Marine Information and Data Centre

Eco-friendly beach nourishment

Since 1990, beach nourishment or sand replenishment has been an essential maintenance measure for preserving the Dutch coastline. Beach nourishment aims to suppress the structural erosion of the coastline in a manner that harmonises with the natural processes while preserving the sandy character of the coastline. Where necessary, sand is added to the beach and the foreshore. Each year, a total of 12 million cubic metres of sand is used to replenish and thus preserve the basic coastline.

Under the "Eco-friendly beach nourishment" research programme commissioned by Rijkswaterstaat, Deltares conducted further research into the ecological effects of beach nourishment. This six-year programme (2009 – 2015) is included in a covenant between Rijkswaterstaat, the Wadden Society, Stichting Duinbehoud, Stichting de Noordzee and The Netherlands Society for the Protection of Birds.

The programme aims to gain greater insight into whether, and to what extent, beach nourishment affects the natural values and in what way beach nourishment in the near future can contribute to ensuring safety while conserving the natural environment and allowing it to develop.

Measurements were performed from 2009 – 2014 on the Dutch Wadden Sea islands of Ameland (where sand was replenished in 2010 and 2011) and Schiermonnikoog as reference areas. A study was also conducted into the effects on the dunes. This study took place in Castricum and on the islands of Texel and Vlieland.

The reports are available below. For more information, see also publicwiki.deltares.nl/display/ECOKUST/Rapportages. The basic data used for these reports can be found under the "open data" tab.