Mayo beach's beautiful sand dunes need a breather

World Sand Dune Day is celebrated globally on June 29 to raise awareness about the importance of sand dunes.

Mayo's Bertra Beach is internationally valued within a Special Area of Conservation and was recently awarded a Blue Flag due to water quality improvements.

The Blue Flag also requires action on improving the quality of the sand dune habitat, so Bertra Connected – a local community group – secured funding and engaged the ACT consultancy to see how improvements to the strand might be achieved.

The outcome was published in 2023 as The Bertra 2050 Vision. ACT ran workshops, open to everyone and widely publicised, and had an open day in Westport to produce this collective vision, with community stewardship at its core.

This year, Bertra Connected, working with Mayo County Council and with the approval of the landowners and National Parks and Wildlife Service, will implement a temporary closure of the sand dunes. Rope fencing and new signage is to be erected by volunteers to deter walkers and pets from accessing the delicate sand dune structures at Bertra.

The numerous pathways through the sand dunes are compromising the integrity of the sand dunes themselves. This initiative will help the dunes recovery over the summer to strengthen them before next winter’s storms.

Bertra is a popular walking spot for locals all year around. At high tide the walkers take to the dunes. The public have been advised through signage for the past few years of damaging activities, including walking and running on the dunes, sliding down the dune face, wild camping and campfires, sports training, and roaming dogs.

They can be protected by keeping to the beach for walks, following the direction of local signage and watching wildlife from a distance.

Damage to sand dunes is evident all around the coast, according to the Climate Action Regional Offices who promotes the #ProtectOurDunes campaign and World Sand Dune Day, which highlights the importance of conserving these vital coastal habitats around the world.

The preservation and strengthening of natural coastal defences, such as sand dune systems, plays an important role in increasing coastal resilience to the impacts of climate change. Other countries, such as the Netherlands, are protecting and restoring their sand dune systems as a cheaper and more flexible method – in some cases – than hard coastal protection works.

This initiative, along with all previous awareness raising campaigns, relies on the public to help protect the dunes by enjoying the beach responsibly. It includes awareness-raising measures on social media to convey the importance of the sand dunes to coastal resilience and biodiversity, how they can be easily damaged from recreational activities, and simple measures to preserve them.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Dr. Kevin Lynch, coastal geomorphologist at University of Galway, outlined: “Where in the past some may have thought sand dunes were just nice places for the plants and animals, there is a growing realisation they can be a big part of our fight against climate change and storm impacts. Coastal dunes are an excellent, flexible coastal protection. By looking after them we have a win-win situation.”

All local groups are invited to get involved. The erection of the rope fence will take place on Saturday, June 29, from 12 to 2 p.m. on the beach.

Supporting information, videos and communication toolkits for coastal communities are available on the Dunes.ie website. The campaign will be visible on social media platforms from June 29 and will continue over the summer months.