Review of Beach and Dune Restoration by Karl Nordstrom: Cambridge University Press, New York; 2008; ISBN 978-0-521-85346-0. Price: $130.

Beach and Dune Restoration, by distinguished coastal scientist Professor Karl Nordstrom, is a 187-page hardback volume that examines many of the complex and conflicting issues surrounding beach nourishment and restoration. This is not a technical manual that instructs engineers how to pump sand or design a template, but rather is an overview for coastal zone managers, city and county officials, and economists that describes many of the complexities of beach restoration and presents many pros and cons of different actions along the beach. However, engineers also need to be aware of many of these considerations when they design beach nourishment projects; this book can provide important background information.

The author begins the book by reiterating the intense pressure that humans impose on the coast and points out that retreat from the coast is unlikely to occur. Therefore, pressure mounts to restore degraded beaches or modify them to suit recreational and commercial needs. The author’s philosophical orientation throughout the book is to emphasize the need to maintain natural biodiversity and landforms to the greatest degree possible, even on intensively developed shores. The author often repeats the importance of restoring beaches in ways that can maintain a diverse natural habitat. This is a frequent source of conflict where development interests want to build a “pretty” beach suitable for tourists but which is greatly lacking in indigenous plant life and animal species. For example, on page 121, the author reminds us, “Grasses are well adapted to sandy soil. The problem is not the appropriateness of grass in a dune, but the way grass is managed as a lawn, which is an icon of communal order, a form of manufactured consent, and a cultural artifact that is taken for granted.” He also points out how some common activities on managed beaches, like eliminating natural beach wrack, is environmentally damaging because it eliminates a source of food and habitat for many organisms.

Prof. Nordstrom also emphasizes that beaches are dynamic landforms and must be built with an understanding of sediment inputs and outflows. Chapter 4 describes some of the trade-offs involved in restricting dynamism or accommodating it. He describes how beaches are elements of sediment systems and can naturally change shape and volume rapidly, but warns that “Often, the limit to how much dynamism can be tolerated is related to the distance to the nearest human infrastructure.”

In my opinion, many of the tables in this book are very useful because they list in one place alternatives for managers or planners to consider. For example, Table 1.3, “Ways that Landforms and Habitats Can Be Restored on Beaches and Dunes,” lists as its main headings:

Most of us who work in the coastal zone are already aware of many of these factors, but here they are listed in one organized place with supporting details and references.

Some tables are too wordy and contain material that may be too basic, at least for practitioners in the United States. For example, in Table 6.2, “Alternatives for Restoring and Maintaining Beaches and Dunes in Publicly and Privately Managed Coastal Segments,” the section on “Driving Vehicles on the Beach” recommends: “Prevent driving on beaches and dunes where possible” and “Restrict both private and public vehicles.” Damage caused by vehicles to dune vegetation and animals has been well-known for decades, but maybe it is worthwhile to repeat these basic lessons in an overview volume like this.

For the most part, this book is readable and easy to understand. But some sentences are rather ponderous and might have benefited from shortening. For example, on page 4, “There is also a growing interest in trying to develop a new symbiotic, sustainable relationship between human society and nature (with its diversity and dynamism) and value the nonhuman world for the sake of relations between humans and nature in addition to intrinsic and utility value.”

Successfully managing the coast and restoring beaches to the benefit of both the environment and for human users depends on cooperation among all parties involved. Chapter 7, “Stakeholder Interests, Conflicts, and Cooperation” addresses some of the complexities of obtaining public support. This chapter is only 12 pages long and probably should have been expanded. Ultimately, managing conflicting interests, especially where property values are high and local communities benefit greatly from tax revenues, is by far the most difficult challenge for coastal managers. This book could serve as a valuable resource for their endeavors.