PORT MONMOUTH, NJ — The Monmouth County Environmental Council will host a dune planting at 9:30 a.m. on June 10 at Bayshore Waterfront Park, 719 Port Monmouth Road.

Volunteers are needed to dig, plant, and water several species of dune plants such as northern bayberry and beach plum. High school students in need of community service hours for a school project can earn credit by registering and helping out.

Interested volunteers of all ages can email Kyle Clonan at Kyle.Clonan@co.monmouth.nj.us for more information and to register.

The County Environmental Council received a $1,500 Open Space Stewardship Grant from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Councils (ANJEC) to purchase the secondary dune plants for the park.

Bayshore Waterfront Park is a popular park for birding, fishing, boating, and nature programs. The park is an important area for egrets, ring-necked pheasants, and other wildfowl. This planting will supplement habitat and provide more permanent structural stabilization of present dunes.

The entire Raritan and Sandy Hook Bayshore is noted by New Jersey Audubon as a critical stopover area for migrating shorebirds, and as a foraging area during the breeding season.

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