Damage caused by the development of the Trump golf course at Menie may see the dunes lose their protected status.
The site is considered a national important protected wildlife site.
A report released today by Scottish National Heritage (SNH) warned the area may lose this status following construction of the golf course.
However, the Trump Organisation has branded the move a “stitch-up” and hit out at the way the information was released without any warning.
According to SNH around a third of the special habitats in the Menie section of the Foveran links have been damaged.
The remaining have been “significantly fragmented, and ecological processes disrupted”.
A three-month formal consultation is set to get under way today on the future of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Sally Thomas, SNH’s Director of People & Nature, said: “The denotification of SSIs is unusual, however in this case we have found there is no longer a reason to protect the dunes at Menie as they do not include enough of the special, natural features for which they were designated.
“We work with developers across Scotland to ensure habitats and wildlife are protected when development work is undertaken.
“Most of the time, development can take place without damaging important natural features, but this was not the case in this instance.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organisation told the BBC: “This is an utter disgrace and shows SNH has hit an all time low. To make an announcement to the media before informing us, the actual landowner, shows how politically-motivated this decision is. What other SSSI landowner is singled out in this way?
“It’s a stitch-up.
“Before Donald Trump invested in the site, SNH had little interest in the SSSI at Foveran Links and did even less about it, and has barely been on property since. Trump International funds a team of leading geomorphological consultants, ecologists and environmental experts and has spent millions on the care, protection and maintenance of the small area of SSSI in Scotland that it owns and yet SNH has offered no support, guidance or help.
“All this government agency wants to do is score political points and undermine that investment, custodianship and environmental management. No other SSSI site in the country has been afforded the amount of funding or expertise that Menie has and continues to receive.”
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