[Narrator] Sand dunes are part of a dynamic coastal ecosystem within Prince Edward Island National Park.
They are an important habitat and act as a protective barrier against the effects of wind and the sea.
Informal trails through the dunes damage vegetation like marram grass.
This grass help hold dunes in place. Without marram grass, dunes will break apart because the sand…
...stored in a dune eventually blows away leaving what we call a "dune blowout".
When people create new trails and continue using undesignated trails,
they impact areas where vegetation could be growing to support the dune.
The dune can no longer maintain its wedge-like shape.
At Cavendish Beach, restoring sand dunes helps protect…
...inland buildings and roads as well as ecosystems like wetlands.
In this case, the Lake of Shining Waters and its outlet stream can be impacted by beach sand that migrates inland.
To restore sand dunes, recycled Christmas trees are placed in the blowout and these trees catch moving sand.
Marram grass raised at our local nursery is planted alongside the Christmas trees to help support the dune’s foundation.
[Kerry-Lynn Atkinson] Today, we have a plant ecology class coming.
There’s going to be 22 students here and they’re from the University of Prince Edward Island,
and they’re going to help us lay a whole other ridge line of recycled Christmas trees at the front of this site.
We’re going to lay about sixty trees on the front edge, we’re going to stake them all in.
And those trees will help to capture the sand that’s blowing in over the course of the winter.
They’re also going to plant up to 2000 marram grass plugs that we acquired from the provincial nursery.
That’s going to hopefully develop into a netting system that will help to stabilize the dune, and grow it over time.
Last October we laid up to 200 trees, we laid three rows of them…
...and since then we’ve had to put two more rows at the back of the dune system…
...because it’s actually grown over a metre in some areas of sand.
So within less than one year, some areas have already grown up to a metre.
[Narrator] Parks Canada and the University of Prince Edward Island have an exciting new partnership.
When students are engaged in activities such as restoring dunes, they gain real work experience…
...as well as an opportunity to connect with a Parks Canada site.
[Christian Lacroix] My course is called Plant Community Ecology, so what we do is we look at groupings of plants...
...in different habitats and why you see these types of plants in the habitats.
Today is a nice exposure to the dunes systems where Marram grass…
...is kind of the pioneer and main species holding the dunes together.
I think when I ask them if they were interested in taking one of their spare afternoons…
...off to do this, it was an enthusiastic yes for all of them.
The majority of the class minus one or two people who couldn’t really make it today.
All of them are here and they’re really enthusiastic about doing this.
[Narrator] Including students in this project allows Parks Canada to continue connecting Canadians with nature, it fosters an appreciation for our ecosystems.
Protecting the sand dunes in PEI National Park is a priority for Parks Canada.
Though dunes are vulnerable to human impact, they can be restored.
The key to long-lasting healthy dunes is teaching people to enjoy dunes without damaging them.
It is important to prevent trampling and foot traffic on dunes in the first place.
Prince Edward Island National Park has designated beach crossings.
We ask that visitors use these access points to avoid trampling the dunes.
The park needs the cooperation of all visitors to protect the dunes.
Every step counts, including yours: please keep your steps on the provided beach access routes and not on the dunes.