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directors from which an executive committee will be chosen. Some of the objectives of the trust are:

(a) To acquire and hold lands and waters in order to ensure the proper use of plants and animals;

(b) To support, where applicable, traditional farming, fishing, hunting, trapping, and recreational uses in and around natural areas;

(c) To resist and/or oppose the over exploitation of any species or development which may cause damage to the habitat of any species;

(d) To develop management plans designed to maintain, promote and protect the well being of life systems under the care of the Trust;

(e) To purchase, lease, accept by gift or trust, or other- wise acquire any real or personal property and/or property rights which the trust may think necessary for the purpose of conservation or protection;

(f) To educate the public to recognize the value of and the need for protecting habitat and wildlife;

The meeting on April 10, at the Farm Centre is the first meeting to inform the public about the Island Nature Trust. All interested individuals and potential members are invited and strongly encouraged to attend. We will have an interesting and varied program which will explain the aims and objectives of the Island Nature Trust and describe with colored slides sbme of the special natural areas throughout the Island which we would like to see protected. Environmental and natural history groups will have displays and door prizes will be offered. Refreshments will be served after the meeting. Come out for an enjoyable evening, become informed about the Island's special areas, and do your part to effect their protection and preservation.

Kathy Martin Concerned Islander and Environmentalist

The Dynamic Dunes - a case for the preservation of dune instability

Historically and naturally, barrier beaches and coastal dunes are unstable systems. A look at any old atlas will quickly show the dramatic changes that occur. Within the Space of a few hundred years (and often far less) sandspits change shape and position, harbour mouths shift, barachois ponds appear and dis- appear, dunes come and go. Some of these changes in coastal geography and topography have indeed been triggered by human activities (intentional or otherwise), but a far more powerful agent of coastal engineering is the combination of wind and water. We generally have little difficulty in understanding and accepting the right of these natural forces to wear away cliff faces; why then, do we so quickly rush to prevent them from taking their toll in dunes?

A dune develops from the accumulation of wind-blown sand. If marram grass becomes established it helps to hold and trap more sand and the dune grows; when sand stops accumulating the marram no longer thrives. By this stage of dune development other plants such as bayberry, wild rose and white spruce may have colonised the dune and given it a measure of performance. But if the marram deteriorates and is not succeeded by other vegetative cover the dune will decline. Blow-outs may occur and the loose sand will be shifted about by the wind. These grains of sand may simply be resculpted into a new dune growing on the same site or they may be