Barrier Island Community Relocation

08/30/23

“Why may some barrier island communities need to relocate?”

Barrier Islands are important yet fragile environments. Many of them will be submerged by the ocean’s waves with the advent of climate change. Communities who live in such places will need to move to safer ground. Barrier Island Community Relocation is a lengthy process, which includes, consulting with the residents, planning locations to move to, and buying out property doomed to be condemned. One real world example of barrier island community relocation can be seen with the Indigenous Alaskan village of Kivalina.