Living Shorelines

Living Shorelines is an alternative to hard, vertical solutions for erosion control. It employs techniques such as marsh sills and oyster reefs that maintain the gentle shoreline slope, which provides critical habitat for small fish while protecting land from eroding. It also can filter upland runoff before it enters the water.

A new concept in New Jersey, we and our partners are leading its introduction by educating landowners, potential practitioners, and government regulators. In the early phases of this initiative, we are gearing up to implement demonstration sites that can move forward under a new State permit.

For a more visual description of living shorelines, feel free to view our general "slide show" on the topic:

In March 2011, we convened a workshop of practitioners, State and federal regulators, and other interested parties to lay the foundation for developing a living-shorelines program in New Jersey. Presentations given by experts from Maryland and North Carolins served to bring the group up to speed on the topic; presentations by those involved in 2 local example projects and further information from the regulators helped drive the conversation about where to go next. Here is a link to the presentations: http://www.littoralsociety.org/documentCenter.aspx?categoryid=46

Here is a link to some other references related to living shorelines: http://www.littoralsociety.org/documentCenter.aspx?categoryid=52

If you are new to living shorelines, we suggest you start by viewing the "slide show" above, followed by the first four workshop presentations.