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CSR 2016 – boskalis
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That meant taking them to work in small boats and they sometimes had to walk up to
two kilometers across the mud flats. The entire team wore waders and they walked to
their work and back through the sludge, with their boots around their necks and
their food and drink in backpacks. It was hard work. I was born and raised around
here so I love the area but I lost five kilograms in a very short time,” says Johan with
a smile.
Nesting places for terns
Boskalis started work immediately after the nesting season, using sand extracted
during the maintenance of shipping channels to create a 400-meter wide foreshore
that will protect Griend from erosion in the decades to come. The island’s natural
protection consists of a barrier of shells, plant debris and sand with a salt marsh on the
lee side. The new shore includes shellfish banks, consistent with the natural situation
on Griend. The work on the new shore continued day and night, with Boskalis using
green light on the island at night to protect nature. In order not to disturb the migratory
birds, the project was suspended during the spring tides.
To make Griend more appealing for nesting birds, the topsoil was removed in some
parts of the island. Terns and common terns have a preference for barren and
sparsely vegetated locations and the higher parts of Griend were very much overrun
with vegetation. Boskalis used the topsoil that was removed for the new shore. In
addition, a small opening was created in the dike on the northern side, allowing the
seawater to flow into the salt marsh at high tide and deposit clay, thus naturally
raising the level of the salt marsh.
Natural development
The island is expected to move eastward by an average of seven meters a year.
Ranger Erik Jansen of Natuurmonumenten: “We hope that the island is now able to
develop naturally once again and will remain a bird paradise in the decades to come.”
“We hope that the island is now
able to develop naturally once again
and will remain a bird paradise in
the decades to come.”