Its beginning to look at lot like Christmas at certain times of the year in Prince Edward Island National Park.

Kim Riehl, resource management officer with Parks Canada Prince Edward Island Field Unit, was happy to receive a shipment of gently used Christmas trees from Island Waste Management Corporation that will be used for dune restoration projects.

Thats because Parks Canada has partnered with Island Waste Management Corporation (IMAC) to use some of the Christmas trees collected at curbsides after the holiday season to shore up some of the fragile dune system within the national park.

Its a bonus that were able to recycle some trees to use to restore the dunes, says Kim Riehl, resource management officer with Parks Canada Prince Edward Island Field Unit, whose job focus is the coastal eco-system.

Dune erosion is widespread throughout the park due to foot or vehicle traffic in undesignated beach access areas in the past, which has destroyed the delicate balance of the dune system.

It ends up destroying the vegetation that is on the dunes. It can take fewer than 10 passes through an area to kill a marram grass colony. They are very fragile, Riehl says.

So once that happens it leaves the bare sand, and the prevailing winds start blowing that sand. It (can start) as a very small depression and can turn into a very large dune blowout.

To combat that, for its dune restoration program, Parks Canada picked up a load of gently used Christmas trees from IWMCs post-holiday collection in January 2013 to use in dune systems at Ross Lane, Shaws Beach and Gregors Lane.

The idea is to use these coniferous trees as a natural product (for dune restoration) . . . . So we erect these trees and they act as a natural catchment for the sand so the prevailing winds wont blow sand, and it would give the dune some structure, (much) like the marram grass would normally provide, Riehl says.

So it will collect this sand and build it up in the dune. Also, because its a natural product it will provide nutrients that will allow for marram grass to build back up.

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Old Christmas trees used to help P.E.I. National Park dune system