A New Jersey group is putting together what’s known as a living shoreline in honor of Earth Day.

It’s a sort of “Christmas in April” at Slade Dale Sanctuary in Point Pleasant. That’s because the Department of Public Works saved the community’s Christmas trees to create a natural breakwater, which will provide a habitat for wildlife.

The project is all part of a plan to save the marsh and try to build it back to what it was decades ago. Organizers say they’ve lost hundreds of feet of marsh compared to where it was in the 1930s.

It's a project that started back in 2018 to help reduce the erosion rate of the marsh. The idea is to slow down wave energy in the area.

As the marsh pushes back, it's getting into an area that isn't salt tolerant, leaving behind a ghost forest. It's an issue that's occurring across the nation. The work you see today won't show immediate results, but it's slowly making a positive change for the future.

This year, the group will be working with coconut fiber, or coir, logs. They’ll be put along the shoreline along with other plants in order to help build back the elevation of the spot.