Coastal risk management – Somo and Loredo

The dunes help to protect the inner land. To restore them, there are “soft” methods such as dune plantations. The plants, on top of their stabilizing ability, make the wind loose speed and charge capacity, so it deposits the sand and the dunes grow. Near Somo, the nursery of Loredo produces a million plants per year, used to restore the dunes of Cantabria and of other regions in Spain. It is also important to monitor the invasive species that can colonize the dune habitats and unbalance the restoration work. Dune plantation is a beneficial strategy: it is an efficient system that maintains itself, that is inexpensive and that respects the environment and develops biodiversity. Those methods, already used in a large part of Europe, are sustainable and easily applicable solutions to protect the sandy coastlines.