May 11, 2026
This past January, members of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the North Shore Resilience Project gathered to assemble micro nurseries to propagate native beachgrass plants. In May, we were ready to plant the beachgrass seedlings in their dune habitat at Long Point. Well vegetated beaches with healthy dune systems act to stabilize the shoreline and buffer the mainland from the impact of storms.
Barrier beaches divide the lake from the marshes and are important protection for the sensitive wetland habitat on the other side. During the record high water levels of 2019, several barrier beaches on Long Point were breached, allowing lake water and sand to flood into the marsh. This disrupts the wetland habitat and can lead to accelerated erosion and flooding.
One of these barrier beach sites was chosen to plant the native beachgrass and encourage dune formation and recovery. The marshes on the other side are critical habitats for many species, including fish, turtles, rare plants, reptiles, migratory birds and one of the most important staging grounds on the continent for waterfowl. Thank you to our partners at Canada Wildlife Service for the assistance in site selection and planting and chi-miigwech to our partners from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation for stewarding these grasses from seed to dune!
