North Wirral Coastal Rangers and volunteers are working together to plant discarded Christmas trees to stabilise sand dunes between Leasowe Bay and the Gunsite area of the North Wirral Coastal Park. The Christmas trees help to catch and trap sand blowing in from the beach and in a few years will create artificial dune shapes, benefiting plants and animals. (Ref. 1) In 2016 the Rangers and volunteers undertook a dune restoration project at the Gunsite. They advertised for the public to drop off their old Christmas trees at a collection point. The trees were then used to reinforce the dunes and trap sand. This was very successful and in 2017 they continued with the project, again with great success. In 2018 they ran a high profile social media campaign using Twitter and Facebook, asking for more Christmas Trees. This has generated a huge response and generated over 900 trees. It also prompted Radio Merseyside to interview Dave Stevenson, the Coastal Ranger, over the project and how it was helping to stabilize and re-establish the dunes (Ref 8).
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Blue infrastructure
- Coastlines
Key challenges
- Coastal resilience and marine protection (SDG 14)
- Coastal protection / hazard mitigation
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Environmental quality
- Waste management
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Social interaction
- Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
- Sustainable consumption
Focus
Project objectives
Implementation activities
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Other
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
- Citizens or community group
- District/neighbourhood association
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
Project implemented in response to ...
Financing
Total cost
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
- Other
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of goods
- Provision of labour
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Environmental quality
- Improved waste management
- Improved protection against strong wind
- Water management and blue areas
- Enhanced protection and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems
- Green space and habitat
- Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Increased number of species present
- Increased protection of threatened species
- Other
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Protection of natural heritage
- Education
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
References
Ref. 2. Floral Pavilion (n.d.) New Brighton Lighthouse. Natural Assets. Source: Source link [Accessed on 28 August 2020]
Ref. 3. Wiser Directory and Facebook (n.d.) Friends of the North Wirral Coastal Park. Wirral. UK. Information obtained: 2017-07-27. (source1: Source link and source2: Source link. [Accessed on 28 August 2020]
Ref. 4. Wirral Council (2003) Wirral Biodiversity Action Plan. A framework for local biodiversity conservation. Wirral Biodiversity Partnership Technical Group. Source: Source link [Accessed on 28 August 2020]
Ref. 5. Wirral Council (2014) Wirral climate change strategy 2014-2019. Cool Wirral Climate Change Action. Source: Source link [Accessed 28 August 2020]
Ref. 6. Wirral Council (2013) Wirral coastal strategy report: Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management. Report. Source: Source link [Accessed on 28 August 2020]
Ref. 7. Wirral Council (n.d.) Withdrawal of parks' maintenance. Officer Options Withdrawal of Parks Maintenance v1. Source: Source link [Accessed on 28 August 2020]
Ref. 8. Wirral Borough Council (2019) North Wirral Coastal Park. Management plan 2015-20. Source: Source link [Accessed on 28 August 2020]
Ref. 9. Families (2018) Recycling Your Christmas Tree in Wirral 2018. Source: Source link [Accessed on 28 August 2020]