Island Nature Trust takes 'softer' approach to dune preservation

Officials with Island Nature Trust say they're happy to see newer methods of dune protection in use on P.E.I.

The group recently completed a $7,000 project funded by the province to help bolster dunes near the Crowbush Golf Course on P.E.I.'s north shore.

It was part of a larger coastal stabilization initiative, and involved transplanting marram grass over the dune that had been strengthened and enlarged.

Megan Harris, executive director of Island Nature Trust, calls it a "softer" engineering approach.She said it's important to keep looking for new solutions to dune erosion that fit this part of the country.

"Those types of dune systems along a coastline are something we take for granted but, in the Maritimes, they're pretty common. Elsewhere in the world they're not, and so we need to try to find some made-in-P.E.I., or made-in-the-Maritimes solutions, that fit that ecosystem really well."

Last fall, they placed spruce tree branches in front of the dune to capture the sand.

"In another year or two, another winter or two, there should be a fairly substantial buildup of sand in the front of the dune and then that can be planted in marram grass as well."

Harris said marram grass is more effective than a big pile of "Nova Scotia rocks" in absorbing the energy of the big storms in Atlantic Canada.

"I think it's a really great step in the right direction. Our coastline is fairly heavily populated and so there are areas we advocate for staying natural."

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