Plants and Volunteers Bring Dune Restoration to NYC's Coney Island Creek Park

Thousands of plants in the sand and hundreds of hands on the beach is the testament to another successful season of beachgrass planting at Coney Island Creek Park in Brooklyn, NY.

In March and early April, the American Littoral Society — in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation's Resilient Schools and Communities (RiSC) program and NYC Parks -- brought in nearly 700 intergenerational volunteers to the park who helped plant 38,000 plugs of beachgrass along the shoreline in order to stabilize dune, reduce erosion and strengthen natural defenses against coastal flooding.

Along the way, the program also delivered hands-on environmental education to 520 students and 60 teachers, while also removing nearly 600 pounds of debris from the park. Together, these efforts are helping transform Coney Island Creek into a more resilient and ecologically vibrant space.

​This work is part of a multi-year collaboration focused on restoring dunes as natural defenses for coastal areas — solutions that not only protect coastlines but also create habitat and improve overall ecosystem health. The impact of this season’s work has already drawn broader attention, with PBS LearningMedia visiting the site on March 24 to film volunteers in action. The footage will be featured in an upcoming digital series, Our Climate Future, highlighting real-world climate solutions and community-driven change.

Looking ahead, partners at Brooklyn College and the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay will begin monitoring the newly planted grasses this April, helping to track their growth and inform a long-term maintenance plan for the site. This next phase is critical to ensuring the success and longevity of the restoration effort.

The collaboration also extends beyond New York. Through the RiSC program, 10,000 American beachgrass plants were donated to the Littoral Society’s Sandy Hook, NJ team, where they will be planted during an upcoming Earth Month volunteer event to support dune restoration along the Jersey Shore — another region facing ongoing challenges from coastal flooding and erosion. These plants were sourced from Church’s Garden Center in Long Island, a RiSC partner.

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