All in a good cause........
Visitors to the reserve over the past week will have seen quite a few large tractors around, as we have contractors on site clearing invasive Sea Buckthorn.
This morning an even bigger machine made an appearance, and whilst it looks very destructive the ultimate end result will make it all worth it.
Sea Buckthorn, a native of the east coat of the UK was extensively planted on sand dunes all over the UK in the belief that stable unmoving dunes were best. More recent thinking shows that sand dunes are by nature intended to be mobile and changing, especially in the areas close to the sea, the "fore-dunes".
Many invertebrates and reptiles need areas of bare sand for their continued survival, its been suggested that any dune system should have at least 5% bare and, on that basis there should be around 20acres of bare sand at Pembrey Burrows, even on this very rough estimate its easy to see that there is nowhere near enough bare sand, although the current work is not designed to create bare sand the removal of the invasive Sea Buckthorn will open areas to the action of the elements, especially the wind.
The work should be finished by the New Year.
On the wildlife front the best sighting this week has been over 300 Golden Plover flying in from the NW over the marsh.
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