Arfordir - Coastal Heritage Our Changing Coastline |
Welcome | About the project | Our changing coastline | Getting involved | Dinas Dinllaen |
Our coastline is constantly changing through erosion, land use and climate change. These changes affect our coastal heritage, damaging or destroying known archaeological sites, and exposing new ones through erosion. The relentless action of the sea is constantly altering the coastal strip; revealing, covering up, and sometimes destroying our coastal heritage. Climate change means that sea-levels will continue to rise, and extreme storm events are more likely. In many areas erosion will happen more quickly, resulting in changes – sometimes dramatic changes – to our coastline. Over time the ways in which we use the coast have changed dramatically. Some traditional industries, like fishing and boat building, have declined. But the booming leisure and tourism industry means that people are visiting and using the coast more than ever. Coastal change and erosion is revealing hidden archaeological sites. Winter storms which scour the sand from beaches can reveal ancient ground surfaces, forests, and long forgotten shipwrecks; and buried structures come to light as they begin to erode from cliff edges. Although the additional information is welcome, these sites too are under threat from the changing coast and without action will be lost forever. Our heritage is irreplaceable. Once gone, it can never be put back.
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