APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES TO SAND DUNE STABILIZATION IN NEW-ZEALAND - PAST PROGRESS AND FUTURE-NEEDS

Sand dune management involves stabilization techniques designed to pre vent erosion and deposition of sand. Recognition of the problems facin g New Zealand's coastal landowners during the last century led to the development of a government sand stabilization strategy based on fored une maintenance, successional planting of the dune complex with approp riate species, and the establishment of a sequence of vegetation zones parallel to the coast. Large areas were reclaimed and converted to pr oductive forest and farmland. A review of research and practice shows that stability of all dune land, and particularly the strip within 0.5 km of the shoreline, is dependent on the continued application of kno wledge already gained. Decentralization of responsibility for problems associated with drifting sand, coupled with specific requirements of the 1991 Resource Management Act, has generated a need for the princip les of sand stabilization to be understood more widely. This informati on must be made available to individual managers to assist their decis ions about potential land-use options. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd .