We are Black Isle Permaculture & Arts (BIPA), an ecological household, garden and woodland based at The Warren. Situated on the beautiful Black Isle, 13km north of Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. Run by Clive and Julie, we offer off grid tourist accommodation, courses, workshops and volunteering opportunities covering a variety of topics focused on sustainable, regenerative and creative living, such as forest gardening, organic food growing and preserving.
STAY
We invite you to stay here in our bespoke timber cabins in the woodland of our micro-smallholding in the Scottish Highlands. Combining environmentally friendly features, artistic touches and rustic charm the cabin is ideal for eco conscious travellers who want to experience off grid living! Siskin cabin is available to book here or contact us at hello@blackislepermacultureandarts.co.uk for more information about a Permaculture inspired holiday! You can also find us on sustainable holiday planner Holiable.Com, and on the VisitScotland website.
SHARE
The household and gardens at The Warren are being transformed using Permaculture design and techniques to create a balanced ecosystem for people, plants and animals while also adapting to the unfolding climate and ecological crisis. On the 2.5 acre garden and woodland, we aim to live a creative, sustainable and resilient lifestyle by the three simple principles of People Care, Earth Care and Future Care: a place where people can visit, stay, learn and share.
LEARN
We host volunteers through the seasons as part of the WWOOF UK scheme. If you are interested in volunteering opportunities please see our host profile on the WWOOF UK website. We also welcome visitors by appointment, and hold open days and workshops throughout the year (Dependant on Covid-19 restrictions)! We became a Permaculture ScotLAND Learning And Network Demonstration (LAND) Centre in 2018 and are using our gardens as a space to show the possibilities of Permaculture on a domestic scale.
We have worked to create a place where we can live in a harmonious ecological balance which provides us with many of our needs: food, a comfortable place to live and stay, a livelihood, but also biodiversity and habitats for wildlife, and a place to share what we are learning. We have a mosaic of meadows, forest gardens, mixed woodland, a kitchen garden growing vegetables, salads, herbs, fruit, polycultures of wild flowers for insects and pollinators, and some free range hens. We use organic and no dig methods to create healthy soil, working with closed loop systems so nothing is wasted, either through composting, wormeries, mulching, reusing/upcycling materials, and wood processing for fuel.
On-site, we have built a compost toilet and a Yurt for use during events and workshops, and Siskin cabin for guests wanting an off grid, low impact holiday. We have used natural and organic materials to eco renovate the bungalow and installed renewable energies such as solar PV, solar hot water and biomass heating, as well as energy efficiency measures to reduce our energy consumption and carbon footprint. We have an arts and crafts studio where we work to create artwork and handmade products.
DUE TO COVID-19 WE ARE UNABLE TO HAVE VISITORS, HOST VOLUNTEERS OR RUN WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS AT THE MOMENT, BUT WE HAVE OUR SMALL ‘SISKIN CABIN’ AVAILABLE FOR ECO FRIENDLY HOLIDAYS WHEN TRAVEL IS SAFE AND POSSIBLE AGAIN, MORE INFO AND BOOKING HERE
Please contact us at hello@blackislepermacultureandarts.co.uk if you’d like to visit or look out for details of events on this site or our Facebook page @BIPASCOTLAND.
