Nairn Dune Resilience project launches in bid to safeguard ecosystem at Nairn Central Beach and help prevent future flooding
A pilot project seeking to restore sand dunes at a Nairn beach has been launched in a bid to safeguard the area from flooding and coastal erosion.
The initiative run by Nairn Improvement Community Enterprise (NICE) aims to protect the dune ecosystem at Nairn Central beach — which, according to a report published in 2023, is the most vulnerable section of the coast in the area to the impact of climate change-related storms and rising tides.
With the appointment of conservation specialist Mark Bradfield as project coordinator, the project was recently injected £11k of funding to kick off the initiative, and the hope is that more funding will become available for it to continue.
Mr Bradfield said: “I am really excited to be working on it.
“The predictions are that climate change is going to be having a greater impact on us and that by 2050, some of some of the dunes at Nairn could be in a bad condition and we could be facing the risk of storm damage to that area.
“So it gets more and more important that we start taking action now, and hopefully we can reduce those impacts from future storms.
“This area is very close to the heart of people living in Nairn, and you realise that it's a really precious resource and I'm looking forward to helping the community look after it and improve it for the future.”
Volunteer activities could include helping clear scrub or plant new marram grass — as well as getting people involved in activities such as taking photos of the beach to track project progress and landscape changes, and recording plant and wildlife sightings — including the rare ‘Small Blue ‘ butterfly which lives in the dunes.
The project will entail working alongside existing local groups such as Green Hive and conservation charities such as Butterfly Conservation and RSPB.
The Highland and Islands Climate Hub is also a key partner on the project — which will be presented to the public on Thursday, September 25 at the Sustainable Nairnshire afternoon as part of the Highlands and Islands Climate Festival, as well as at NICE’s AGM held on the same evening at the Nairn Community and Arts Centre - more details are available on NICE’s website.
Dates for volunteers to work on the projcect have also been shared, with work party sessions running on several Saturdays this autumn — September 27, October 11 and October 25 — as well as midweek sessions on October 7, 23 and 29. The working group will be meeting at Seaman’s Hall at 9.30am, with potental changes due to the weather.
Anyone wishing to be involved — or be contacted in case of changes to planned dates and times — can get in touch with duneresilience@nicenairn.org.uk.