Climate resilience starts with connection.
Billion Oyster Project reconnects New Yorkers to their waterfront by restoring oyster reefs and inviting local communities to the water’s edge to learn and enjoy our Harbor.
This interactive report invites you to explore local oyster reefs across our city, and visualize major developments ahead! Thank you to our staff, partners, and funders for supporting nature based-solutions like oyster restoration.
EXPLORE THE REEFS
Billion Oyster Project's first reefs were pilot scale installations built to test the design and impact of restored oysters to NY Harbor. Many were intentionally designed to provide community access to the waterway, serving as learning and community meeting places in all five boroughs.
Thanks to the scaling of Billion Oyster Project's remote setting facility in Red Hook Terminals, and partners/funders like Hudson River Park Trust and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, we have begun deploying 15M+ oysters to larger restoration projects.
Applying lessons learned from the previous seven years and the execution of a successful capital campaign, Billion Oyster Project unlocked the ability to restore even larger scale projects, expanding pilot scale sites into multi-acre reefs with 20M to 40M oysters.
By 2025, Billion Oyster Project will have the full capacity to construct multi-acre restoration projects with 60M+ oysters and 100M oysters restored annually - reaching 1B by 2035 and resulting in self-sustaining oyster populations in New York Harbor.
Oysters naturally filter water as they eat improving water quality by removing pollutants and excess nutrients from the surrounding ecosystem.
Oyster reefs provide critical habitat for hundreds of marine species, earning them the reputation of “ecosystem engineers” in estuaries like New York Harbor.
Before they were wiped out by pollution, dredging, and overharvesting, oyster reefs provided natural barriers along our coastlines. Oyster reefs that grow at a pace equal to rising levels can mitigate shoreline erosion by reducing wave energy due to strengthening storms.
Billion Oyster Project’s Shell Collection Process reduces the environmental impact of eating oysters in New York City restaurants. Empty shells, that would otherwise be sent to landfills, are reused to seed oyster reefs in New York Harbor.
Offers valuable learning opportunities for students and scientists. Billion Oyster Project’s oyster reef structures are designed to serve as living laboratories to study ecosystem dynamics, climate adaptation, and marine life.
Breaking down physical and social barriers to our local waterfront provides safe and welcoming spaces for enjoying and engaging with our natural environment.
Helps foster a deeper connection and affinity for nature, which in turn encourages stewardship of and advocacy for our shared environment.
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