Wildlife-Friendly Ways To Enjoy Coastal Camping

Why the coast asks a little more of us

There are few better feelings than waking in a tent with the sound of surf somewhere beyond the canvas. Coastal camping puts you right inside a landscape that is working hard for wildlife, often in ways you cannot see. Sand dunes are one of the rarest habitats in Europe, and they are slow to heal. A single footprint in bare sand can last for months; a fire scar can last for years. Add the species that rely on these places after dark — bats hunting over the dunes, natterjack toads heading to shallow pools, foxes and badgers patrolling the tideline — and it becomes clear that the best seaside camping is the kind that leaves almost no evidence behind.

None of this means tiptoeing about miserably. It means a handful of habits that keep your trip comfortable while letting everything else get on with its night shift.

Pitch on ground that has already been worn

The single biggest thing you can do for dune wildlife is to camp where people have camped before. Use established pitches, campsites and designated wild-camping areas rather than creating a fresh clearing behind the dunes.

• Choose a pitch that is already bare, compacted or mown. Grass that springs back overnight is fine; marram grass, dune slacks and shingle ridges are not.
• Avoid the thin strip just behind the strandline. It looks sheltered and flat, but it is exactly where ringed plovers and oystercatchers scrape their nests between March and September.
• Keep tents and guy lines inside the pitch, not sprawling into the marram. Dune plants hold the whole system together — lose them and the sand starts to move.
• Pitch above the high-water mark and check a tide table, not just the weather forecast. Tides around the UK coast can rise faster than you walk.
• If you are in a campervan, stay on hardstanding or designated pitches. Wheel ruts in soft sand can cut through root systems and stay visible for seasons.

Keep food — and everything that smells of it — secure

Feeding wildlife by accident is easy and damaging. Gulls, foxes, rats and mice that learn to associate tents with food become bolder and often end up being destroyed, while rats in particular take a heavy toll on ground-nesting birds. Store smarter than you think you need to.

• Keep all food in sealed, rigid containers rather than open bags or cardboard boxes.
• Use a cool box that actually closes, and put it in the car boot overnight if you have one.
• Wash up straight after eating, in a bowl, and tip the water away from plants and watercourses — at least 50 metres from any stream, pool or the sea itself.
• Never leave scraps out "for the animals". Apple cores, sausage fat and bread all attract scavengers.
• Wipe down the table, the groundsheet and your hands. Sweet drinks and suncream are just as enticing as dinner.

If your site has a food store or bin with a lid, use it. If it does not, treat your tent as the store and keep everything zipped in.

Take everything home, including the things you think will rot

Coastal rubbish does not politely disappear. It blows into the dunes, tangles in marram, drifts into rock pools and ends up inside seabirds. Bring a bin bag per person and assume you will fill it.

• Bottle tops, hair bands, sandwich bag corners, wet wipes, fishing line and crisp packets are the worst offenders. Do a slow sweep of your pitch before you leave.
• Fruit peel and tea bags are not wildlife food. Take them home.
• Do not leave anything weighted down "until morning" — overnight wind and foxes will move it.
• If the site has no facilities, use a proper toilet or bury human waste in a 30cm hole well away from water, and carry the paper away in a sealed bag.
• Take away ash, burnt foil and any unused firewood. Charcoal scars in sand linger for years.

Think about light, fire and noise after dark

The coast at night belongs to animals that are avoiding us. Bats, hedgehogs, moths, glow-worms and hunting owls all react badly to bright white light, and a lantern left glowing in a tent is a beacon for miles.

• Use a low, shielded or red-light torch, and only when you actually need it. Turn it off when you are back at the tent.
• Close tent curtains rather than lighting up the whole dune system.
• Keep music and loud conversation low. Sound travels far over open sand and shingle.
• Only light a fire where it is allowed, in a raised fire bowl or stove, never directly on sand or in the dunes. Do not collect driftwood — it is shelter and food for invertebrates — and never burn pallets with nails or treated timber.

Give the locals room

A bit of distance goes a long way. Seals hauled out on sandbanks need at least 100 metres, and more if pups are present; if heads lift and animals start shuffling towards the water, you are too close. Keep dogs on leads around nesting birds and on shingle beaches between March and September. In rock pools, look rather than lift — turn any stone back exactly as you found it. Adders and lizards bask on warm sand and will move off if given a moment.

Follow those habits and you will leave a pitch that looks untouched, sleep well, and come back next year to find the dunes, the birds and the quiet all still there.