DYNAMIC DUNESCAPES: AMBITIOUS PLAN UNVEILED TO RESTORE THREATENED SAND DUNES AT NINE LOCATIONS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Sandhills - home to sand lizards and dune gentians (photo: Natural England)

A THIRD of England and Wales’s threatened sand dunes should have a brighter future thanks to a National Lottery-funded conservation and restoration project unveiled earlier this month.

Sand dunes are listed as the habitat most at risk in Europe.

They are a sanctuary for endangered plants and animals such as  the dune gentian and natterjack toad.

However, many are being smothered and fixed by a tide of invasive scrub, becoming sterile, grassy hillocks.

Now the Heritage Lottery Fund has given initial support for grants totaling up to £4.1-m to cover a four-year partnership project, Dynamic Dunescapes, which will restore some of the most important sand dune landscapes.

Natural England, National Trust, Plantlife, The Wildlife Trusts and Natural Resources Wales will work with local coastal communities to conserve and restore up to 7000ha in nine areas.

Sand dunes are a naturally dynamic habitat.

As the coastal winds blow, new ‘embryo’ dunes are formed at the top of the beach and they slowly grow and shift to create the landscapes we know.

The early stages of the project will explore how to re-establish the natural movement within dunes to create the conditions that some of our rarest wildlife relies upon.

Comments Natural England chairman Andrew Sells:“We’re really excited about this fantastic project.

“Dunes are not only a backdrop to a day at the seaside - they are home to some of our rarest species and are in desperate need of help.

The project will concentrate on improving the condition of nine identified dune cluster sites at:

Ø      Lincolnshire Sand Hills

Ø      Studland Dunes, Dorset

Ø      North Cornwall Coast

Ø      Braunton Burrows

Ø      North Devon Coast

Ø      Swansea/Neath Port Talbot

Ø      Carmarthen; Anglesey/Gwynedd

Ø      Sefton Coast

Ø      Cumbrian Coast/Solway

The projects will involve :

• Conservation work to re-establish natural processes
• A programme of removal of native and non-native invasive species
• Restoration and creation of dune slacks and dune wetlands
• Turf stripping and sand scraping to create bare sand patches
• On-site interpretation and a national promotion programme
• Community education activity, including a schools programme
• A programme of adult and youth volunteering

Drew Bennellick, Head of Landscapes and Natural Heritage at the Heritage Lottery Fund comments: “This is pioneering a new approach to dune management.

“In recent decades many sand dunes have become smothered by thick vegetation.

“We now know that this is bad news for some of the rare species that make their homes among our dunes and need a mixture of open sand, pools of water and varied vegetation to thrive.

“Thanks to this National Lottery funding and the expertise of the partnership organisations, we can begin to find ways of addressing these pressing issues.”

Plants and creatures that make their home in the dune landscape include:

• Flowers such as  purple milk-vetch and dune gentian
• Invertebrates such as the spectacular silver-studded blue butterfly and snail-killing flies;
• Mosses and liverworts including  the diminutive petal-wort
• Reptiles and amphibians such as natterjack toads, sand lizards and great crested newts.

Dunes have a long place in the cultural history of the United Kingdom.

These special places include prehistoric sites around the coast and medieval religious settlements.