| Tayside Biodiversity - Tayside
Biodiversity Action Plan - Coastal |
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For
centuries people have used the coasts and estuaries of Tayside
as a source of food, for sheltered anchorage and for trade.
It is a landscape of great beauty, exhibiting a diversity of
features from the muddy shallows of Montrose Basin, the sand
dunes of Barry Links and the wide, nutrient-rich Tay Estuary.
The variety of life supported by coastal
habitats includes groups of dolphin and porpoise, shoals of commercially
important fish, tiny zooplankton, resident seabirds and migrant
birds such as pink-footed geese (which are present in internationally-important
numbers). The reedbeds in the Tay Estuary are the largest continuous
stand of this habitat anywhere in Britain - and they are the
only place in Scotland where the rare Bearded Tit breeds. The
beds of seagrass and seaweed also provide important nursery grounds
for flat fish in the summer and food for ducks and geese in winter.
The coasts and estuaries are under increasing pressure from human activity – commercial
fishing, recreational use, the development of urban areas and ports, to name
just a few. Marine ecosystems are particularly difficult to access and understand,
although more is known about coastal habitats and our influence upon them. |
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| Increased consultation and work between
those influencing these habitats has resulted in a better understanding
for the value of coasts and estuaries in Tayside. This has
engendered a greater willingness to work together to conserve
and enhance the habitats, at the same time as managing change.
Examples of such co-operation include the management of the
rich sand dune flora and fauna at Barry Buddon by the Ministry
of Defence and the management of the Tay reedbeds for both
the species they support and for commercial harvest. |
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