Nature and Development at the Whins

As an ecologist of over thirty-five years, I have been involved with the Whins developments since 2009. This post aims to give some background to the approach taken in terms of ecology.

Duneland Ltd, a community development company, came into being in 1997 when the Park Ecovillage was offered the opportunity to buy the adjacent Wilkie Estate. Duneland donated around 140 hectares of natural sand dune habitats, to be protected for nature, to the Findhorn Dunes Trust (based in Findhorn Village) and to the then Findhorn Hinterland Group (later developing into the Findhorn Hinterland Trust). Around 5% of the land – an area known at the ‘Magic Triangle’ – was retained at the Whins for housing development, to allow the Community to grow. This land was then designated for development in the Moray Development Plan. Being close to a natural area of sand dunes, and several sites designated for nature, the Moray Council required a bird survey for East Whins, and ecological assessments for the West and North Whins planning applications.

The Firepit in 2012. A much more open habitat than now

Development at all three Whins was preceded by a long period of attunement and community consultation, an exercise dubbed ‘Listening to the Land’, in the late 2000s. Many meetings and presentations were held, subtle realms were attuned to, and energy centres and flows were identified and mapped. The layout, design and specifications of all the Whins developments have been strongly influenced by community engagement – reflected in features such as curves in buildings, ecological materials, use of passive solar, high density and affordable housing, private gardens, shared indoor and outdoor spaces, and protection of nature.

The first development at the Whins was at East Whins, started in 2012, fifteen years after Duneland acquired the land. This was largely an old aircraft runway, which had become a builder’s yard and was of very low biodiversity value. Although biodiversity here now is a by-product of gardens and open areas for humans, bird surveys before and after show that the gardens and houses support far more breeding birds than before construction, including declining ‘red-listed’ species. East Whins received international recognition in 2022 through being pictured on the front cover of the 6th IPCC Assessment Report on the mitigation of Climate Change at UN COP 27.

The 2012 Ecological Appraisal for West Whins concluded that the development area was of local ecological significance – meaning that development could go ahead, in principle – but that it included areas of natural high-priority lichen-rich dune heath. The government’s nature adviser, Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot), recommended retention of as much natural habitat as possible, with preference given to areas of bare sand, heath vegetation and lichen beds, and that any tree planting avoid bare sand, heath or lichen areas. This was achieved in main part at West Whins, where the Firepit was identified for protection. In the areas where it was not practically possible to retain dune heath, the rarest lichens were moved (‘translocated’), by community members. This option was suggested by the UK’s foremost authorities on lichens, who had surveyed the whole of the dunes in 2008, and concluded that they are of national importance.

Lichen translocation, March 2020 photo H. Paul

Small blue butterfly photo T. Munro

At North Whins, further away from existing human settlement, the Moray Council asked for a more detailed ecological study. Ecological surveys were undertaken in 2017, covering: vegetation, mammals (including bats), birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Biological records, including of insects, were obtained from the biological records centre.

The small blue butterfly is a Moray coast speciality, in decline and in need of help. Its foodplant, kidney vetch, is included in the meadow seed mix – fingers crossed!

The following potential ecological impacts associated with development were identified:

Direct loss of rare and fragile dune heath and shingle, containing nationally scare lichen species
Damage to dune heath on adjoining land through the spread of tree seeds from landscape planting within the proposed development
The unavoidable loss of around 1.5ha of natural dune scrub (gorse)
Predation of red squirrels by pet cats, owned by new residents
Movement and road casualty of common toads migrating across the Site to Cullerne Pond in spring

Recommended measures to address these impacts and enhance biodiversity included:

Translocation of dune heath to a protected area
Enhancement of existing dune heath areas
Restoration of two areas of dune heath adjacent to the site (3,700m2)
Minimal tree planting, giving priority to dune habitats within landscaping in communal ground between building plots
Creation of high conservation value dune grassland (the recently sowed meadows)
Creation of a wildlife pond
Advice to new residents on the ecological sensitivities of the Site and surrounding area.

It was concluded that these measures would result in a development with no significant adverse ecological effects over-all. A positive impact (‘biodiversity net gain’) was predicted for dune heath and dune grassland, the two highest priority habitats on-site. This included the restoration of 3,700m2 of dune heath on adjacent land, involving the removal of gorse to create bare sand, a vitally important habitat for the rarest biodiversity on the dunes.

Duneland appointed Makar Ltd – a local company specialising in net-zero houses, constructed of natural and local materials – to develop a masterplan. Makar’s architect, locally-based and specialising in ecological design, undertook the task, in consultation with myself as ecologist. Another round of public consultation took place, held by Makar, including an open day and an event in the Universal Hall. Input was also received from a group of community sensitives who surveyed the land for subtle beings and energies.

The Moray Council gave planning permission on the condition that the measures in the Ecological Assessment were fully incorporated. As the project moved from the planning to the building stage, Duneland took direct control, as developer, with Greenleaf Design and Build as the main contractor. The Ecovillage community has continued to make an important contribution, through the group lichen translocation work in 2020 and the meadow sowing event this spring.

At the time of writing, while the main ecological provisions are in place, North Whins is still largely under construction. It will take some time for these features to establish fully and for trees and shrubs within gardens to grow-up. The result should be rich in nature, robust, low maintenance, aesthetically pleasing, and serve as an exemplar of living in harmony with nature. Even before completion, the Development is apparently being recognised as an example of best practice for nature by local authority planners.

You can help to maintain priority wildlife habitats at the Whins, by:

Not planting anything outside of your garden boundaries. The communal areas between houses are precious dune habitats which would be damaged by trees and shrubs
Being aware of potentially invasive garden plant species, especially Sea Buckthorn and Japanese Rose. These species can quickly spread on sand dunes and should not be planted anywhere at the Whins. Once established, they spread quickly and are extremely difficult to remove. Growing Sea Buckthorn is strongly discouraged anywhere on North Whins, including within gardens
Give preference to native shrubs in your garden, such as hawthorn, rowan, holly, hazel, and crab apple.
Please consider if you really need a cat in this ecologically sensitive area. Predation by cats has led to the disappearance of red squirrels from the area in the past. If you have a cat, please fit it with a bell or a ‘Birdsbesafe’ collar.
Look out for toads at night on roads in March (migrating Cullerne pond).
Be aware that rabbits and deer have an important role to play in maintaining dune habitats, through their nibbling. Garden plants can easily be protected by netting
Joining a work party, to help maintain the lichen garden, Firepit and meadow areas
Joining and supporting the Findhorn Hinterland Trust.

To find out more about the ecology of the wider area, and the nature recovery action taking place, please refer to the Ecology page of the Findhorn Hinterland Trust’s website.

Sean Reed

Local ecologist working on nature recovery projects