Your Christmas trees can help defend Formby from the sea

Used trees can help fight coastal erosion on Formby's coast

Hundreds of people trekked to Formby beach to bring down their discarded Christmas Trees which will help reclaim Formby's famous sand dunes The trees will be used to stabilise the dunes helping stop wind erosion 5th January 1991

Formby's National Trust Rangers are asking residents to donate their old Christmas trees to help them protect the coast from the sea.

The trees can be used to build dune fences, whiich stabilises the shifting sands on the beach. A recent report by the National Trust stated Formby was losing four meters a year to the sea, and was a blackspot for coastal erosion.

Kate Martin, National Trust Area Ranger said: "We’ll be delighted if residents can bring their old Christmas trees to the National Trust car park at Victoria Road any day between Monday 4th and Sunday 17th January between the hours of 9am and 3.30pm.

In recent years volunteers have helped us to dig in thousands of recycled (real) Christmas trees to build dune fences which slow down the shifting sand and provide better conditions for the growth of Marram grass. The fences also help to reduce the amount of sand that blows into the main car park.’

Andrew Brockbank, National Trust Countryside Manager at Formby said, ‘This is a great way to recycle your Christmas tree. Dune fences will not stop erosion but they do help the dunes to build up and encourage the growth of Marram grass which is good for wildlife and good for natural coastal protection.’

‘Formby sits in an exposed position within Liverpool Bay and the coast is often battered by storms and high tides. The high shifting dunes at Formby provide a natural buffer to storm events and it is vital that they are able to build up and move. Sometimes it is necessary to slow dune movements and protect the dunes for example in areas which are subject to heavy trampling.’

Kate Martin adds, ‘Working with natural change is really important to us. By understanding what is happening to the dunes and coastline we can make well informed choices about how to adapt and work with nature rather than against it.’

Watch video of Kate talking about the changes taking place at Formby.

The National Trust Rangers are hoping to plant around 2,500 trees in January – enough to make ½ mile of sand fences! – trees between 3 and 5ft are the best height for sand trap fences.

Story and photo source: Southport Visiter by Tom Duffy