Point Pelee erosion fought by students planting grass

Point Pelee National Park was getting some volunteer help Wednesday by students from Leamington's Cardinal Carter High School.

The park is trying to restore the west beaches by planting native grasses that will attract birds and butterflies while keeping the sands from washing and blowing away.

A windswept White Pine Beach at Point Pelee was overrun with 75 Grade 9 students planting native grasses that were grown at the school from seeds that were collected by fellow students last fall.

They said they are hardy species that will withstand both human traffic and the weather.

'We're here today planting the Canadian wild rye in the ground so it keeps the erosion, like the sand, from coming up, so it helps the beach so it stays intact," said student Riley Harder.

"It's kinda like, um, stopping the water and stuff from eating up all the sand. So it's kinda like helping out the [ecology], the beach and stuff," Said Sarah Holman.

This is part of what's called the Lake Erie Sand Spit Savannah, home to birds, butterflies and reptiles that need the warmth and light of the sun.

Common milkweed and evening primrose are being planted by the students too, to feed the creatures in the area.

"It's a really good basic principle in restoration. You're putting in what's good, and that can't hurt anything," said Parks Canada spokeswoman Jenny Kehoe.

The park likes to engage volunteers in restoration projects like this because they make good environmental stewards who like to dig, she said.

"People are likely to take these kinds of lessons home, and hopefully plant these kinds of species in their own gardens as well, so it has effects beyond the boundaries of the park," Kehoe said.

It's a lesson that some here take to heart.

"Now I think as the generation where we've taken a lot more than we should. But it's also the generation where we have to give back, and so that's what we're doing today, is planting trees and giving back what we're already taken," said student Michelle Asselin.