People living near a high-profile beach are in constant fear of a major fire in a forest that backs onto the sand. Tensions at the Anglesey beauty spot have risen during a dry spell that’s fuelled an early-season burst of illicit camping.
Locals have been left terrified by the number of fires being lit by visitors to Traeth Llanddwyn and Newborough Forest. Photos shared online by residents this week show beach campfires just yards from a Corsican pine forest stretching across more than 2,500 acres. One, taken on Tuesday, April 8, shows two waste bins at the beach car park destroyed by the “idiotic” disposal of lit BBQs.
In response to the threat, warden patrols have been stepped up by site manager Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Between Friday and Sunday last weekend, they demanded 15 campfires be extinguished and asked 16 groups of campers to move or leave.
Whilst welcoming interventions by the local NRW team, residents believe more must be done to counter the threat. The area, a national nature reserve which includes the iconic tidal island of Ynys Llanddwyn, has seen its popularity soar in recent years in the wake of social media coverage. As the beach has been the setting for several TV and film productions, such as House of the Dragon, it was also promoted by VisitBritain, the UK tourism agency, in its recent “Starring Great Britain” campaign.
Cathy Sands runs a Facebook group with 1,000 members who love the place. She said: “Everyone is massively concerned. We don’t want to come across as killjoys but the fire risk is a significant threat. It worries me sick, it really does.
“I spoke to a senior fire officer who said that, if the forest went up in flames, they would not be able to manage the fire even if they pulled in appliances from across the region. I’m not alone in living in a property just a field away from the forest: if the forest burns, so will crops in the fields and then our homes.” Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community
Residents have become Llanddwyn’s eyes and ears in the hope of drawing attention to the threats being posed by irresponsible users. Littering and dog poo are ongoing issues and so is noise disturbance in a forest that's one of Wales’ last remaining red squirrel strongholds. This week, a retired firefighter out walking his dog came across human faeces part-buried in the sand.
Cathy said: “Campervans that park up overnight and have been seen emptying their chemical waste on the ground, in holes dug on the beach and even poured directly into the sea. Then there is the horrific amount of human excrement on paths, dog poo bags stacked on benches, tied to trees or dumped in the shelter by Ynys Llanddwyn.”
To counter the risks, NRW enlarged forest fire breaks this spring and cleared woody debris from its undergrowth. Since the pandemic, when Llanddwyn’s popularity ballooned, local wardens have patrolled the area on the look-out for anti-social behaviour. Other high-risk NRW sites, such as Coed y Brenin and Gwydir Forest Park, also have extra patrols during busy periods.
Dylan Williams, NRW operations manager in North Wales, said: “We take a risk-based approach based on the likely severity of impact. This is based on local intelligence and patterns of use that we have noticed. We normally have a presence during holiday periods but we also react to the weather, for example when conditions are particularly dry and the threat is most prevalent.
“We take fire risks very seriously, recognising this a special place for nature, local people and visitors. In busy periods, depending on the weather, we undertake evening and night patrols. Our first approach is always to inform, advise and deter people, asking them to respect sites and not camp overnight or make fires and barbecues.
"The amount of resource that we place in each area depends on how bad the problem is, the time of year and the weather. If the fire risk is high, we’ll increase the number of patrols and number of people taking part.” Get the best island stories from our Anglesey newsletter - sent every Friday
NRW also works with the police. At other NRW sites, campers have been prosecuted for trespass and this remains an option for persistent offenders at Newborough Forest and Llanddwyn beach. Registration numbers of vehicles parked overnight are taken and, as happened last weekend, details are passed to the police.
As yet, no one’s been prosecuted. Cathy believes more needs doing. She said: “The local wardens are fantastic and they do as much as they can despite the abuse they receive – they’re now providing us with weekly updates. But more resources need to be allocated by NRW management and Anglesey Council.
“There also needs to greater deterrence. Too many self-entitled visitors feel they can ignore the signs and get away with it. In the New Forest, illegal camping is rare as anyone caught is fined heavily on the spot. We need to see something like that here.”
Pressure on site management is rising across Wales as day visitor and campervan numbers increase. Out-of-hours incidents can be reported to NRW. But to safeguard warden safety, these call-outs must be double manned. Sometimes NRW wardens will ask the police for support and they will not not attend if officers are unavailable.
Behaviour messaging has been stepped up and any number of signs warns of the fire risk and no overnight camping. Yet problems persists and, according to locals, they are increasing. An early-season snapshot of the challenges was logged last weekend when NRW’s 2025 patrols began in earnest. These are listed below.
Friday, April 4
- Logged a vehicle staying overnight. Owner will receive a warning via the crime team.
- Four separate groups of campers, comprising about 15 people, were asked to put out fires and move on.
- “Many people still out” – they were advised they couldn’t stay overnight.
Saturday, April 5
- Three vehicles staying overnight logged. Owners to receive warnings.
- Five separate fires asked to be put out.
- Six separate groups asked to move or not to camp.
- “Many people still out” – they were advised they couldn’t stay overnight.
Sunday, April 6
- Six separate groups of campers – including a large party – were asked to put out fires and leave.
- One camper was asked to leave.
Three NRW wardens live locally and so are heavily invested in their work. But Cathy fears that, without extra resources, and greater enforcement, the worst-case scenario cannot be ruled out.
“If you go down to the beach at 6am you can see the campers everywhere,” she said. “Every nice evening, you can guarantee there will be multiple illegal fires under the tinder-dry treeline and on the beach within the marram grass.
“This is a nature reserve and SSSI in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It should be properly protected. We need a police presence here, with significant on-the-spot fines issued to illegal campers. NRW makes a lot of money from the area and it needs to be reinvested in Newborough to tackle the problems and look after it.
“If a fire gets out of control, the whole forest will go up - it will simply disappear. Not only will we lose the red squirrels, the area’s wild ponies may not be able to escape. And once it’s gone, the forest will never recover. It’s breaks my heart to think about it.” Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
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