Dune Restoration and Research
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What is Dune Restoration?
Dunes are extremely important natural features for coastal resilience. Compared to their neighbor, the beach, dunes are sometimes overlooked, but they are a vibrant and critical ecosystem in their own right. Dunes provide a sand source to nourish eroding beaches, protect inland infrastructure by acting as a barrier to storm surge and flooding, and serve as habitats for wildlife. Because degraded dunes lose some of their ability to play some of these important roles, protection and restoration is vital for coastal ecosystems and communities.
The Coastal Research Volunteers team up with UNH's Coastal Habitat Restoration Team, which works to restore and maintain healthy dunes in New Hampshire and Massachusetts through a very grass-roots approach. Along with the Restoration Team, volunteers plant native grasses, install sand fencing, post educational signage, and actively survey the dunes to document sand gains and losses. Volunteers are also active participants in research on dune resilience and restoration methods.
What do Dune Restoration Volunteers do?
Join our dune restoration and research effort!
To stay informed about our 2020 restoration season sign up for our newsletter or contact Wells.
Are you a coastal property owner looking to restore native dunes on your property? Contact Wells for more information about how to access free beachgrass and other native species from our dune plant common garden.
Links, resources, and partner organizations
Want to learn more? Read all about the Coastal Habitat Restoration Team's efforts in Newbury, MA, check out this fact sheet for homeowners on reducing coastal erosion and storm damage, and read through this article in the Seacoast Online about the Coastal Habitat Restoration Team's work on the dunes in Seabrook.
November 9, 2015 - Community Volunteers Join Dune Restoration Effort - Hampton Union
May 30, 2017 - Students Work to Fortify Plum Island Dunes - The Eagle-Tribute
November 8, 2017 - On N.H.'s Coast, Preparing for Future Storms with Grass, Sand, and a Bit of Time - NHPR
May 31, 2018 - Repairs Underway on Sand Dunes Damaged by Nor'Easters - WMUR
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