‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years

Drifting sand has inundated settlements and damaged agricultural land along the coasts of Western Europe for the last 700 years. The need to control sand migration has been an important driver of the management of coastal sand dunes and here we analyse original archival materials to provide new insi...

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Main Authors: Clarke, Michèle L., Rendell, Helen M.
Format: Article
Published: Wiley 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32568/
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author Clarke, Michèle L.
Rendell, Helen M.
author_facet Clarke, Michèle L.
Rendell, Helen M.
author_sort Clarke, Michèle L.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Drifting sand has inundated settlements and damaged agricultural land along the coasts of Western Europe for the last 700 years. The need to control sand migration has been an important driver of the management of coastal sand dunes and here we analyse original archival materials to provide new insights into historically changing coastal dune management practices. Records of coastal sand movement in Denmark, The Netherlands, Britain, Ireland and France were reviewed and three distinct management approaches were identified. The ways in which these approaches have played out in space and time were examined with particular reference to records from landed estates in Britain and Ireland. We demonstrate how historical evidence can be used to inform contemporary debates on dune management strategy and practice. We propose a new place-based approach to the future management of coastal dunes that can incorporate both expert and locally produced ‘knowledges’ and that is underpinned by an understanding of how both natural forces and human interventions have shaped these dune landscapes over time.
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spelling nottingham-325682020-05-04T17:09:11Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32568/ ‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years Clarke, Michèle L. Rendell, Helen M. Drifting sand has inundated settlements and damaged agricultural land along the coasts of Western Europe for the last 700 years. The need to control sand migration has been an important driver of the management of coastal sand dunes and here we analyse original archival materials to provide new insights into historically changing coastal dune management practices. Records of coastal sand movement in Denmark, The Netherlands, Britain, Ireland and France were reviewed and three distinct management approaches were identified. The ways in which these approaches have played out in space and time were examined with particular reference to records from landed estates in Britain and Ireland. We demonstrate how historical evidence can be used to inform contemporary debates on dune management strategy and practice. We propose a new place-based approach to the future management of coastal dunes that can incorporate both expert and locally produced ‘knowledges’ and that is underpinned by an understanding of how both natural forces and human interventions have shaped these dune landscapes over time. Wiley 2015-07-01 Article PeerReviewed Clarke, Michèle L. and Rendell, Helen M. (2015) ‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 40 (3). pp. 414-429. ISSN 1475-5661 coastal dunes; historical sand drift; land-use management; place-based dune management http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tran.12067/abstract doi:10.1111/tran.12067 doi:10.1111/tran.12067
spellingShingle coastal dunes; historical sand drift; land-use management; place-based dune management
Clarke, Michèle L.
Rendell, Helen M.
‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years
title ‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years
title_full ‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years
title_fullStr ‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years
title_full_unstemmed ‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years
title_short ‘This restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in Western Europe over the last 700 years
title_sort ‘this restless enemy of all fertility’: exploring paradigms of coastal dune management in western europe over the last 700 years
topic coastal dunes; historical sand drift; land-use management; place-based dune management
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32568/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32568/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32568/