Immersing himself not only in the family's life but also integrating into the broader village community, the experience was subsequently to provide one of those pivotal life-defining moments. His days were spent tending cattle and yaks, planting and harvesting barley and apricots, milking cows, churning butter and trying to learn a little of the Ladakhi language and the Tibetan Buddhist culture.

"It was like a high-altitude version of crofting," he recalled. "They have very close connections with the land and the mountains. I lived with the family for the whole summer, sleeping on the roof of the house under a Yak hair blanket."

It was while herding goats, he decided to to write a thesis on the River Findorn which was close to where he had grown up. "Staying in Ladakh showed me the possibilities of what can be done on sustainability and how people can create such abundance out of very little," he reflected. "It was a very powerful thing."

Seven years on, what started as a thesis has now been published as a book, "White River", which underpins Jamie's passion for environment and the Highland landscape but also has an urgent and deeper underlying message for everyone — the threats posed to mankind by such issues as global warming, pollution and waste.

Jamie, who works at the Ardross Street office of solicitors, R. & R. Urquart, is also a member of the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), a UK charity which helps people use the law to protect and improve their local environment and quality of life — he has, for example, advised a group opposed to the controversial plans by US billionaire Donald Trump to build a golf complex in Abereenshire.

He explained the book was based on his journey along the River Findhorn. "I spent five days walking from the sea — from Culbin Sands at Findhorn, up into the Monadliath Mountains through Coignafearn up to the river's source and then canoeing the navigable bits of the river from Tomatin downwards.

"To write it, I took a notebook and would make notes of the natural features and the ideas which would spring to mind."

His thesis was for a degree in human ecology which he described as a "limitless subject" bringing together a mix of environmental science with philosophy, psychology, law and arts and culture. "It is really studying how the natural world effects humans who live there and vice versa."

Consequently, the resulting book, White River, is a blend of poetry, prose, meditation and observations. It covers a wide range of subjects such as the re-introduction of species, renewable energy, history, culture, geology, Celtic mythology and Bhuddism.

"My home is just outside Forres but I had never fully explored the watershed where I live," he revealed. "Although I had travelled abroad, I never journeyed on foot or canoe along the river where I live."

Jamie also writes in detail about the Atlantic salmon which returns each year to the burn where it was born. "When it returns to that particular burn to spawn, it goes through a huge range of environmental zones across a wide geographical distance," he explained. "The salmon is a brilliant indicator species like the canary in the mineshaft — we can use salmon as a clear indicator of the state of the North Atlantic. Since the 1960s, there has been a decline in salmon numbers."

He also outlines his views on the global economy and how this impacts locally. "We have so much transcience in terms of people moving around and the way in which our economy is constructed. At the moment what we need to do in the Highlands to build up a strong economy is to build it up locally — to have strong local economies you do not necessarily have to rely on big companies parachuting in to help us. That has its pluses and minuses."

One recurrent message is that climate unequivocally presents the greatest challenge humans have had to face collectively and one which demands commitment and change. "Climate change is a massively complex issue. Recent reports and trends tend to rely on a technical fix -— that we will be saved by technology. I think technology has a part to play but it is not a panacea. It is not the only solution.

"It is about the process of restoration to help deal with climate change. It is so much stronger if people have a strong sense of place and cultural awareness. The two are inter-linked.

Environmental lawyer Jamie Whittle with his just-published book. Alasdair Allen

"That is what the book is about. It is to raise awareness, not necessarily of the River Findhorn, but wherever you live."

Jamie's interest in the environment was nurtured from an early age. Although he was born in Inverness — his mother's family was from the city and his grandfather owned the former store, F.A.Cameron, in Church Street — he grew up at Forres.

"From a young age, I used to spend a lot of time outdoors, camping, doing a lot of fishing and also shooting and stalking although I stopped that in my early 20s.

"I got into conservation when I was about 15. I went to Africa to help on a farm in Kenya. I came into contact with the wildlife there and it was an incredibly powerful and impressive experience."

Educated in the Yorkshire Dales, he won a Morehead scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Considered to be the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the world, just 40 students are accepted each year, of which two are from Great Britain. Jamie graduated with honours in Modern Languages and also won the Jaques Hardre Prize for French.

Still unsure as to what he wanted to do, however, he took time out to travel for the next two years. His journeys took him through the Yukon Territory and southern Africa to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. It was while he was in a cloud forest in Costa Rica he decided to dedicate himself to the protection and preservation of wild places and threatened species.

Consequently, he studied law at the University of Edinburgh while at the same time doing a Masters degree in Human Ecology through the Open University. One of his university summers was spent at the Centre for International Environmental Law in Geneva which he found "incredibly inspiring".

As well as looking at groups such as the World Trade Organisation, he was also involved in the issue of genetically-modified (GM) crops whose introduction American manufacturers were trying to proliferate around the world. "It raised the question of how it would effect communities, farms and intellectual property rights. That was the first big environmental issue I got involved in."

More recently, he has been involved in the Beauly to Denny public inquiry, representing objectors to the proposed 137-mile overhead power line to carry renewable energy from the Highlands and Islands to consumers in the south. Given his warnings about climate change, some might query whether there is an element of contradiction in his stance.

"My view is that with Beauly to Denny, it is a question of design," he replied. "We have the ability to be much more creative than we have been in the past. The way I have been been representing the people on the Beauly to Denny line is undergrounding. The challenge has not been about the arguments which are about stopping the line — but more a question of trying to do it right if it genuinely needs to be done."

v.sweeney@inverness-courier.co.uk

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend