Climping Sand Dunes are a system of dunes at Climping

Climping

Clymping is a civil parish, located around the hamlet of Climping in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. The parish also contains the coastal hamlet of Atherington. It is located three miles west of Littlehampton, just north of the A259 road...

 in the Arun

Arun

Arun is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It contains the towns of Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and takes its name from the River Arun, which runs through the centre of the district.-History:...

 District of West Sussex

West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 located west of Littlehampton

Littlehampton

Littlehampton is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton and east of the county town of Chichester....

. The eastern end of the dunes adjoins the River Arun

River Arun

The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...

 and Littlehampton Redoubt

Littlehampton Redoubt

Littlehampton Redoubt, usually known as Littlehampton Fort, was built in 1854 to protect the entrance to the River Arun at Littlehampton on the south coast of England, against possible attack by the French under the Emperor Napoleon III. There had been a previous battery on the east bank of the...

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Vegetation at Climping

Vegetation such as Marram Grass

Ammophila arenaria

Ammophila arenaria is a species of grass known by the common names European Marram Grass and European Beachgrass. It is one of two species of the genus Ammophila . It is native to the coastlines of Europe and North Africa where it grows in the sands of beach dunes. It is a perennial grass forming...

 is essential for dunes to work, dominating the stabilised parts of the dunes. Other grasses that grow there include Dune Fescue and Red Fescue. Dogs off leads can easily run around the dunes, and destroy the vegetation. Horses being ridden over the dunes will have a similar effect. The Climping dunes are an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

). In 2006 the total number of full species at Climping Gap stood at 256. It supports important populations of wintering birds and the numbers of wintering Sanderling

Sanderling

The Sanderling is a small wader. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia...

, in particular, are of European significance. Vegetated shingle beaches are a nationally uncommon habitat. The beach at Climping is broad in the west but narrows to the east. Plant communities include Yellow horned poppy, Sea Kale, Sea Beet

Sea beet

The sea beet, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima , is a member of the family Chenopodiaceae. Carl Linnaeus first described Beta vulgaris in 1753; in the second edition of Species Plantarum in 1762 he divided the species into wild and cultivated varieties, giving the name Beta maritima to the wide...

, Curled Dock

Curled Dock

Curled Dock , also known as Curly Dock, Yellow Dock, Sour Dock, Narrow Dock, sometimes as "narrow-leaved dock" , and ambiguously as "garden patience", is a perennial flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia.The mature plant is a reddish brown colour, and...

, Sea Holly

Sea holly

The Sea holly is a species of Eryngium in the plant family Apiaceae and native to most European coastlines. In some ways, it resembles a flowering thistle, in that its flower is burr-shaped, though these are metallic blue, rather than mauve. The protected dune plant grows to a height of 20 to...

, Sand Catchfly, Viper’s Bugloss and Nottingham Catchfly

Nottingham Catchfly

Silene nutans is a flowering plant in the genus Silene, most commonly known as Nottingham Catchfly.-Description:Silene nutans is a diploid, mainly outcrossing, herbaceous, perennial plant....

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