Conservation work at Formby

Formby’s nature haven boasts a mosaic of wildlife habitats from grasslands, heathlands and plantation woodlands to some of Europe’s best sands dunes. This precious landscape provides homes for thousands of species of plants and animals including rare natterjack toads, sand lizards, northern dune tiger beetles and red squirrels. 

Here's a summary of our current conservation projects. Simply click on a link to jump to a specific section:

• Restoring rare sand dune habitats
• Revealing rare dune heath habitats
• Caring for Formby's woodlands
• Nurturing grassland habitats

Restoring rare sand dune habitats

Coastal sand dune habitats are a sanctuary for special plants, insects, birds, reptiles and amphibians; the Sefton Coast is home to 40% of the UK’s population of rare natterjack toads, which breed in the dune pools also known as wet slacks.

Sand dunes need to be free to move. This movement is what creates the habitats rare species such as natterjack toads and sand lizards need to thrive. Areas of naturally shifting, mobile sand are essential, but some of Formby’s sand dunes have become too stable and disconnected. Dense scrub vegetation has taken over and unnatural elements including old construction rubble and dumped tobacco waste are creating barriers for natural processes.

Bringing new life to Formby’s dunes

As part of the Dynamic Dunescapes UK wide project we’ll be giving nature a helping hand to restore rare dune habitats and bring new life to Formby’s sand dunes. Our vision is to create space for sand to move more freely, which will restore natural processes and create healthier habitats for many important and rare species.

We’re using tried and tested conservation techniques to restore rare sand dune habitats including:

• Making notches or gaps in sand dunes where barriers have been created to natural processes.

• Restoring and creating new natterjack toad breeding pools to give this rare amphibian the best opportunity to increase their declining population.

• Removing invasive scrub such as sea buckthorn and japanese rose (rosa rugosa) to create space for rare species to thrive.

• Creating corridors where the sand dunes meet the woodlands to help these special habitats co-exist.

Find out more about the rubble and tobacco waste at Formby watch this video

Creating space for nature to thrive

We’re proposing to re-connect and restore the natural sand dune habitats at Victoria Road by removing the existing beach car park and rubble. The majority of the rubble materials would be used to create a replacement car park further inland. This conservation project would restore rare wildlife habitats and create a healthier, more natural place for everyone to enjoy. To find out more about this project proposal click here 

Revealing rare dune heath habitats

The Larkhill area of Formby’s nature haven is a popular spot for dog walking and family fun. Hidden away behind the main field is an area that is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Our vision is to restore this space into dune heath, one of the rarest habitats along the Sefton coast.

We’re doing this by removing invasive shrubs and trees including gorse and birch trees. This will open up the area and let in more light. Revealing the seed bed underneath will help prompt the natural growth of heather and other special wildflowers and plants.

During the winter of 2020/21, with the help of our fantastic volunteers, work started on clearing gorse from the area. In winter 2021 we’ll be picking up the pace and continuing to create the space needed for wildlife to thrive.

Caring for Formby’s woodlands

The woodlands at Formby provide important habitats for many rare species, including red squirrels. We recently updated our plan to care for Formby's woodlands over the next 10 years. We're giving nature a helping hand to improve the health, species diversity, and age structure of this precious habitat, in turn benefitting a wide number of species, which live in the woodlands. This includes the iconic red squirrel, as well as invertebrates, bats, birds and small mammals.

We'll be using tried and tested conservation techniques to create space and light, allowing healthier pine trees to provide more food for red squirrels. Improving the health of Formby's woodland will attract more wildlife including insects, butterflies, and nesting birds. Our woodland management plan will help us to make these improvements that will bring many benefits to both wildlife and people who love to visit.

We're also enhancing the areas where the woodlands and sand dunes meet. We’ll be making space for the sand dune habitat to grow and thrive by removing trees that are dead or dying due to the sand suffocating their roots. This will help these two special habitats co-exist.

Some of our woodland management work can only take place in the winter months, such as tree thinning and scrub removal, and these works will start in winter 2021. However there are other conservation tasks that we can do all year round, such as invasive species removal, looking after young plantations, and maintaining the huge network of paths across our woodlands. Our dedicated woodland management volunteer group will help us to achieve our ambitious plan, meeting weekly to tackle all this important work

To find out more about how we’re planning to care for Formby’s woodlands download information sheet

Nurturing grassland habitats

As part of our on-going work to protect and care for special habitats we dedicate time each year to nurturing the grassland habitats. Careful management of this area through grazing and mowing helps to keep areas open, creating space for a wider variety of plants and animals to thrive. Keeping the grass to a “sward” height, roughly between 2-10cm allows the smaller, slower-growing wildflowers to compete with the faster growing grasses for space and light. By removing the cut grass, either through the sheep eating it or by collecting cuttings after mowing, this helps to lower nutrient levels in the soil which benefits the rarer dune grassland flora over more common species such as nettle and thistle.

We currently have a flock of hebridean sheep grazing the grasslands. They are on loan to us from our friends at Lancashire Wildlife Trust. 

What to expect whilst work is carried out 

We’ll be sharing regular updates on our website and social media as work progresses, including letting you know about any areas where work is being carried out to help you plan your visit. At times there will be heavy machinery on site and some paths may be closed for short periods of time. Signage will also be in place to highlight areas to keep a safe distance from and alternative routes to take. Look out for information boards on site with more detail on our conservation work in certain areas.

Keeping up to date on our work

We’re committed to listening to and involving everyone who loves to visit in our plans to care for Formby’s special nature haven.  We’ll be closely monitoring the impact, progress and success of this important conservation work and will continue to share updates and information on our social media @NTFormby and here on our website. There will also be lots of opportunities for you to get involved and chat to the team through activities including ranger walk and talks and community drop-in sessions throughout the year.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, or would simply like to find out more about our conservation work, email formby@nationaltrust.org.uk or call 01704 878591.

Working in partnership 

Dynamic Dunescapes is a partnership project funded by National Lottery Heritage fund and EU LIFE programme. The following partners are working on similar projects across the UK: Natural England, Plantlife, Natural Resources Wales and The Wildlife Trusts.

Find out more about the UK wide Dynamic Dunescapes project here