Strategic Management
Dunes lose resilience from erosion due to uncontrolled and/or poorly managed public access. As dunes are characterised by shifting sand, natural dune function is compromised by too much human interference. If people don’t stick to designated paths, they can damage sandy slopes that have been forming for months. But dune management is often absent, out of date, or installed without considering dune use or the causes of erosion. Past coastal flooding damage cost €1.4 billion[RvdV1] . We used a new approach to human access-based erosion at 3 sites. Instead of expensive, hard infrastructure installed after damage has already occurred, we have:
- Analysed current/predicted erosion patterns. Cutting-edge techniques (point photography, infra-red counters) were used to track erosion and existing data on proposed housing, green infrastructure, planning policy and recreational impact was also taken into account. This created an informed, strategic, proactive approach
- Used best practice and innovation to design and apply tailored 'soft' ecosystem-based solutions at vulnerable sites before significant erosion damage (hedge fencing, recycled boardwalks, rope and post systems
This activity was led by Norfolk County Council with all project partners and local observer partners.
Other Supporting documents
A summary of all the projects pilots and tools can be found in the Best Practice Guide.