Beach and Dune - Gower - page 161

Eynonwerealsousedforpracticelandings.MajormeasureswerealsorequiredatPort-EynonandHorton
dunesin1978whensandmovementresultedintheinundationofadjacent houses,andthiswasoneofthe
projects tackled by the Heritage Coast Project in the 1980s.
Today sand drift is generally less threatening than in the past and most dune areas in the peninsula
are,withsomenotableexceptions,morevegetatedthantheyhavebeenforcenturies.Amoredynamicap-
proach istaken todunemanagement, which takes into account the restoration anddevelopment ofnatural
processes, rather than the protection of stable structures and patterns, bare sand being recognised as an
essential element for dune species and communities. Dune stabilisation techniques are mainly used these
days to counter erosion associated with recreation.
Residential andrecreational development hasencroachedonmanysitesbecauseoftheirhighamenity
value. Car parks, caravan and camp sites and golf courses are very common either on or adjacent to the
sand-dune systems. Generally recreation on the Gower dunes is increasing, and many show the effects of
heavy visitor pressure, perhaps none more so than Pennard Burrows. Much effort and money has been
spent in the past by the local authorities and conservation organisations in managing public access at this
site, with paths and wooden boardwalks constructed to reduce erosion. Unfortunately, in some respects,
there is a strong 'beach culture' in the Swansea area and there are a considerable number of barbecues
each year on the Gower beaches. Parts of the boardwalks and fences on the adjoining dunes end up be-
ing ripped up and burnt, despite being chemically treated timber. Information panels explaining the back-
groundtomanagementhavealsobeendestroyed.Effortstorestoreerodedareasofduneby'secret'plant-
ing of marram grass, without using fences or signs, have also failed, as the continuing erosion destroys
the new planting before it has a chance to establish. Under such pressure there is an increasing tendency
to scale back conservation activity on the eroded areas of dunes, with the result that significant areas of
the more heavily visited dunes are now in poor or declining condition.
A number of British dune sites, such as Whiteford, were planted with conifers in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Theidea ofplanting conifers wasintroduced frommainland Europe,wheretheplant-
ing of the wastelands of dune and heath was much more systematic than here. The ecological problems
associated with suchplantings are nowrecognised, andthe conifers are being slowly cleared fromWhite-
ford and dune vegetation is being allowed to re-establish, though a plantation at the southern end of the
dune system has been retained as a landscape feature. The planting of conifers has destroyed a large area
ofdunegrassland andslacks atWhiteford, causing achangeinthesoils,lowering thewater table andres-
ulting in pines seeding into the surrounding dunes. Experience elsewhere has shownthat the organic litter
layer must be removed in order to reduce the initial levels of nutrients and remove the non-native seed
bank; this not only allows any original buried seeds to germinate, but also stimulates some sand move-
ment.
Scrub is a natural component of dune vegetation, and in the absence of a relatively high level of
grazing scrub will gradually invade the area. In particular species such as the introduced shrub sea buck-
thorn Hippophae rhamnoides , which is not a native plant on the west coast of Britain, have threatened
the remaining slacks at Whiteford. The ability of sea buckthorn to fix atmospheric nitrogen enriches the
nutrient-poor dune soil, and since it can propagate by vegetative reproduction the removal of the shoots
above ground is not always a totally effective means of control. Removal of the few bushes that escaped
a successful clearance campaign during the 1970s and 1980s, or those that regrow or recolonise, is still
needed.