Dune care expert to help save our dunes

Sand dune expert Wayne O’Keefe is heading back to Gisborne next week to help stop the erosion of our dunes. He will spend three days in the area looking specifically at the Makorori and Wainui sand dunes which are subject to a lot of sand movement. He will be working with students at Wainui Beach School as well as holding a public workshop at the school on Friday (20 August) night.

“I understand that several properties in the Wainui area have been affected by eroding sand dunes and some owners are resorting to hard landscaping to try and stop this,” says Mr O’Keefe. Planting sand binding plants along the dunes is an effective alternative to tyres, rocks and wood. The whole beach from Makorori Headland to the Wainui Stream would benefit from extensive planting because this is where the sea takes the sand away from.”

A number of councils around the country are actively engaged in dune restoration programmes with most, if not all, being very much community driven says community facilities manager Terry McMillan. “Coast Care Bay of Plenty is one good example of community driven dune restoration. Approximately 70,000 native sand binding plants are planted throughout the Bay of Plenty each winter with the planting done entirely by volunteer groups from every corner of the community including school groups, pre-schools, marae and corporations.”

“Community groups can apply for funding and help push through a consistent approach to beach front planting. Currently each property owner tends to try their own thing; some that is effective in binding sand and some that isn’t. Aesthetically a beach wide approach looks better and tends to be more effective in the long term.”

“If people are interested in forming a beach care group Gisborne District staff would be more than happy to help facilitate this. To get people started we will be giving away sand binding grasses at Friday’s workshop.”

Mr O’Keefe has had a lot of experience restoring sand dunes in the Bay of Plenty. He says that healthy sand dunes are much more important than people realise. “We need them to act as a natural buffer between the sea and the land in times of stormy weather and big seas.”

“Not so long ago much of the coastline of New Zealand would have been edged with expansive sand dunes full of native plants that were perfectly adapted to cope with the harsh and mobile environment that is a sand dune. During periods of calm weather these plants would trap and hold sand that was washed on to the beach through wave action which would allow the sand dune to grow seaward, in turn making it better able to withstand the pounding of waves during a storm. Sand that was washed away during a storm would eventually come back on to the beach during the return of calm weather, and once again get trapped by the native sand binding plants thus completing the cycle of erosion and accretion.”

“Unfortunately, through our love of being as close to the coast as possible, we have lost most of our sand dunes to housing and infrastructure development, farming, competition from introduced plants and vehicle damage. This loss has led to some seriously eroded stretches of coastline that have little or no natural barrier between the sea and the land, with thousands of homes standing perilously close to the sea. It is only in recent years that we have realised what has been lost.”

“Coastal erosion is an issue that should concern everyone. Whether or not you believe in the climatologists’ claims about global warming and sea level rise, there is no denying that weather patterns are changing. We need a coastline that is better able to withstand the forces it will face in the future. The workshop on Friday 20 August is open to all residents who are interested in learning more about dune restoration and the challenges that we face in rebuilding our sand dunes.

ENDS

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