Application of scientific principles to sand dune stabilization in New Zealand: past progress and future needs

Sand dune management involves stabilization techniques designed to prevent erosion and deposition of sand. Recognition of the problems facing New Zealand's coastal landowners during the last century led to the development of a government sand stabilization strategy based on foredune maintenance, successional planting of the dune complex with appropriate species, and the establishment of a sequence of vegetation zones parallel to the coast. Large areas were reclaimed and converted to productive forest and farmland. A review of research and practice shows that stability of all dune land, and particularly the strip within 0·5 km of the shoreline, is dependent on the continued application of knowledge already gained. Decentralization of responsibility for problems associated with drifting sand, coupled with specific requirements of the 1991 Resource Management Act, has generated a need for the principles of sand stabilization to be understood more widely. This information must be made available to individual managers to assist their decisions about potential land-use options.