What role does construction on sand dunes play?
– The dunes accumulate sand in one moment, and supply it in another. If we build in dune areas, we eliminate that part of the beach. In encountering the sand dunes closer to the sea than they should be, the waves carry the sand farther away, to a depth from which it does not return. Construction does not provide or take away the sand, but it accelerates erosion. – Can the erosion of a beach have other impacts apart from the loss of landscape and recreational and economic values? – Beaches are part of a very diverse coastal system, where everything interacts. Beach erosion can generate accumulations of sand in underwater inclines and hurt coral reefs and all of their biological riches. A great accumulation of sand over a reef will kill it. – But construction on sandy beaches continues. – Most of the legislation around the world establish a distance from the water for construction. The laws don’t take into account the natural processes or the differences between coastlines. In some count
