Kate Sherren

Dykes (often used as trails) seem to be the vector for benefits apartment residents receive.

Back when we surveyed residents around the Minas Basin for Sam Howard’s MES thesis, the sampling frame we used limited us to those living in standalone houses. Subsequent discussions led us to use a different approach to try to reach those using in multi-unit dwellings such as apartments. Today, the paper from that follow-up work is available open access in Facets, Apartment residents are important stakeholders in managed dyke realignment around the Bay of Fundy: landscape benefits, preferences, and complementarity. Thanks to Sam, postdocs Brooke McWherter and Lara Cornejo, and MI/MREM Alex Legault, we found an interesting story in this side-of-the-desk work. We couldn’t find any work on ecosystem services involving rural apartment residents, so feel that this fills an important gap, especially as housing challenges mean even rural coasts vulnerable to climate change are densifying. Here is a plain-language summary:

Apartments and dykeland trails near Wolfville

It is not very common for those who live in apartment buildings to be targeted in research or consultation about landscape change. Some of the reasons for that omission are practical, such as building security. But especially since COVID lockdown, where those in houses with yards had such different opportunities than those in apartments, we need to pay special attention to apartment residents when making policy decisions. Decisions about how to adapt to climate change can affect apartment residents, too. We surveyed apartment residents around the Minas Basin of the Bay of Fundy, in Nova Scotia, Canada, to see how they used some of the coastal landscapes facing change: agricultural dykes and dykelands, and tidal wetlands. Because of higher seas and bigger storms, some of the dykes may need to be rebuilt further inland, meaning less dykeland and more tidal wetland.

We heard from 2% (168) of apartment residents who received the survey. Many of the respondents were keen and frequent users of the coastal landscapes. All three landscapes were most highly valued for opportunities to enjoy nature. Some agricultural dykes form part of popular public trail systems. The dyke trails often run between agricultural land and tidal wetland, so those enjoying the trails see nature attracted to both at the same time. The three landscapes were also reported by apartment residents as providing opportunities to reflect and feel at home. Some other benefits were associated only with one or two landscapes. For instance, the dykes were associated with safety, because of their role holding back seawater. The dykes and dykelands were associated with being active and social, and the dykes and tidal wetlands were most associated with learning or teaching. It is clear, however, that it is the dyke that enables the benefits from all three by providing an access route.

So when it comes to possible adaptation options, it was not surprising to us that the most preferred option, of the three presented, was building new dykes higher back and restoring wetland in front (something called ‘managed dyke realignment’). That option would likely retain the continuity of dyke that allows public access and keep all three landscapes together, the way respondents like them. That option was more popular than raising the height of dykes where they are, since respondents seemed to understand the engineering viability of this option was likely low, and the costs and risks of dyke breach likely high. One wonders if the higher vantage point gives coastal apartment residents a different perspective on the challenges faced by coastal infrastructure.

When comparing the results of this study with other surveys and studies in the region (one of them with house residents), we concluded that apartment residents are very important to involve in coastal decision-making. This is important in rural areas, where apartments may be seen as less common than in cities but are increasing due to the housing crisis. Apartment residents may rely more than those with private yards upon public coastal spaces for their well-being.