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Ocean Beach: Restoring Dunes for a Resilient Coast

 

 Photo Credit: Jim Watkins, San Francisco Rec & Park 

San Francisco's Climate Action Program: Dune Restoration

As the Surfrider Foundation’s San Francisco Chapter, we are proud to be part of Surfrider’s Climate Action Program - a national effort to restore coastal ecosystems that help communities adapt to and reduce the impacts of climate change. Right here on the San Francisco coast, we’ve embraced this mission by beginning the process to revegetate native dune habitats to strengthen our shoreline, support biodiversity, and bring people together to care for the places we love. 

A Nature-Based Approach

Climate change is unleashing a range of devastating consequences, from rising seas to increasingly intense storms to the loss of habitat and wildlife. Through our Climate Action Program we are taking meaningful steps towards mitigating and adapting to these impacts through nature-based solutions.

Nature-based solutions harness the power of nature to address environmental challenges and benefit people and nature. This includes the conservation and restoration of carbon-storing blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass meadows, as well as coastal dunes.

 

 

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The Climate Action Program supports Surfrider’s powerful activist network to lead restoration and other nature-based solution projects in their communities. Our goal is to help build a strong and resilient coastal ecosystem that can withstand the challenges of a changing climate, and to engage and empower individuals and communities to take action in support of this important goal.

Check out this resource for a current list of federal funding opportunities to advance coastal resilience priorities!

Stay tuned for additional resources for the new Climate Action Program! 

For questions or more information:
Carla Avila-Martinez, Climate Action Program Manager

 

Our local efforts: 

Each restoration event is an opportunity to not only protect our coast, but also to educate, empower, and connect with the amazing people who care about it. Our work is about enhancing coastal resilience. By restoring the dunes, we’re strengthening the natural defenses that help safeguard our coast from storms, sea level rise, and erosion.

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Volunteers
200+ Volunteers engaged in hands-on restoration

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Restore
Over 1200 native plants installed 

Why Healthy Dunes Matter

Healthy dunes play a vital role in protecting people, wildlife, and infrastructure. They

  • Protect communities from storm surge and flooding
  • Trap and stabilize sand using deep-rooted native plants like beach wild-rye leymus mollis. 
  • Create habitat for birds, pollinators, and other coastal wildlife
  • Help maintain access to recreational beach areas

Coastal dunes are one of nature’s most powerful defenses against the impacts from climate change. As sea levels rise and storms become more intense, restoring these systems becomes more urgent and more valuable. Native plants like beach wildrye, beach-bur, yellow sand-verbana, and silvery leaf beach pea play a critical role. Their deep roots help anchor the dunes in place, while their foliage slows wind and water, helping dunes grow stronger over time.

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The Challenges at Ocean Beach: Why We Need Your Help

Ocean Beach in San Francisco is a beautiful but changing coastline. We're seeing more and more sand washing away, strong winds blowing sand onto our roads, and sea level slowly rising. This isn't just nature at work; past human actions, like building roads and seawalls, have also changed how the beach naturally protects itself. 

What's Happening to Our Dunes?

The dunes at Ocean Beach today aren't entirely natural. Many were built during the construction of the Great Highway and they're struggling because of several issues:

  • Foot Traffic and Sand Blowouts: The biggest problem is people creating their own paths (social trails) through the dunes. Walking on these informal trails crushes the plants that hold the sand, leading to massive "blowouts" – large, bare, wind-carved holes in the dunes. These blowouts are especially bad at major street crossings like Lincoln Way, Judah Street, and Noriega Street, creating wide, open paths for sand to blow inland. 
  • The closure of the Great Highway to cars has increased foot traffic and more people walking on the dunes has made this problem worse. We want to see more people enjoying Ocean Beach while also protecting the beach for generations to come. 
  • Sand on Roads: When dunes are damaged or have blowouts, the wind carries sand directly onto the Great Highway and nearby walkways. This creates unsafe conditions and clogs storm drains
  • Rising Sea Levels: Over time, rising ocean levels are expected to make the beach narrower and cause even more dune erosion, putting beach access and coastal structures at risk. 

The Solutions

Ocean Beach in San Francisco is a beautiful but changing coastline. We're seeing more and more sand washing away, strong winds blowing sand onto our roads, and sea level slowly rising. This isn't just nature at work; past human actions, like building roads and seawalls, have also changed how the beach naturally protects itself. 

