CUMBRIA is one of the areas that will be targeted by a project to save sand dunes across England and Wales.
‘Dynamic Dunescapes’, backed by £4m in National Lottery Heritage funding, will aim to change approaches to managing dunes.
Threats to these habitats, which are home to creatures such as the endangered natterjack toad, include invasive species and hydrological problems.
In Cumbria, the project is being backed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Natural England, and will focus on the west coast.
Drew Bennellick, head of land and nature UK policy at the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “In recent decades the approach has been to keep dunes where they are by using fencing and vegetation. We now know that this is bad news for some of the rare species that make their homes among our dunes and they need to be able to naturally move.”
He added: “It’s not easy to get the balance right – we need dunes to move but we don’t want them to end up in people’s gardens or taking over the beachside car park.”
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