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Sefton Coast - summary
The sand dunes of the Sefton Coast, northwest England are approximately 2,000ha
of blown sand lying between the Mersey and Ribble estuaries. The site is a candidate
Special Area of Conservation and includes a number of Natura
2000 vegetation types including priority habitats "Fixed dunes
with herbaceous vegetation (grey dune)" and dune heath "Decalcified
dunes with Empetrum nigrum; Eu-atlantic decalcified
fixed dunes (Calluno-Ulicetea)". The site also supports Petallophyllum
ralfsii, Triturus cristatus, Bufo
calamita and Lacerta
agilis included in Annex II or IV of the Habitats
Directive.
They have suffered many of the problems typical of dune sites across Europe,
namely:
- Dune fragmentation (housing, roads, golf courses, agriculture, military
use);
- Over-stabilisation due to a reduction in grazing pressure and sand stabilisation
works;
- Plantations of conifers. 120ha of open dune was planted with pine (mostly
Pinus nigra ssp laricio) between 1897 and
1960;
- Need for the control of recreational use;
- Nearly 50% of the priority fixed dune vegetation and nearly all the dune
heath lies within golf courses and military sites and outside the cSAC.
A co-ordinated response to these problems began in 1978 through the Sefton
Coast Management Scheme. Within the framework of the Scheme, funding was secured
through the EC Life-Nature programme to assist with conservation efforts on
the dune coast and in particular to assist with the preparation of a conservation
strategy for the sand dunes of the Sefton Coast. The Sefton
Coast Life Project was operational between 1995 and 1999 (Houston
et al. 2001).
| Guidance: This is a key site for demonstrating integrated approaches
to management. It also provides important examples of restoration techniques,
notably for scrub
control including Hippophae, dune mobilisation through
deforestation
and dune
slack restoration. It is also of special significance as a site
where techniques of sand dune management in relation to the conservation
of Bufo calamita (natterjack toad) have
been pioneered (Simpson et al. 2001a).
Further information can be obtained via the Sefton Coast web site @ http://www.seftoncoast.org.uk/. |
References
Houston, J.A., Edmondson, S.E. & Rooney, P.J.
2001.
Coastal Dune Management: Shared Experience of European Conservation Practice. Liverpool University Press, 458 pp.
Simpson, D.E., Houston, J.A. & Rooney, P.J.
2001a.
Towards best practice in the sustainable management of sand dune habitats: 2 Management of the Ainsdale dunes on the Sefton Coast.
In: Coastal Dune Management: Shared Experience of European Conservation Practice, eds.Houston, J.A., Edmondson, S.E. & Rooney, P.J.Liverpool University Press, 262-270.
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