Grantee: Nairn Improvement Community Enterprise

Duration:  12 months (July 2026-July 2027)

 

Through an extensive programme of community outreach, this project builds awareness of the importance of the Nairn beach dune ecosystem, on the Moray Firth coast

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.

Nairn, a town of 9400 people and the 3rd largest settlement in the Highland region is experiencing significant damage to their local sand dune ecosystem. Biodiversity has been undermined by invasive trees, scrub, and turf replacing native marram and lyme grass, and by intensive footfall in this popular seaside destination. Simultaneously, in a 2024 Local Place Plan the people of Nairn identified the coastal landscape as particularly important for health, recreation, and quality of life. The growing demand for dune education and conservation led to the Nairn Improvement Community Enterprise (NICE) launching this exciting project.

The Project

Complementing an ongoing Nature Restoration Fund project to carry out physical restoration of the sand dunes, this HIEF funding supports a dune education officer to develop public education materials and support outreach work.

Activities will include:
• outreach education activities with schools and community groups
• training and capacity building for volunteers, community groups and other local
stakeholders such as coastal tourism and recreation businesses
• development of educational materials/public information – for school and wider
community
• involving locals in monitoring biodiversity and climate impacts on the dunes
• study visits and community learning exchanges with other local groups tackling similar problems along the Moray Firth coastline

Through clear messages explaining how dunes work and the threats they face, the team will widen awareness of what locals and visitors to the area can do to help conserve and protect this resilient but vulnerable coastal ecosystem.