Grantee: Lossiemouth Community Council

Duration:  27 months (January 2026 – April 2028) 

 

Background

Scotland’s sand dune habitats are internationally important from an ecological perspective, supporting specialist plant communities and rare invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians and ground nesting birds.

In some parts of the country, sand dunes are being eroded through rising sea levels and human damage. On the Moray Coast, Lossiemouth Community Council are pioneering new approaches to preventing further erosion and restoring the dunes for the benefit of biodiversity and the local community.

The Project

In January 2025, Lossiemouth Community Council began an exciting project to stabilise the fast-eroding sand dunes on East Beach, Lossiemouth. Hundreds of Christmas trees were collected by volunteers, and dug into trenches throughout the sand dunes (see BBC News article). The initiative later received national recognition at the COSLA Excellence Awards and has been widely praised as an example of innovative community-led environmental action.

Following the successful pilot, HIEF are supporting Phase 2 of the project, which aims to expand the project to further sand dune areas around Lossiemouth. Specifically, the project aims to:

• Stabilise and restore the sand dunes on both East and West beaches
• Collect and utilise discarded Christmas trees, and strategically dig them in at an angle to trap sand
• Rebuild the lower parts of the first dune on the East beach
• To plant more Marram grass early Spring to maximise favourable growth prospects
• To reduce the wave running into the river Lossie in the first two dunes on East beach by strategic planting between the dunes
• To pilot methods to reduce erosion rates along sections of West beach
• To build on and increase community participation and engagement in coastal protection on both beach projects
• To educate and raise awareness of the issues using a variety of methods such as social media, signage, posters and talking to groups and schools.

 

The anticipated outcomes are enhanced coastal protection, increased biodiversity, and greater environmental awareness and activism within the community.