Evaluation of beach rehabilitation success, Turners Beach, Tasmania

Abstract

Beaches worldwide have been subjected to human impacts by the trampling of vegetation, leading to exposure that increases their vulnerability to erosion. Rehabilitation efforts have included dune revegetation and control of human, access along with information signs for public education. Long term evaluation of the success of these is largely lacking, particularly in Australia where there has been significant Natural Resource Management funding in the last 20 years. This study used beach monitoring profiles, sediment analysis, historical photographs and community surveys to evaluate beach rehabilitation activities at Turners Beach, Northern Tasmania, where significant community effort has been invested. Results showed that the western and central sections of Turners Beach have experienced overall accretion since 2006, with development of a foredune and evidence of marine derived sediment deposition. The eastern section continued to show some erosion, with informal access tracks remaining despite fencing and signage. After 15 years of rehabilitation, historical photographs and community survey showed that human access control using boardwalks and vegetation replanting has been successful, justifying the community effort and federal government funding that was invested at the time, and ongoing community and local government maintenance since. Dune fencing was also found to have partly contributed to rehabilitation success, while placement of rocks along the shoreline appeared to have had mixed results, and information signs were found to be the least successful management practice. Topographic survey of beach profiles was confirmed by this study to be an effective method for evaluation of erosion, justifying the involvement of surveyors, with such long term monitoring being beyond the scope of most projects. Community survey was also confirmed to be a valuable tool in identifying long term changes, and community participation to be successful in increasing the integrity and resilience of beach and dunes areas.

From grey to green: Efficacy of eco‐engineering solutions for nature‐based coastal defence

“…nourishment) to dunes and beaches (Achab, Ferreira, & Dias, 2014;Matias, Ferreira, Mendes, Dias, & Vila-Concejo, 2005), the construction of sand ridges with and without hard cores (Do Carmo, Reis, & Freitas, 2009;Kratzmann & Hapke, 2012;Wamsley, Waters, & King, 2011), and the facilitation of sand accumulation using fences, vegetation and by managing pedestrian access (Anthony, Vanhee, & Ruz, 2007;Johnston & Ellison, 2014;Lin, 1996;Miller, Thetford, & Yager, 2001; Table S3). nourishment) to dunes and beaches (Achab, Ferreira, & Dias, 2014;Matias, Ferreira, Mendes, Dias, & Vila-Concejo, 2005), the construction of sand ridges with and without hard cores (Do Carmo, Reis, & Freitas, 2009;Kratzmann & Hapke, 2012;Wamsley, Waters, & King, 2011), and the facilitation of sand accumulation using fences, vegetation and by managing pedestrian access (Anthony, Vanhee, & Ruz, 2007;Johnston & Ellison, 2014;Lin, 1996;Miller, Thetford, & Yager, 2001; Table S3).…”

“…Dune restoration for defence takes many forms including the direct addition of sand (i.e. nourishment) to dunes and beaches (Achab, Ferreira, & Dias, 2014;Matias, Ferreira, Mendes, Dias, & Vila-Concejo, 2005), the construction of sand ridges with and without hard cores (Do Carmo, Reis, & Freitas, 2009;Kratzmann & Hapke, 2012;Wamsley, Waters, & King, 2011), and the facilitation of sand accumulation using fences, vegetation and by managing pedestrian access (Anthony, Vanhee, & Ruz, 2007;Johnston & Ellison, 2014;Lin, 1996;Miller, Thetford, & Yager, 2001; Table S3). Utilizing multiple techniques within a site, for example beach renourishment in combination with sand fences, to build dunes is common (Bocamazo, Grosskopf, & Buonuiato, 2011;Khalil & Lee, 2006).…”

The Impact of Coastal Infrastructure Improvements on Economic Growth: Evidence from Barbados

“…The increasing rise of seas levels as a predominant result of global warming combined with excessive coastal development in most small island states has affected widespread erosion that adversely impacts tourist facilities, settlements, and infrastructure (Nurse et al, 2014). Currently, up to 70 % of all beaches worldwide are experiencing some erosion, and this is expected to further increase with the global rise of sea levels (Johnston and Ellison, 2014). This projected loss of beaches may result in severe economic impacts, as any degradation of the beach environment is likely to reduce the 7 demand for coastal tourism and real estate, and directly as well as indirectly affect the income of beach-adjacent businesses and residents.…”

“…In a survey of more than 300 tourists visiting the Caribbean island of Barbados, it was found that more than 80 % of tourists would be unwilling to return for the same holiday price if beach areas were reduced (Uyarra et al, 2005). 3 Recognizing the economic importance of maintaining shorelines and beaches in order to protect the livelihood of most local inhabitants, SIDS and other countries facing the issue of coastal degradation have taken measures to protect and rehabilitate shorelines, where topographic evaluations have shown that beach areas can successfully be rehabilitated in this way (Johnston and Ellison, 2014). However, despite the investment of large government funds in rehabilitation efforts, long-term evaluations of program impact are largely lacking in the literature and generally limited to the use of ex-ante cost-benefit analyses.…”

“…With regards to the social cost of overusing beach resources, individual private agents tend to ignore the adverse effects of their usage because they expect others to capture the benefits of beach amenities in their absence (Wade, 1987). In other words, due to the "multiple, overlapping, and potentially conflicting uses and user groups", it becomes almost impossible to clearly assign the benefits and costs incurred through a beach nourishment project to individual, private agents 12 (Briassoulis, 2002 and dunes were successfully restored in the 1990s using fencing and elevated boardwalks to reduce effects of trampling, while dune erosion in western France was successfully reversed in the 1980s using vegetation replanting (Johnston and Ellison, 2014). Therefore, studies relying on the topographic evaluation of rehabilitation success suggest that shoreline stabilization programs can indeed maintain and improve the size and quality of coastal areas important to tourism, and therefore local economic growth.…”