Living shorelines prevent erosion and protect shorelines using natural materials, like oysters or vegetation. They mimic the natural environment, stabilizing the banks of tidal creeks and shorelines while providing habitat and improving water quality.
Living shoreline offer an alternative to hardened structures, like bulkheads or revetments, that disrupt the natural connection between the water and upland areas. In Georgia, living shorelines consist of recycled oyster shells or flexible concrete material that is placed on the bank. The material attracts oyster larvae, which settle and create a living oyster reef that helps stabilize the shoreline. The upper portion of living shorelines are planted with smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), the dominant salt marsh species in Georgia, as well as other types of native vegetation. These plants have extensive roots that help stabilize the shoreline by holding sediment in place.
Georgia’s Living Shoreline Work Group, which includes project managers, experts, practitioners, researchers, resource managers, conservationists and state and federal agencies have worked together to study living shorelines as an alternative way to protect property and provide habitat for marine life and wildlife.
Explore the different features of some of Georgia’s living shorelines through immersive, 360 virtual tours below!
Ashantilly, Sapelo Island
The Ashantilly living shoreline was created using bagged oysters and native plants in 2010. It was the first living shoreline installed in Georgia.
Mosquito Creek, Little St. Simons Island
This is the first living shoreline in Georgia that replaced a failing bulkhead and implemented natural materials, like native plants and oysters, to stabilize the creek bank.
Burton 4-H Center, Tybee Island
The construction of the living shoreline at the Burton 4-H Center stabilized the eroding bank and increased habitat in Horse Pen Creek.
Skidaway Island State Park
The living shoreline at Skidaway Island State Park encompasses 110 linear feet of shoreline constructed using bagged oysters and native plants.
Coastal Resources Division, Brunswick
A wooden bulkhead at this site was replaced with a living shoreline that is divided into four sections, each utilizing different materials as a way of studying their effectiveness.
Private Property, Tolomato Island
In 2021, Flexamat®, which is a vegetated concrete block mat used to stabilize slopes, was placed on this private property’s 95-linear foot shoreline.
Living Shoreline Resources
Various site characteristics are incorporated in the design, construction, evaluation and maintenance of shoreline stabilization projects.
For those interested in learning more about living shorelines as an erosion control method on your estuarine shoreline property, you can contact the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division for technical assistance and regulatory guidance. Visit GA DNR’s website for more information https://coastalgadnr.org/LivingShorelines.
Financial assistance for this project was provided by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, administered by the Office for Coastal Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and passed through the Coastal Management Program of the Department of Natural Resources.