Kenfig Dunes is a designated site of special scientific interest and national nature reserve managed by Bridgend County Borough Council. Covering an area of approximately 1300 acres between Port Talbot and Porthcawl, the nature reserve comprises a diverse landscape of sand dunes, wetlands, and coastal habitat.
Once part of a larger sand dune system that likely stretched from Merthyr Mawr to the Gower Peninsula, Kenfig Dunes appears wild and natural, yet it is carefully managed. Grass is cut, bird boxes are placed in thickets, and footpaths are staked out and colour-coded. However, not all visitors and animals stick to the pathways, leaving their marks on the landscape in the form of footprints and lines that show the flow of traffic.
Nature is resilient and adaptable, yet it is also fragile. My photography project explores the delicate balance between Kenfig Dunes’ wildness and its human-managed state. I capture the beauty and fragility of this unique landscape, and the ways in which humans interact with it.
