Boskalis_CSR_report__2016

CSR 2016 – boskalis 53

“We hope that the island is now able to develop naturally once again and will remain a bird paradise in the decades to come.”

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.”