Morfa Harlech National Nature Reserve () is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, located north of

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 197 ...

. The reserve reaches across expanses of open sand and sea towards

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

and contains one of the two extensive

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

systems which make up much of the sandy

Meirionnydd Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county. Kingdom Meirionnydd (Meirion, with -''ydd'' as a Welsh suffix of land, literally ''Land adjoined to Meirion ...

coastline, it carries particular importance as the only growing dune system in Wales. Morfa Harlech sand dunes is an extensive

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

system stretching northwards from the town of Harlech. The dunes cover 6 km², of which an area of about 1.5 km² in the middle has been afforested with

Corsican Pine ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as wel ...

. Nearby is

Harlech Castle Harlech Castle ( cy, Castell Harlech; ) in Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales, is a Grade I listed medieval fortification built onto a rocky knoll close to the Irish Sea. It was built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289 at ...

, which due to the expanding dune system has been taken back from its original position on the coastline 600 years ago. Morfa Harlech is one of Britain's actively growing sand dune systems due to the longshore drift which is currently eroding the dunes at

Morfa Dyffryn Morfa Dyffryn beach is on the west coast of Wales, between Barmouth and Harlech in Gwynedd. This sandy beach is several miles long and is chiefly known for having an officially recognised naturist area, in length. The beach is very clean and is ...

References

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External links

*
www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Morfa Harlech sand dunes and surrounding area
National nature reserves in Wales Harlech Talsarnau Coast of Gwynedd Landforms of Gwynedd Dunes of Wales Coast of Snowdonia {{Wales-geo-stub

See also

References

External links