provided to The Santiva Chronicle
The City of Sanibel began the final component of its Post-Hurricane Ian Beach Recovery project on Monday, Nov. 9. With funding from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as part of the Hurricanes Ian and Nicole Recovery Plan for Florida’s Beach and Dune System, the City is implementing an island-wide dune planting project to strengthen the beach and dune system and provide erosion control.
Native, low-growing dune vegetation is being installed in a 15-foot-wide strip along the Gulfward edge of the existing dune vegetation line. The native dune species to be installed will include sea oats (Uniola paniculata), bitter panic grass (Panicum amarum), railroad vine (Ipomoea pes-capre), sea purslane (Sesuvium portulucastrum), seacoast marsh elder (Iva imbricata), and seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum).
This project will strengthen the resilience of the dune system, which helps protect the property naturally. These species were chosen because they are essentially the “building blocks” of dune systems and the most cost-effective nature-based solution for protecting beachfront properties.
If you have questions about the Sanibel Island-wide Beach Dune Planting Project, contact Project Manager Joel Caouette at 239-267-4726 or joel.caouette@mysanibel.com