Nature-based solutions and community engagement: 

  • Planting Native Dune Plants
    • Beach wildrye is a native grass that spreads quickly and is excellent at catching sand and building strong, broad dunes. It's much better than marram grass at resisting and recovering from blowouts. 
    • Other recommended native plants include coastal sagewort, seaside glaucus, seaside buckwheat, beach strawberry, Douglas bluegrass, Pacific wildrye, seaside amsinckia, mock heather, San Francisco spineflower, yellow bush lupine, and dune bush lupine. 
  • Smarter Sand Management
    • Change where sand is dug up for the "backpass" operation, moving it closer to the water where the sand is coarser and less likely to blow away. This also frees up space for dunes to grow naturally. 
    • Sand cleared from roads should be put back on the foreshore (closer to the water) so waves can move it around naturally, instead of placing it where it prevents new dunes from forming. 
    • Leaving natural debris like wood and kelp (wrack) on the beach is important. It helps new "baby dunes" (embryo foredunes) start to grow by trapping sand and protecting young plants. We can also strategically place large logs to help this process.
  • Guiding People and Preventing Trampling
    • Consolidate paths and create clear, marked paths for people to access the beach, especially at street intersections, to reduce walking all over the dunes.
    • Using coarse sand on paths helps stop wind erosion
    • Temporary fencing (like posts and cables) and brush mats (branches laid flat) will help keep people off newly planted areas while the plants grow. 
    • Signs to educate beach users about the project and encourage them to help protect the dunes. 
  • Getting the public involved through education and volunteer opportunities is essential to build a shared sense of responsibility for the dunes. 
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Fighting Climate Change with Nature

The fight to protect our ocean is taking on a new urgency. Everyday, our network is experiencing how extreme weather is changing local shorelines. Sandy beaches are being lost, infrastructure is crumbling into the ocean – exacerbating pollution problems – and vital coastal ecosystems are threatened by stronger storms and rising seas. U.S. scientists estimate that about 50% to 70% of our coastlines are at high risk for ‘beach loss’ due to sea level rise and coastal erosion. However, nature is capable of providing a new path forward – powerful nature-based solutions to help mitigate the effects of climate change on our coasts.

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Learn More

Read the report from San Francisco Estuary Institute, 'Growing Resilience: Recommendations for Dune Management at North Ocean Beach'. 

Read SFEI Dune Management Report

Join us!

Everything we’ve accomplished has been made possible by dedicated volunteers, students, families, and neighbors who care about the future of our coast. We are continuing to grow this effort as part of Surfrider’s Climate Action Program, and we welcome everyone who wants to be a part of it. Whether you want to dig in at an event, support with a donation, or just learn more, there’s a role for you in protecting and restoring San Francisco's coastline. 

  • Volunteer at an upcoming restoration
  • Follow us on social media for updates and events
  • Donate to support plant purchases, tools, and outreach

Every plant we add to the dunes helps build a healthier, more resilient coast. We’re protecting what we love about the San Francisco and ensuring it stays healthy and beautiful for generations to come.

Sign up for Updates
Donate
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For questions about SF's Climate Action Program please contact:
info@sf.surfrider.org 

Our chapter is also supporting resilient communities and watersheds with our Ocean Friendly Gardens program.  Learn more here.

Program Goals

The Surfrider Foundation’s Climate Action Program goal is to empower and support chapters to restore and protect coastlines and oceans, mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts and preserving coastal environments for all future generations through nature-based solutions.

Together, we can make a lasting impact on our environment and create a sustainable future for generations to come. Join us in our commitment to address climate change by protecting and restoring our precious oceans and beaches. Together, we can create a world where nature thrives and communities flourish!

Get Involved

Resources


Blogs

Learn more about Surfrider’s nature-based solutions efforts across the country:

Your Donation Creates a Long Lasting Impact

$25 per month  = 

120 Mangrove Trees Planted
Up to 1 Acre of Coastline Restored
Around 36,000 kg of CO2 Sequestered Over Their lifetime

DONATE

You can take action on climate change with Surfrider — together, we can restore our coasts’ natural resilience, protect our communities, and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.

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1 Fence installation with SF Rec & Park, Surfrider, Reimagining San Francisco, and Friends of Great Highway. 
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2 02/19/2025 - Dune grass transplant with SF Rec & Park
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3 02/08/2025 at Judah & Ocean Beach. Photo Credit: Jim Watkins, SF Rec & Park
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4 02/08/2025 Dune grass transplant at Judah & Ocean Beach with Peter Baye and SF Rec & Park. 
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5 02/08/2025. Dune grass transplant with SF Rec & Park, Surfrider, Reimagining San Francisco, and Friends of Great Highway.