Umdloti’s dune rehabilitation project bears fruit after 14 years

Fourteen years of hard work and patience is finally bearing fruit for Umdloti’s dune rehabilitation project.

The original dune that was covered in lush vegetation and Milkwood trees got taken out in March 2007 by freakishly high seas caused by a massive storm surge that coincided with a Saros spring high tide.

The dune rehabilitation project got under way in 2010 and focused on the stretch between the skiboat club and the Umdloti shopping centre.

“Most of the Milkwood trees’ roots were exposed by the ravages of the sea. We used large amounts of garden refuse stacked against the exposed roots and then more garden refuse stacked on the sand below the exposed roots. Then we waited for the windy season to blow beach sand into the stacked garden waste. We had to be patient. It’s a long-term project. Ecologist, Dr. Allister Starke told us not to lose faith when the sea took our garden waste, ‘don’t give up’ he insisted,” said the Umdloti Conservancy’s Terry Rens.

She said the newly formed primary dune was holding nicely and seemed to stay intact even when the sea reached that area. To further enhance dune formation, the team recently planted a large number of Aloe Thraskii, an aloe specifically suited to these conditions.

“The results are absolutely astounding. This needs to be repeated along most of our beach stretch, to protect our infrastructure services, which are mainly in the road reserve.
“Nature did most of the work,” said Rens.

Dr Starke explained the science behind the process.

“Plants slow the wind down, creating sand traps. The sand drops to the base of the plant and the plant grows up through the sand, forming a dune. This process allows for the formation of niches where there is no wind which allows for other, bigger shrubs to develop,” said Starke.

He said our dunes were taking a beating because tides and storms were increasing and changing.

“As the Indian Ocean is warming up, the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone stays lower than before. In other words, the tropical zone is moving south, therefore the ocean is warmer, the cyclones have more energy and run further down, hitting us at a perpendicular dead east angle rather than a north-east angle that would build those summer banks.”

He said the water table also had an impact on building dunes. A higher water table supplied plants with enough water to grow stronger and in turn help the dune stabilise.

Starke said properties developed on dunes often created a point source distribution through the building of hard surfaces and stormwater systems.

Dunes thrive on a more natural diffused system.

“We can see the affect of a point source system on the area by the old town dump above the skiboat club,” he said.

The aloes the Umdloti Conservancy team planted contributed to three vital purposes of dune landscaping: the ecology, structural beach dynamics and a sense of place.

Flowering in winter when nature is largely in survival mode, Aloe Thraskii not only looked pretty but also provided a winter food resource to starlings, sunbirds and bees at a time when there is less daylight and water.

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