How to get Planting for Protection for my school

Gulf Shores Kids Install 4,000 Native Dune Plants

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On February 22-23, Gulf Shores City Schools partnered with Dune Doctors and Gulf State Park Naturalists to host a Planting for Protection (P4P) Event for 185 students to install roughly 4,000 native dune-building plants and initiate a new row of coastal dunes along the Gulf State Park, AL. Planting for Protection is an educational initiative designed by Dune Doctors to promote coastal resiliency through community-based dune restoration.

Teachers from the Gulf Shores High School Sustainability Program incorporated the Planting for Protection (P4P) events into their spring semester lecture series. To help enhance the curriculum, Dune Doctors provided them with professional training on the different man-made and natural threats that contribute to coastal erosion. Leading up to the event, the teachers nominated 39 students to be P4P Mentors. Dune Doctors and Gulf State Park Naturalists trained the mentors in the installation of native vegetation. The P4P Mentors then taught the 5th-graders how to plant.

What did Students do at the Planting for Protection Event?

Debbie Williams with WKRG covered the Planting for Protection event. To read more click here.

Before each planting session, the students attended three classes on native coastal plants, dune wildlife, and dune development. The classes were taught by Cory Powell a Gulf State Park Naturalist, Kelly Reetz the Resource Manager for the Gulf State Park, and Frederique Beroset the CEO of Dune Doctors. The P4P mentors then mobilized their 5th-graders to install the vegetation. The students worked with various native plants including sea oats, panic grass, sea purslane, beach elder, and red morning glory.

What do the Students who Participated Have to Say?

Planting for Protection Mentors taught 5th-graders how to properly install native dune vegetation.

Aiden, a 5th Grader, said his favorite part was digging holes with the shovels. His classmate Briley said her favorite part was working with the gel (the gel is an environmentally-compliant method of providing newly installed vegetation with the moisture necessary to establish in sand). Both students stressed that their biggest takeaway was learning about the damaging effect of foot traffic. Briley wants everyone to “stick to boardwalks” because footpaths that cut through dunes “create pathways for storm water to reach the city.”

Jessie, a horticulture student and P4P Mentor, said this event benefitted her group because they learned the kind of work that goes into restoring their local dune ecosystems. Another P4P mentor had a clear message for the city of Gulf Shores. Kevin, a Student Ambassador with Gulf Shores City Schools, said, “these dunes are vital for the survival and health of the community along the coastline. Any opportunity the city of Gulf Shores has to restore these dunes would be widely beneficial to everyone.”

How Does this Planting for Protection Event Benefit the Community of Gulf Shores, Alabama?

The overarching goal for the event was to help kids develop a sense of ownership over the dune environment, expose the P4P mentors to professionals in the Green Industry, and provide the P4P mentors with an opportunity to develop their leadership skills. Jessica Sampley, the school’s Academies and Carrier Coordinator, expressed her excitement at how well the event came together and urged other schools to seize the opportunity to host one too. She said, “our goal is to educate kids who can then, hopefully, educate others to participate in preserving our local environment.” Johanna Gertsch, a Gulf State Park Naturalist, said the P4P restoration will help increase the park’s natural protective dune systems, offering greater protection for the ecosystems and communities landward of the dunes.

The Teachers from the Gulf Shores City Schools participated in the fun too!

What is a Planting for Protection Event?

Planting for Protection (P4P) is Dune Doctors’ educational initiative designed to promote coastal resiliency through hands-on dune restoration. With over 22 years of experience, our coastal restoration experts share their expertise with students to help educate the next generation of coastal stewards. Dune Doctors organizes Planting for Protection events through partnerships with Homeowner Associations, Schools, Government Organizations, NGO’s, and other communities. Should you want to bring a P4P event to your community, please reach our team through our Contact Us form.

Planting for Protection with Fabien Cousteau and the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station

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A Day for the Dunes

On September 28th, a group of roughly 500 community members and volunteers came together to plant sea oats on a vulnerable section of Navarre Beach dunes. Over time, the public had cleared a foot pathway to the beach, and we were given the opportunity to plant over this trail and on the landward side of the dunes. In partnership with the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station and the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center, we organized A Day for the Dunes an educational event about the importance of protecting our coastal ecosystems.

In addition to sea oats planting, the event had educational stations hosted by local organizations and schools. Gulf Breeze High School, Navarre Beach Lifeguards, Navarre Beach Fire Rescue, UP Divers, Pensacola Beach Elementary School and the Rotary Club of Navarre each directed a station and offered interactive activities to teach the public about the coastal ecosystem. Attendees who registered were given the opportunity to participate in Planting for Protection and help us install sea oats. Together with the outstanding students from the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station we taught the public how to plant sea oats and installed a grand total of 1,350 sea oats in a two-hour time span.

What is Planting for Protection?

Planting for Protection is our hands-on educational initiative designed to teach kids (and the general public) about the importance of coastal resiliency. Native sea oats are planted by participants under the guidance of mentors trained by Dune Doctors. For each event, we collaborate with teens who are passionate about the environment and show them how to install sea oats. The teens we train then mentor the little ones, and we observe a double positive. The kids get to plant sea oats on the dunes and by doing so take ownership of an environment they were not previously that aware of or familiar with. On the other hand, we have young adult mentors who are given a platform to share their passion for the environment with a young audience that embraces what they have to say. Everyone walks away feeling proud of their accomplishments and energized to educate loved ones and friends that could not attend.

Special Words from Fabien Cousteau

Fabien Cousteau, famed oceanographic explorer and conservationist, made a special appearance at this past event. Fabien has dedicated his career to educating society on the importance of protecting our oceans and is currently working to expand his educational non-profit the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center. The first grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Fabien embarked on an underwater expedition that lasted 31 days and live-broadcasted the journey for the whole world to see. As beaches are often the connection between ocean and land, protecting the health of our coastal ecosystems is vital to minimizing the amount of trash and debris that ends up in the water. Fabien urges everyone to pick-up trash left behind on the beaches and to embrace environmentally-conscious lifestyle changes such as avoiding single-use plastic.

Fabien Cousteau teaching a child how to plant a sea oat

    “A Day for the Dunes is extraordinarily important for many reasons, its a sense of community. Its a sense of empowerment. Its a sense of doing good for our aquatic life the ecosystem that supports all life on this planet. It’s very important for kids to be empowered to make change happen and to make sure that their parents and their communities are helping them make that change.” 

Fabien Cousteau 

Our goal is to educate the next generation of coastal stewards who are joining in the fight in protecting our coastlines from erosion. We look forward to a new year full of Planting for Protection events. If you would like to implement a similar event with your community, email us at info(@) dunedoctors.com or call us at 866-386-3737.

“When you give a child a plant to put in the ground you give them ownership of a portion of that dune. After planting, they will be much more considerate of that environment once they hold a stake in it.” 

Frederique Beroset, MBA & M.S. Biology