Findhorn beach sand dunes are the subject of an improvement project by Findhorn Hinterland Trust
A coastal area of natural beauty is to be improved for the benefit of rare species.
Community charity, Findhorn Hinterland Trust (FHT), is taking action to restore rare sand dune habitats for threatened wildlife starting on Monday, November 11 - the work is expected to take a week, all going to plan.
Trust chairman, Jonathan Caddy, confirmed the aim is to convert half a hectare behind the back shore of dense gorse into pristine bare sand, using an excavator and forestry mulcher.
He explained: “Findhorn dunes are nationally important for biodiversity, especially for super-rare insects and lichens.
“We have been working to save the most important habitats using a brush cutter and volunteer work parties for the last decade, but the scope of the problem is beyond the capacity of hand tools.”
Findhorn dunes are home to around 400 species of moths including rare dune specialists such as Portland and Lyme Grass. There are also records for even rarer species including Caryocolum blandelloides, new to science in 1981 and with a UK range limited to dune systems in the western Moray Firth. Findhorn Dunes are also the most important site in Scotland for the moth Scythris empetrella, known from only one other place.
Findhorn’s dunes formed part of the second largest sand dune system in Europe but only small fragments of the wild ecosystem remain. Those that do are threatened by gorse encroachment.
Healthy sand dune ecosystems have around five per cent gorse cover, but it is 90 per cent in the Hinterland area. This is as a result of the wind-sheltering effect of houses and plantation woodland - sand is no longer able to blow about as it naturally would.
The Findhorn Hinterland Trust charity was started in 2015 to manage 35 hectares of dunes and woodland east of Findhorn. It does not own land but works with landowners and other local stakeholders.
Ecologist, Sean Reed, explained that the aim is to connect-up the few remaining high quality dune heath habitats, and restart wind-blown sand in these areas.
He said: “The work may appear to be destructive while it is taking place, but it is a vital part of our wildlife conservation work and the land will very quickly take-on a natural appearance afterwards.”
