When it comes to saving the Jersey coastline, coconuts could be the answer. The American Littoral Society has brought big changes to the shoreline of the Shark River in Neptune with a $1 million project that includes introducing plants whose roots protect sand from erosion, along with logs made from coir, or coconut fibers. The logs are also being used to reduce erosion rates in the Delaware Bay and Barnegat Bay. The logs should last for a year and a half in the water, and two to three years on higher ground.
“We’re still going to have some of that erosion happening, but what we’re doing is establishing a more solidified kind of a shoreline using these logs,” said Al Modjeski, director of the society’s habitat restoration program.
“It’s sustainable, it’s biodegradable, it’s relatively inexpensive, and it works very well in restoration practices where we’re trying to re-establish the edge of a marsh or the edge of a beach,” said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the society.
Rick and Martha Cuttrell live two blocks from the river in the Shark River Hills section of Neptune, an area they say flooded badly during Superstorm Sandy, and they’re happy to hear that a natural solution could help protect these homes from future floods. “It’s fantastic because it’s achieving the goal of preventing flooding in a natural way,” Rick Cuttrell said.
The project was paid for with money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the township of Neptune.
Major funding for Peril and Promise is provided by Dr. P. Roy and Diana T. Vagelos with additional funding from The Marc Haas Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, and the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family.
