Storms cause worst ever erosion at nature reserve

Storms cause worst ever erosion at nature reserve

22 January 2014

CONSERVATION experts were at Murlough beach yesterday afternoon to assess the huge damage caused by recent storms. High tides and stormy conditions washed away tonnes of sand from the distinctive sand dune system, wiping out between five and nine metres of dunes from the beach.

Ecologist Mr. David Thompson, who has been the National Trust’s coast and countryside officer with responsibility for Murlough nature reserve since 2002, said the damage caused by the recent poor weather was the worst he had ever seen.

Although experts were only due on site yesterday to measure the extent of the damage, early estimations suggest that between five and nine meters of the 6,000 year-old duneland ecosystem has been washed away.

Although this loss has changed the look of the popular beach, causing it to be significantly wider in parts, Mr. Thompson is philosophical about the change.

“This is a soft sediment system, which is highly vulnerable to excessive weather and that means sand removal although we have never seen anything quite like this,” he said.

“It was such a dramatic change in such a short space of time but you have to be objective and remember that these are natural forces that are eroding the coastline.

“This is a soft landscape and it will disappear anyway over time.”

Mr. Thompson said sand from Murlough is being deposited up the coast at Ballykinlar, meaning the receding dunes of Murlough are being recreated upshore.

“This is a natural system shifting itself and as a result Ballykinlar should build up,” he said.

“Looking to the future, this means Ballykinlar will become even more important.”

Mr. Thompson, who is passionate about the beauty and value of Murlough nature reserve, said the part of the dunes washed away would not have been “stuffed with rare creatures.”

He warns that if the dunes are eroded much further it could lead to a reduction in the valuable habitat of the system leading to a more “dramatic loss.”

Mr. Thompson added that the sea had ripped up some of the boardwalk at the nature reserve during the storms with up to £2,000 of damage.