Balancing gorse and sandy habitats, dune restoration and protecting the Hinterland’s impressive number of rare species are all part of ecologist Sean Reed’s review of the FHT’s five-year Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP).
Sean Reed
This year sees me reviewing the FHT’s 2020 five-year Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP), which can be accessed via the Trust’s Ecology page.
The 2020 LBAP raised the profile of sandy habitats, which are under threat of scrub encroachment, as a top priority for action on the Hinterland. Sandy dune habitats, and the species that they support, are recognised in the Scottish government’s Biodiversity List (SBL), which underpins the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. The aim of the Strategy is to make the country ‘Nature Positive’ by 2030 and restore and regenerate biodiversity by 2045. The FHT can make a small but important contribution to this national objective.
As in any emergency, priorities are important in the Nature Crisis, to ensure that limited resources are directed where they are needed the most, so that species do not become extinct and resilient wildlife populations are restored. The SBL identifies these priorities, based on a mountain of surveys and research, largely through citizen science. Biodiversity surveys on the Hinterland over the last 10 years or so have revealed a very impressive number of SBL species on the Hinterland – all of which must be considered carefully in our land custodianship.
Red-banded sand wasp. Photo:Alan Watson Featherstone
A lot has happened since 2020, not least the Covid pandemic, which set the FHT’s plans for dune restoration back by three years. Once we got back into action, however, a fantastic effort was made to catch up on this, culminating in 8 300m2 of dense gorse being converted to bare sand, providing homes for super-rare specialist sand dune species for many years to come.
It was very gratifying to receive recognition for this work earlier in the year – and for our long-term nature recovery plans – from the government’s nature adviser, NatureScot. The Hinterland is now under consideration for designation as a site that is officially contributing to the 2030 national nature recovery target.
We all love the gorse, especially at this time of year. It has its own biodiversity value, which must be considered. We are not aiming to get rid of gorse, but to create a healthier balance between gorse and sandy habitats, through careful and targeted gorse removal.
The art and science of sand dune restoration is still quite new. Up until recently, management of sand dunes was directed at stabilising them. This has unfortunately contributed to habitat fragmentation and loss, so that natural sand dunes are now extremely rare across Europe.
Endangered Felt Lichen. Photo Heather Paul
One very significant thing that happened during Covid was the publication of the Sand Dune Managers Handbook, with a second edition published in 2024: These excellent publications confirmed that the FHT is on the right track and it is now a matter of refining our approach for the next five years, which of course includes plans for our wonderful woodland and grassland habitats as well!
You may be interested to know that planning for nature was also central to the developments of North Whins, where natural sandy habitats are incorporated within the landscaping of the communal ground between houses, in the spirit of co-creation with nature. You can read more about the nature-friendly approach to housing development at the Whins in this earlier FHT post, and also on the community’s history archive, the Celebrating One Incredible Family website.
Planning for Nature Recovery – LBAP
Balancing gorse and sandy habitats, dune restoration and protecting the Hinterland’s impressive number of rare species are all part of ecologist Sean Reed’s review of the FHT’s five-year Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP).
Sean Reed
This year sees me reviewing the FHT’s 2020 five-year Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP), which can be accessed via the Trust’s Ecology page.
The 2020 LBAP raised the profile of sandy habitats, which are under threat of scrub encroachment, as a top priority for action on the Hinterland. Sandy dune habitats, and the species that they support, are recognised in the Scottish government’s Biodiversity List (SBL), which underpins the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. The aim of the Strategy is to make the country ‘Nature Positive’ by 2030 and restore and regenerate biodiversity by 2045. The FHT can make a small but important contribution to this national objective.
As in any emergency, priorities are important in the Nature Crisis, to ensure that limited resources are directed where they are needed the most, so that species do not become extinct and resilient wildlife populations are restored. The SBL identifies these priorities, based on a mountain of surveys and research, largely through citizen science. Biodiversity surveys on the Hinterland over the last 10 years or so have revealed a very impressive number of SBL species on the Hinterland – all of which must be considered carefully in our land custodianship.
Red-banded sand wasp. Photo:Alan Watson Featherstone
A lot has happened since 2020, not least the Covid pandemic, which set the FHT’s plans for dune restoration back by three years. Once we got back into action, however, a fantastic effort was made to catch up on this, culminating in 8 300m2 of dense gorse being converted to bare sand, providing homes for super-rare specialist sand dune species for many years to come.
It was very gratifying to receive recognition for this work earlier in the year – and for our long-term nature recovery plans – from the government’s nature adviser, NatureScot. The Hinterland is now under consideration for designation as a site that is officially contributing to the 2030 national nature recovery target.
We all love the gorse, especially at this time of year. It has its own biodiversity value, which must be considered. We are not aiming to get rid of gorse, but to create a healthier balance between gorse and sandy habitats, through careful and targeted gorse removal.
The art and science of sand dune restoration is still quite new. Up until recently, management of sand dunes was directed at stabilising them. This has unfortunately contributed to habitat fragmentation and loss, so that natural sand dunes are now extremely rare across Europe.
Endangered Felt Lichen. Photo Heather Paul
One very significant thing that happened during Covid was the publication of the Sand Dune Managers Handbook, with a second edition published in 2024: These excellent publications confirmed that the FHT is on the right track and it is now a matter of refining our approach for the next five years, which of course includes plans for our wonderful woodland and grassland habitats as well!
You may be interested to know that planning for nature was also central to the developments of North Whins, where natural sandy habitats are incorporated within the landscaping of the communal ground between houses, in the spirit of co-creation with nature. You can read more about the nature-friendly approach to housing development at the Whins in this earlier FHT post, and also on the community’s history archive, the Celebrating One Incredible Family website.