Local Students Will Help Restore GSP Dunes

Local Students Will Help Restore GSP Dunes
Students from Gulf Shores City Schools helped Dune Doctors and the Gulf State Park staff initiate coastal dunes by strategically placing recycled Christmas trees along the Gulf State Park and installing native dune-building vegetation around the trees Feb. 22-23. In addition to hands-on restoration, the event will include short classes as part of the Planting for Protection (P4P) event. Thirty-nine Gulf Shores High School and 7th-grade students were selected as P4P Mentors to lead 146 5th graders in installing 4,380 native dune-building plants. This event follows a lecture series taught by Gulf Shores High School teachers on preserving and protecting our coastal ecosystems. The Christmas trees capture wind-blown sand, the native vegetation will help retain that sand and accelerate the development of new coastal dunes that serve as the first line-of-defense against storm surge. Pictured: Local students assisting GSP officials restoring dunes with Christmas trees in 2021.