Machair (geography)

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The Scottish Gaelic word machair or machar refers to a fertile low-lying raised beach found on the coasts of Ireland and Scotland, in particular the Outer Hebrides. Two distinct types exist:

• A type of sand-dune pasture, subject to agricultural cultivation, which prevails in wet and windy conditions;
• The land between a beach and the area where sand encroaches on peat bogs further inland.

In both cases, a machair is a former beach, left higher than the current beach beyond it after a drop in sea level.

Machairs have received considerable ecological and conservational attention, mainly because of their unique ecosystem. They can house rare carpet flowers, such as Irish Lady's Tresses, orchids and Yellow Rattle, along with a diverse array of bird species including the corn crake, twite, dunlin, redshank and ringed plover. They are threatened by erosion caused by rising sea levels and the recreational use of beaches nearby.