A tree isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life!
News article
Christmas trees on sand dunes
On Sunday 7 February Fylde Sand Dune Project volunteers planted Christmas trees on North Beach in St Annes to give the dunes a helping hand. The trees may be dead and unloved after Christmas but they are an important part of conserving the dunes.
The Christmas trees will slow the wind - causing sand to be deposited and new dunes to form. This will help to increase the width of the dunes providing more important wildlife habitat and increasing the robustness of the dunes against the sea.
By trapping the sand on the beach, it will allow the current dunes to stabilise and will hopefully help to reduce the amount of wind-blown sand reaching the roads and houses behind.
A group of 15 enthusiastic volunteers “planted” the dead trees in the sand and erected fencing to protect the trees and dunes. Volunteers from Friends of the Estuary and Wyre rangers also came along to pitch in and help out.
People are being asked to keep away form the trees to allow them to ‘do their thing.’ In order for the dunes to grow and develop the delicate grasses need to be left undisturbed so they can thrive and stabilise the dune.
The Fylde Sand Dunes Project is a partnership between Lancashire Wildlife Trust and Fylde Borough Council, set up to help protect and promote the dunes. The project is funded through Landfill and Aggregate money from Lancashire Environment Fund, SITA trust and Aggregates Levy Sustainability fund from Lancashire County Council.
Sand dunes project officer Anne Heslop said: ‘We had a really great turn out of people to plant the trees and everyone worked very hard to protect the dunes.
‘The dunes are very narrow in this area and the Christmas trees and fencing will provide a helping hand to encourage the dunes to develop. A wider dune system benefits everyone: we should have less wind-blown sand, a better sea defence and more wildlife habitat – everyone’s a winner!
“I’d like to ask people to keep away from the trees to allow the trees to trap sand and grasses to develop. Dune grasses are vital to the system’s stability but they are vulnerable to being trampled.’
The Christmas trees were collected as part of Fylde Borough Council’s tree recycling scheme.
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