Wyre Marine Champions explore sand dune wildlife at Fleetwood beach amid 80% habitat loss
The Fylde coast has lost 80 per cent of its sand dunes over the last 150 years.
Wyre Marine Champions of all ages came together at Ferry Beach in Fleetwood to explore the wildlife living among the area’s sand dune plants.
The community engagement session, organised by The Bay Project, gave participants the opportunity to investigate the bugs and insects found in the dunes while learning more about the importance of the habitat.
The Fylde coast has lost 80 per cent of its sand dunes over the last 150 years. As part of Our Future Coast delivery, the session highlighted the role sand dunes play as a natural sea defence, as well as providing an important habitat for a wide variety of insects and plants adapted to the coastal environment.
Participants were joined by Dave and Andy, who helped identify the species discovered during the session.
Andy also shared his photographs and has documented and logged the different species found, helping to record what was discovered. Among the finds was a species of parasitic wasp that had not been documented locally for 10 years.
The insects and bugs were carefully caught using sweep nets before being examined more closely with magnifying glasses. They were then safely returned to the long grasses where they had been found.
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The session also provided an opportunity to give back to the environment, with participants collecting litter from the beach and taking it away with them at the end of the event.
The Bay Project was originally established to help people in Morecambe Bay recover from the effects of the pandemic.
The project aims to improve wellbeing through the healing aspects of the beach and sea, while also taking positive action to promote the recovery of nature.