The sand at Forvie is formed from the remains of sediment that was transported by rivers to the coast at the end of the last ice age.

The sand dunes are of various stages of evolution and contain plethora of plant species including marram grass (Ammophila arenaria), red fescue, (Festuca rubra), crowberry, (Empetrum nigrum), the cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix), common sedge, (Carex nigra), marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris) and the invasive creeping willow (Salix repens ssp.

Vascular plants are an identified and protected feature of the reserve under the Sands of Forvie and Ythan Estuary SSSI.

[8] 15 species are identified on reserve with 10 of which are red book listed species [12] (Astragalus danicus, Carex maritima, Coeloglossum viride, Corollarhiza trifida, Gentianella campestris, Platanthera bifolia, Salsola kali, Mertensia maritima, Radiola linoides and Teesdalia nudicaulis) and five of which are classified as UK scarce species (Equisetum variegatum, Festuca arenaria, Ophioglossum azoricum, Potamogeton filiformis, Puccinellia distans).

[13] The breeding success of the terns has fluctuated widely over the years,[14] and since 1995 NatureScot have undertaken selected culling of predating species, specifically crows, gulls and foxes.

[15][16] In recent years the colonies of sandwich tern and black headed gulls have had great success in breeding with some of the highest populations recorded to date in 2019.

[19] Forvie is a popular site for viewing grey and common seals, which haul out onto beaches and mudflats at the mouth of the Ythan estuary.

Other mammals found at Forvie and those typical of northeast Scotland such roe deer, red foxes, badgers and stoats.

The earliest evidence of human activity takes the form of flint working sites and shell middens, which date from around 8,000 years ago.

Images of the clearance and the location of the minefield is recorded in a local book covering World War II in northeastern Scotland.

On 27 July 1944, Sapper Harry Dean (28) of 11 coy, Royal Engineers was killed whilst clearing a mine at Forvie.

On Sunday 30 November 1941, three local boys found an unexploded anti-tank grenade in a rabbit burrow that the army had been demonstrating to the home guard.

On 2 April 1941 she was hit by a drifting sea mine blowing a large hole in her side, and settled on the Ythan river bed.

During this time, a machine gun was posted at Forvie Sands to offer some protection for the vessel whilst plans were made to move her as she was a target for passing aircraft.

Several websites confirm this sinking, but this disagrees with the information in the reference below, which states that "As for Melrose Abbey, she was released from the Royal Navy in May 1945 and returned to her former owners, the Associated Humber Lines."

Beside the pill box of Forvie, two mobile naval four-inch guns were places and controlled by 942nd Defence battery.

During patrols on the beach and cliffs of Forvie, a dinghy was found and this sparked a search for a spy that had been landed by submarine.

Excavations of the village church, which is dedicated to Saint Adamnan, shown that it was constructed in the 12th-century, and the dating of burials within the church indicate that it had become a ruin by the 15th-century: local folk history tells of a nine-day storm that occurred from a curse of three daughters deprived the inheritance of the land by dirty means, leading to the village being engulfed by sand in August 1413.

Their prayer concluded: "Let nocht bee funde in Furvye's glebys Bot thystl, bente and sande.

[32] Stevenson Forvie Centre near Collieston at the northern end of the reserve provides information to visitors.

The 3.4 km (2.1 mi) Heath Trail is a circular route starting and finishing at the visitor centre, passing through the heathland of the northern part of the reserve.