A Green Ribbon Champion program is being offered to the communities living along the shorelines of Lake Huron to help maintain their beaches.
Organized by The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, it is a charitable organization with the aim of protecting and restoring Lake Huron’s coastal lines, according to Coastal Stewardship Coordinator, Daniela Klicper.
The program is offering the municipalities of Huron-Kinloss, Kincardine and Saugeen Shores a free assessment of their shorelines, analyzing health and dunes between properties and the water. A free beach care toolkit including educational resources, a free beach health report and the opportunity for beach and dune restoration are also included.
“Our Green Ribbon Champion program aims to educate shoreline property owners,” says Klicper.
She adds with the beach health report, it will not only feature the health of the shoreline but also the local vegetation, as well as potential areas of improvement to re-naturalize the shoreline.
“So once we follow up with the summery report, there is also an opportunity for a free beach and dune restoration in the fall of 2021,” says Klicper. “So that can include planting native dune grasses, it can involve building a dune system, so all very much important stuff for maintaining a healthy shoreline for years down the road.”
When asked why this is so important, Klicper identified only about two to three per cent of the shoreline along Lake Huron are actually made up of sand beaches and dunes, and the systems are considered to be one of the most fragile ecological features in North America.
“They provide various services of shore protection, water filtration, and even sand drifting prevention, so a piece of natural heritage and vegetation that we want to preserve for many years,” says Klicper.