Sands of LIFE summer and autumn work update for sand dunes around South Wales

Following our recent update on the upcoming work along the Ardudwy coast, Sands of LIFE Project and Monitoring Officer South, Laura Bowen shares the project’s plans for five key sand dune sites along the South Wales coast.

A lot of vital work is due to start towards late summer at Kenfig. We will be scraping areas of dune to recreate crucial bare sand habitat that is being lost from Wales’ sand dunes at an alarming rate. We will also be creating one new dune slack in an area previously cleared of scrub. A dune slack scrape will create damp bare sand habitat which plants such as the Fen Orchid rely on to thrive.

Over at Pembrey Burrows we will be controlling the invasive sea buckthorn. Despite its vibrant flash of colour from its orange berries, this thorny species is non-native to our sand dunes and takes over the precious space native plants require to survive.

At Laugharne-Pendine Burrows we will continue our scrub clearance works to remove a further 3ha of sea buckthorn and installing 3km of fencing to allow the cattle to graze more of the dunes and ensure long-term management of the dunes.

Mowing works will be undertaken at Whiteford Burrows, Merthyr Mawr and Kenfig to help keep the vegetation short.

We will also be hosting a guided walk this autumn with SEWBReC, where Emma Williams will show us the autumnal delights of fungi found at Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve. To register for the walk please go to www.eventbrite.co.uk and search for Sands of LIFE.

All Sands of LIFE work is completed to help keep sand dune habitats healthy. Please keep an eye on our social media feeds where we’ll continue to post regular work updates. We’re found @TwyniByw on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or by searching Sands of LIFE.

If you have any queries about our work, please feel free to get in contact with me directly via email at Laura.Bowen@cyfoethnaturiolymru.gov.uk