By Lisa Ramsden
VISITORS to one of the area’s most popular beaches are being encouraged to become citizen scientists to help track how our coastline is changing.
Armed with nothing more than a smartphone, visitors to Tyrella Beach can now take part in a global project by taking a photo through a fixed frame, for the first ‘CoastSnap’ photo spot in Northern Ireland, which will then be logged via a website.
These will provide an important insight for the team involved in the CoCor – Co-creating Coastal Resilience – project.
Each picture becomes part of a growing record that scientists will use to monitor how the beach shifts over time, helping them to understand the effects of coastal erosion, rising sea levels and climate change.
In addition, open days will be held to show people how they can get involved.
The person leading the project in Northern Ireland is Dr Melanie Biausque, a geomorphologist – a scientist who studies the physical features of the Earth’s surface, including landforms and the processes that shape them.
She is taking a keen interest in how coastlines, including Tyrella’s, change over time.
Dr Biausque is encouraging local people to get involved in this coastal monitoring programme, and said regular visitors to the 2km sandy beach – which is backed by 25 hectares of ecologically important sand dunes – have the power to transform scientists’ understanding of how it is changing.
The mature sand dunes which border the local beach support a diverse and valuable coastal ecosystem.
The site forms part of the Tyrella and Minerstown Area of Special Scientific Interest and has received both the Blue Flag Award and Green Coast Award for its environmental quality.
Yet, despite its protected status, a 2018 ecological assessment by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) identified the dune system as being in an unfavourable condition – highlighting the need for improved management and restoration.
Read the full story in the current issue.
