dumfries and Galloway have helped shaped this covid memorial project for our region.”
Lucy Bell, of DG Unlimited, added: “This is an important project for this region and for Scotland, and we are all thrilled to see the plans coming to fruition and the tree planting commencing.”
