‘Tobacco cliffs’ at UK beauty spot to be turned into refuge for rare wildlife - National Trust
Sand dunes that were once used as a dumping ground for waste tobacco are to be rejuvenated as a haven for dwindling wildlife – including one of the UK’s rarest amphibians.
The ‘tobacco cliffs’ at Formby in Merseyside are the product of thousands of tonnes of wet tobacco leaf that was tipped onto the dunes between the 1950s and 1970s by the British Nicotine Company, who operated a plant nearby.
Today the two-hectare site is carpeted with nettles, which have thrived on the waste, leaving no room for native plants, reptiles or the area’s most elusive inhabitant, the natterjack toad.
Now, the National Trust aims to breathe life back into area by restoring the natural processes of the dunes - which the charity says should be free to shift and move - and create much-needed space for wildlife.
Isabelle Spall, Project Officer for the National Trust, said: “Thousands of tonnes of tobacco were deposited at Formby each year for almost two decades, and while the waste itself isn’t toxic, the sheer quantity inevitably means it is going to have a dramatic impact on the ecology and the structure of any landscape. Dunes should look like sandy hills, with rolling undulations – but this area is completely flat and covered in nettles and thistles. It effectively creates a barrier that prevents toads and lizards from being able to move across the site. The animals 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. With changing weather patterns, it’s even more important that wildlife can move freely to areas with better conditions. This project is all about trying to give wildlife the best possible chance. It’s exciting to be creating something meaningful out of what was essentially a field of weeds.”
Find out more about the Dynamic Dunescapes project in feature articles written for CJS here
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Posted On: 01/02/2022