Digging for wildlife at Penhale Dunes

Excavation works are getting underway to improve habitats for rare wildlife

The area of Penhale Dunes where notching work is happening
Author: Sophie SquiresPublished 21st Aug 2023

Excavation works are beginning at Penhale Dunes near Perranporth.

It's part of a project to help restore natural dynamic processes and support the area’s wildlife.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust say the works will involve using earth-moving machinery to create ‘V-shaped notches’ in the sand dunes.

Penhale is one of the largest dune systems in Cornwall, spanning 620 hectares (1,532 acres). The works hope to rejuvenate this area of mobile dunes, helping the many species which make use of open areas of bare sand.

Example of Dynamic Dunes excavation works at Formby

Jon Cripps, Penhale Dunes Ranger at Cornwall Wildlife Trust said: "The work will look quite dramatic as it’s unusual to see big diggers on the dunes, shifting loads of sand. However, this short-term disruption should create long-term benefits for lots of dune-adapted wildlife.

"We’ll create open spaces for plants like sea holly and sea rocket to colonise and lots of warm sandy niches for the various insects that burrow into sand, such as the tiny silvery leaf-cutter bee, the minotaur dung beetle and the predatory bee-wolf wasp!

"We hope the scale of the work will allow the wind to whistle through the dunes and keep these areas mobile, dynamic and diverse for many years to come."

Cornwall Wildlife Trust say the sand dunes at Penhale are both nationally and internationally important for their diverse range of coastal habitats and are one of the largest sand dune systems in southwest England.

The area is designated nationally as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and internationally as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

They are home to a wide variety of wildlife, such as the silver-studded blue butterfly, scrambled egg lichen, skylarks, adders and protected plants such as petalwort, early gentian and shore dock.

The silver-studded blue butterfly is one species doing well at Penhale Dunes

The Trust say that sand dunes need to be free to move to support their resident wildlife and provide them with safe homes.

The percentage of bare and mobile sand at Penhale Dunes has dramatically reduced over recent decades. It is estimated that around 50% of Penhale Dunes comprised bare sand habitats in the 1940s; this has now reduced to less than 2%.

The restoration works taking place at Penhale Dunes form part of Dynamic Dunescapes, a collaborative project working to restore 7,000 hectares (17,297 acres) of sand dunes across England and Wales.

The works involve funnelling wind-blown sand from the beach into the dune system behind. V-shaped notches will be created by diggers, and the area around these will also be stripped of turf, to create more bare sand habitat and to encourage these dunes to be more mobile again.

Lt Col Andy Westcott (Retd), Training Safety Officer for Cornwall Defence Infrastructure Organisation said: "We are extremely proud to be working with Cornwall Wildlife Trust on the Dynamic Dunescapes project.

"As custodians of this fantastic dune system, it’s great to see this management work happening to improve its condition and suitability for sand-loving wildlife."

During the works, access to the coast path, which runs along the beach at this point, will be unaffected. However, there may be slight delays on the permissive route along the dune ridge, as machinery crosses. For safety reasons Cornwall Wildlife Trust and landowners the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) ask people to please keep away from machinery at all times.

This area of Penhale Dunes is used as a military training area, so any land except the permissive path is off limits to the public. However, Cornwall Wildlife Trust have been working here in partnership with the Ministry of Defence’s DIO for over 15 years, balancing military needs with ecological conservation work.

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