As the clean up from Fiona continues across coastal regions of New Brunswick, efforts are underway to try and restore parts of the coastline that have been washed away.
Jolyne Hebert, manager of the Shediac Bay Watershed Association, said she felt a surge of despair when she visited Belliveau Beach in Shediac after Fiona had passed.
“Fiona had a pretty devastating impact on our dune system in this area. We have lost a complete network of dunes,” Hebert said.
Dunes that once stretched half a kilometre down the private beach and towered 10 to 15 feet high are now gone, washed away in Fiona’s fury while destroying vital ecosystems and leaving homes along the coast more vulnerable to coastal erosion, Hebert said.
“Dune systems are a first line of defence for our infrastructure, for our homes, for our roads, and they also nourish our sandy beaches that we enjoy during the summer,” she said.
The group spent this past summer installing fencing to try and preserve the dunes already damaged by Dorian three years ago, Hebert said.
Yet Fiona washed away all of their efforts, including the snow fencing the group had installed to help protect the dunes, she said.
Homes that were once not even visible from the beach are now exposed.
“I felt pretty devastated,” Hebert said.
Efforts are underway to try to rebuild the natural storm blocks, one seed at a time. The group is collecting seed pods from marram grass that grows along the shoreline.
“We will be spreading marram grass around where the dunes used to be in hopes of having the grass come back,” said Simon LeBlanc, who works for the association.
Marram grass will eventually grow roots up to four meters long that will act as anchors, allowing for new dunes to form, Hebert said. But that will take years and she said she fears they are running out of time given the increased frequency of violent storms over the last few years.
“With these storms happening more and more frequently — for example Dorian and Fiona happening only three years from each other — it makes this very challenging,” she said.
Hebert says there may be a way to speed up the process by taking advantage of Fiona’s wrath and collecting the trees and vegetation the storm left in its wake.
“If we could take all of that debris that needs to be disposed of anyway and take that and install the vegetation along the beach these, would serve as sand capture methods,” she said.
Hebert said that would allow for the dunes to rebuild faster, and plant seeds of hope for the plants and animals that depend on the dunes and for those living along the coast.
Hebert is looking for volunteers to help move downed trees and vegetation to Belliveau Beach. Anyone interested in helping out can contact the Shediac Bay Watershed Association.
Comments