In the absence of sufficient sand accretion, the naturally dynamic dune habitats enter a phase of stabilisation where the younger, more species-rich habitats in the succession become increasingly rare to the point of disappearing, along with the species associated with them. This happened at Kenfig Burrows in the late 1990s, and is currently in the process of happening on many other UK dune systems. In this situation, conservation managers must either let the stabilisation process continue and accept the inevitable biodiversity losses that will ensue, or take actions to stall or revert the process. Mowing the dune slack vegetation was seen as a holding management exercise that kept the habitat open and allowed some of the rarer species, such as the fen orchid (Liparis loeselii), to persist either until the natural dynamism of the dunes was restored or until more intensive habitat creation work could be undertaken. In biodiversity term, this is definitely a positive modification.
