The news is inundated with stories about water. In the Canadian Prairies and parts of British Columbia there is too little water, and farmers are being forced to reconsider their crops and cattle in response to prolonged droughts. In other parts of the country there is too much water, as river banks, lakeshores, and coastlines face pressure from increasing floods and storm surges. Locally, coastal flooding is expected to increase as sea levels rise along the Atlantic and Beaufort coasts where land is subsiding or uplifting. Sea ice melt further expands the risk of flooding and damage to coastal infrastructure, communities, and ecosystems. Local coastal residents face a reality that could involve losing their homes, their beaches, and for Nova Scotians, the critical infrastructure keeping their Province from becoming an island.
In the face of these challenges that are neither new, nor going away anytime soon, we must ask ourselves- what can be done? Historically, the answer to that question would involve building, reinforcing, and then rebuilding a wall. Aka— hardening the shorelines. As an approach, hardening shorelines is not inherently bad. In certain areas, hard armour structures such as revetments (walls of stone, concrete, or wood to block erosion), dykes (walls of a combination of rock, earth, sand, concrete, or metal to block erosion and flooding), and breakwaters (rock placed in front of the shore) block wave energy and protect critical infrastructure and agricultural land. However, hard approaches usually come with adverse effects, including greater erosion in areas adjacent to the structure. They are also expensive. For small communities and landowners, hard reinforcement is often simply not a feasible option.
A better and more sustainable approach uses nature to protect spaces and absorb wave energy. Living shorelines, dyke realignment, wetland restoration, and re-naturalization are all examples of nature based coastal adaptation approaches. Nature-based coastal adaptation maintains or reintroduces natural structures and materials into the environment, acknowledging and valuing natural systems and the benefits they provide for people. Unlike a hardened structure, which weakens over time, nature-based approaches grow stronger as plants become established and natural processes are given the space to grow and move. Focusing on areas where hardened infrastructure can no longer be maintained or hasn’t yet been installed, nature-based approaches can provide innovative solutions with social, ecological, and economic benefits.
So, if we know the stakes and have solutions in hand, why aren’t we using more nature based coastal adaptation approaches? Tune in to Part 2 of this mini-series, where we’ll investigate barriers and drivers for successful nature based coastal adaptation.
