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Prince Edward Island’s Sand Dunes

Time is not being kind to PEI’s disappearing Sand Dunes. This natural wonder is vanishing at an alarming rate

Sand is disappearing from Prince Edward Island’s shores—and while time is running out, it isn’t slipping through an hourglass. Precious dunes are under amphibious assault: Mother Nature on one side, beachgoers on the other. With rising sea levels and storms, every wave takes its toll, and every step off existing pathways destroys the root structures that bind the dunes together, sealing the fate of these unique seaside ecosystems.

Time Left

Estimates put the vanishing act at anywhere from a metre in the next 150 years to eight metres in the next 50 years. Storm surges, however, can wipe out a whole dune system in just a few hours.

See It

Don’t just pull up to any beach and start trampling. Prince Edward Island National Park has an interpretive centre at Greenwich on the north shore, where you can explore the dunes with minimal impact (902-961-2514). It’s open from May until October, but go in the fall to have the place to yourself.

Save It

Stay on existing paths, says Jackie Waddell, Executive Director of the Island Nature Trust. They work to protect special areas, including dunes. Her organization also provides education, transplants marram grass and “they work to protect and manage natural areas in P.E.I.,” Waddell says.

This story was originally published in the June 2007 issue of up! magazine as part of the See It Before It’s Gone feature, profiling 11 of Canada’s must-see natural and man-made tourist attractions on the brink of extinction. Take a look at more of Canada's Endangered Destinations.