Calgary Bay is home to one of Europe’s rarest habitats, the unique shell-rich sandy grassland called machair. Found only on the blustery West coasts of Scotland and Ireland, machair is notable for its dazzling array of wild flowers, which in turn attracts a wealth of invertebrates and birds. 

Calgary’s machair is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), reflecting its national importance. In summer it should be a riot of wild flowers, bees, butterflies, beetles and birds. But it’s in trouble; the ‘low sward height and the inability of most machair flowers to set seed’ means that the SSSI is currently in ‘unfavourable declining’ condition. This is the result of overgrazing.  

Friends of Calgary Bay, a community group affiliated with Mull and Iona Community Trust (MICT), have been working with the local grazier, land owner and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to introduce a grazing management scheme. This is common practice in other areas and only requires the removal of sheep for the four months of the growing season. 

The only practical way to achieve this is by fencing. Full public access would remain and grazing would resume from September onwards.  The seaward line of fencing will be hidden in the dunes, so will not obtrusive. We know from previous trials that this will have a dramatic and immediate effect on the diversity of fauna and flora. 

We have just 6 weeks to raise £12,000. 

Please help us bring the machair back to life.   A £10 donation will protect a 60m2 area,  more or less the footprint of a traditional Mull croft house.