Tinsel to tidewall: discarded Christmas trees reused to protect Lancashire coastline | Coastlines

Miles of Lancashire coastline are being protected from rising sea levels by an unusual defense: tens of thousands of discarded Christmas trees. Volunteers are burying the trees on beaches south of Blackpool, where they will form sand dunes and protect homes.

Christmas Trees as Coastal Defense in Lancashire

Hundreds of volunteers are hauling tinsel-free Christmas trees into shallow trenches along the Lancashire coast. The trees are intended to morph into sand dunes, providing a natural barrier against increasingly frequent and severe storm surges.

Since the mid-1800s, the Lancashire coast is believed to have lost 80% of its sand dunes due to coastal development, including the growth of towns like Blackpool and Lytham St Annes, according to Amy Pennington of Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

“Sand dunes used to extend for miles and miles inland but we’ve colonised and built the towns so now they’re a very thin fragment of what they used to be,” Pennington said. “They’re important because this is the only form of sea defence that the local community has.”

The practice of burying Christmas trees on these beaches began more than three decades ago, but has increased in recent years as sea levels have risen. The UK has lost about 30% of its sand dunes since 1900, with approximately 19.5cm of sea level rise, two-thirds of which has occurred in the last 30 years.

Increased storm surges are accelerating the loss of sand dunes, potentially exposing coastal houses to flooding. “We’ve noticed with storm surges, the tide pushes a lot further up the beach so the dunes get washed away more regularly,” Pennington said.

Wildlife Habitat Restoration

The dunes also provide a vital habitat for wildlife. Hundreds of sand lizards, not seen in the area for about 60 years, were released into the sandy mounds in 2020 and are now thriving.

“Each year we’ve spotted more and we’ve seen lots of young which means they’re breeding on the dunes,” said Andy Singleton-Mills, the area conservation manager for Fylde council. The lizards are elusive, making tracking them difficult.

Last week, 650 volunteers buried about 2,000 Christmas trees donated from across Lancashire on Lytham beach. The trees sit along a two-mile stretch of beach decorated with marran grass, whose roots can grow up to 100 metres long and help stabilize the dunes.

Pennington said the new dunes, which can grow to about 3 metres (10ft) high, should withstand the elements “hopefully indefinitely.” However, within the next five years, they will likely need to begin building the dunes upwards, rather than outwards, as sea levels continue to rise.

Artist Holly Moeller noted that people are “in danger of taking [the dunes] for granted,” adding, “The sand dunes can look quite sparse and bare but they’re such an amazing habitat – there’s so much going on that you don’t see at first glance.” She also described the dunes as a place of solace.