Preface

“In June 2023, Galway City Council, in conjunction with the University of Galway and the Atlantic Seaboard North Climate Action Regional Office (CARO), will carry out a pilot project to install sand fencing at Grattan Beach.

The pilot project will help us develop nature-based solutions to manage Grattan Beach and sand dunes, as a ‘Living Lab’ for Galway City.

A ‘Living Lab’ is where scientists move from the laboratory to the real world to find solutions to problems, working with other experts and the public.

This project extends the work of the community led ‘I Like Beaches’ project (since 2012), where local groups have been contributing their ideas to develop a Living Lab that would make space for nature and visitors on Grattan.”

What Happened?

After the fences were installed, there was a sense that this was going to be a fantastic project! Hopes were high, and for the next 20 weeks, Galway Atlantaquaria started recording the changes with photography, drone, and video.

As you can imagine there is a lot of data, so here is an interpretation* of the last 20 weeks.

(*signage that helps to create a narrative that acts to generate a positive user experience)

Key Notes or Observations

Mitigation Not Force

As the fences are made of light Chestnut and held together by wire these fences were never designed to reflect the power of the sea. The CONCEPT of fencing is all related to Nature Based Solutions NbS.

About Nature-based Solutions

Nature-based Solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously benefiting people and nature.

Nature-based Solutions address societal challenges through the protection, sustainable management and restoration of both natural and modified ecosystems, benefiting both biodiversity and human well-being. Nature-based Solutions are underpinned by benefits that flow from healthy ecosystems. They target major challenges like climate change, disaster risk reduction, food and water security, biodiversity loss and human health, and are critical to sustainable economic development.

Source: https://iucn.org/our-work/nature-based-solutions

WHAT NbS WAS PROVED WITH THIS PROJECT

The Idea of the Sand Fences was to encourage small embryo dunes to grow, they would encourage the Marram Grass to grow, which would then attract biodiversity to the shore.

The newly formed dunes would then create an incline to mitigate and feed off drift seaweed. This would create a cycle where seabirds would shelter and feed off the Kelp flies.

There were other benefits of the fences like stopping sand loss from the shore, NEW species recorded, new flora spotted on Grattan, and MOST importantly there were MORE PEOPLE visiting the shore, learning about recreation, biodiversity, and PROTECTION of the Ocean.

During the Summer of 2023, there were a host of experiences on the shores of Grattan Beach, with Leave No Trace, Love Your Beach Week, and Explore Your Shore by Galway Atlantaquaria.

It was one of the best summers for ‘The Living Lab’, concept and it was all based on the fences!

Final Thoughts – AN EXTRA BENEFIT & OUTCOME

One thing we noticed was that Grattan Beach would make/and is a truly FANTASTIC CES Site!

During the Summer we were tasked with a survey about the concept of CES.

“Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. The CES subcategories cover a wide range of domains (e.g. recreation, conservation of cultural heritage, human-nature relations). The CES concept has been proposed to acknowledge the nonmaterial values linking people and nature in social-ecological systems.”

While there is no doubt that the Pilot Sand Fences project was a great success, it was really nice to record and just enjoy the abundance of life on the shore using the CES principle.

As we had to record the dunes every week, it became a hobby and something that we could not miss, so Galway Atlantaquaria started using the CES as a part of the recording process.

A place for Social Capital Too!

The number of new friends and chats with people was great too, all because while recording the fences people would ask about the project. Using the CES principles Galway Atlantaquaria was able to evoke the passion for all things marine, and benefits of the NbS project.

MORE BEACH CLEANS and Experiences With the project in place, Grattan Beach had great support from locals and communities through the Clean Coasts program. Grattan Beach became a place of pride!

Summary

The Sand Fence Pilot Project was truly amazing to record and capture, for over twenty weeks we saw some amazing sights and how the dunes developed over this period.

We hope we have captured some of the best moments, and we look forward to the additional reports from both Galway City Council and University of Galway.

Dr. Kevin Lynch, Geography University of Galway, and Paula Kearney Biodiversity Officer of Galway City Council will also be releasing some insights into the project.

On the 18^th of November, the fences were removed, and we will miss them.