Drawing new lines in the sand

SAND dunes at Formby, Merseyside, that were once used as a dumping ground for waste tobacco are to be restored to benefit wildlife, including the rare natterjack toad (below).

Thousands of tons of wet tobacco leaf that were dropped over ‘Tobacco Cliffs’ onto a fiveacre section of disused asparagus farmland behind the dunes between the 1950s and 1970s by the British Nicotine Company, which had a plant nearby, resulted in a thick layer of nettles and thistles impeding the dunes’ naturally undulating shape and leaving little space for reptiles or native plants. ‘[Toads and lizards] need areas of bare sand mixed with patches of vegetation, so they have places to hunt and bask, as well as room to hibernate and, for lizards, somewhere to lay eggs,’ says Isabelle Spall, National Trust project officer.

Since the start of the 20th century, 75% of natterjack toads’ breeding sites have been lost; the sand dunes of Sefton are home to 40% of the UK population and are among the most important dune habitats in north-west Europe. Among local nicknames are ‘Birkdale Nightingale’ and ‘Bootle Organ’ after the male’s distinctive call, which can project 1¼ miles.

The restoration, which is part of the £10 million, countrywide Dynamic

Dunescapes project—based on the idea that Nature is best benefited by dunes that evolve—will begin with excavating two large wedges from the National Trust-owned area, which will allow sand to blow on top of the tobacco waste and gradually create new dunes. Invasive plants will be removed and 12 breeding pools for the toads will be created; as well as sand lizards, another species that will benefit is the northern tiger beetle (above), only found in Merseyside and Cumbria.

‘We’re now two years into our work helping to restore 7,000 hectares [17,000 acres] of sanddune habitat for wildlife and people in England and Wales,’ says Verity Pitts, Dynamic Dunescapes project manager. ‘It’s fantastic that we’re able to… use pioneering conservation techniques to secure a better future for some of our rarest species.’

The promise of spring can be felt at Glyndebourne from February 21, in a series of oil paintings and drawings by local artist Tom Homewood, who has taken inspiration from the grounds and buildings of the East Sussex house over the past decade. ‘The Unseen Everything’ runs at Glyndebourne’s Gallery 94 until March 31, by appointment only except on March 20, when there is a free open art day; all works are for sale