Sand Dunes - Sands of Forvie

Forvie is located near Newburgh, around 15 miles North of Aberdeen, and is home to one of the largest areas of blown sand in Scotland. The sand dunes at Forvie are a very mobile dune system, with lots of bare sand and shifting dunes characterised by dominant marram grass (Ammophila arenaria). Within the dunes are dune slacks, wet areas which get flooded seasonally and have their own plant assemblage which includes common sedge (Carex nigra) and marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris). The most stable dunes to the north of the reserve could be classed as dune heath, with heathers and crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) growing amonst mosses and lichens (NatureScot, n.d.).

A number of species nest within the dunes, including black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) and four species of tern; sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis), little tern (Sternula albifrons), arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), and common tern (Sterna hirundo) (NatureScot, n.d.). Over 300 vascular plant species have been recorded on site, with species recorded on the sand dunes including adder's tongue fern (Ophioglossum vulgatum), early purple orchid (Orchis mascula), and heath dog violet (Viola canina). A number of lichens, mosses, and liverworts have been recorded, with the wet dune slacks hosting some rarer species such as slender green feather-moss (Drepanocladus vernicosus) and lesser germanderwort (Riccardia incurvata) (NatureScot, n.d.).

Impacts On Site and Management:
NatureScot and the Forvie NNR team generally aim for minimal intervention when it comes to managing the site and the sand dunes, preferring to allow coastal evolution to process naturally and let the dunes shift with weather and tidal patterns. The site suffers a small amount of erosion from visitor footfall, and this is managed through maintenance of waymarked paths to keep issues to specific areas. They also employ a weekend warden for education and engagement with the public. Forvie NNR maintains vigilance with regards to invasive non-native species such as pirri-pirri burr (Acaena novae-zelandiae), american mink (Neogale vison), and himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera). Rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium), despite being a native species, can act invasively within the sand dune system and therefore is managed infrequently to aintain habitats and breeding bird areas (NatureScot, n.d.).

Predation of terns and black-headed gulls is an annual issue  on site, with a predator proof electric fence erected every year within the sand dunes which aims to protect the important ground-nesting bird population from foxes and other predators (Reid, 2024).

Conservation Designations:
The Sands of Forvie and Ythan Estuary are covered by a number of conservation designations. 
– Forvie GCR
– Forvie NNR (fig. 1)
– Sands of Forvie SSSI (fig. 2) (NatureScot, 1984)
– Sands of Forvie SAC (fig. 4) (NatureScot, 2005)
– Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA (fig. 3) (NatureScot, 2020)
– Ythan Estuary and Meikle Loch RAMSAR (NatureScot, 1998)

These designations cover a wide range of features, from the coastal geomorphology of Scotland (May & Hansom, 2003), estuary, saltmarsh, and sand dune habitats, to various species and assemblages (terns, eider, pink-footed geese, vascular plants, breeding birds, waterfowl) (NatureScot, 1984; 1998; 2005; 2020). 

The Sands of Forvie SAC is designated for a range of important sand dune habitats: humid dune slacks, lime-deficient dune heathland with crowberry, shifting dunes, and shifting dunes with marram (JNCC, n.d.; NatureScot, 2005).