The first meeting to discuss a new volunteer group for Summerleaze Dunes took place on Wednesday 28th February. It was great to see the meeting room at the Parkhouse Centre in Bude completely full of people who had come to find out what it’s all about and how they might get involved! Once Rob Uhlig, from Bude Climate Partnership, had got the meeting underway, Andy Nelson (the Making Space for Sand Community Engagement Officer working through project partners Cornwall Wildlife Trust) explained how dunes are not only natural coastal defences that can shield us from powerful waves and sea level rise, but they are also great habitat for a variety of wildlife.
From this meeting, the hope is that we will be able to establish a new volunteer group at Summerleaze who will be undertaking a variety of work to improve the condition of the sand dunes. This will involve; recording dune wildlife, removal of invasive plant species, creating interpretation boards to tell people more about the site and improving access management.
The next step will be a ‘Taster Session’ at Summerleaze dunes to consider how Cornwall Council’s existing Beach Dune Management Plan for Summerleaze, and the new ecological report which has been produced by our project, can help to inform decisions on how a group can support dune management. We’ll also learn some basic dune plant identification and how to regularly survey the vegetation. If you’re interested in joining us or want to learn more, you can sign-up for email news updates here: https://bit.ly/42WlGlV . You can also subscribe to be a member of the Making Space for Sand community by clicking on the Subscribe button on the website Home Page – Making Space for sand.
Special thanks to staff from Bude Climate Partnership, Cormac and the ‘2 Minute Foundation’ for working with us to get this group started.
Summerleaze Dune Group
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