Morfa Dyffryn Nature Reserve (NRW)

The landscape is both beautiful and diverse at Morfa Dyffryn National Nature Reserve. As well as the huge sand dunes, there are areas of seashore, saltmarsh and grassland and each of these habitats is home to an amazing variety of wildlife. Within minutes of leaving the car park you enter a world far removed from the holiday hustle and bustle of the nearby towns and villages.

The dune system is still shifting - constantly moving and being re-shaped by the wind, and able to bury the boardwalk to the beach within a matter of days in bad weather.

The dunes may look bare and inhospitable to us, but they are home to some very specialised plants and animals that depend upon this strange environment for their survival.

The flat areas in between sand dunes, which are submerged in rainwater in winter and retain high levels of moisture well into summer, are known as dune slacks. In spring and summer the slacks are home to flowers such as spectacular orchids.