An acclaimed north-east filmmaker has released a documentary which saw her spend weeks in the wilderness.
Aberdonian Lisa Marley, 27, was involved for over a year on Project Wolf, which follows an experimental ‘human wolf pack’ in the Highlands.
The 30-minute documentary examines the special study, which was run by charity Trees for Life.
The scheme saw volunteers spending weeks in the Caledonian Forest, mimicking the behaviours and disturbance patterns of large predators, like wolves, in an effort to curb overgrazing of saplings and new growth by the native red deer population.
Now based in Bristol, Miss Marley was drawn to the project after her mother sent her a newspaper clipping.
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As soon as she met with the charity, she was determined to tell the story and successfully funded the documentary through a crowdfunding campaign in early 2017, which was supported by renowned conservationist Chris Packham.
She said: “It’s been over a year since I launched the crowdfunding campaign for Project Wolf, and since then I have been living and breathing this film.
“I am so thrilled to finally be able to share it. When I ventured out into the forest to join the ‘human wolf pack’ I really didn’t know what to expect.
“I had no idea about the diversity of reasons that compelled the volunteers to become involved and how profoundly their time in the Highlands would affect them.
“Meeting the people involved in the study and uncovering the conversations that are happening around rewilding in Scotland has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”
Trees for Life chief executive Steve Micklewright added: “Trees for Life undertook Project Wolf with the aim of mimicking the behaviour of large predators to reduce deer browsing pressure on young seedlings in the Caledonian Forest fragments at our Dundreggan Conservation Estate.
“Early monitoring results showed that the volunteers were successful in disturbing the deer and moving them on – an important feature of the predator-prey relationship.”
Project Wolf follows on from Miss Marley’s last film, Red Sky on the Black Isle.
The acclaimed short documentary about the mass poisoning of red kites in the Highlands has been translated into multiple languages and screened around the world at scientific conferences and film festivals, including in Spain, France and the USA.
