Restored Oyster Reefs Could Provide $12 Trillion a Year

A study estimates that fully restored oyster reefs in 10 hotspot countries could provide $12 trillion in gross ecosystem product each year, a modeled measure of benefits to people and the environment. The estimate assumes extensive restoration and protection; it is not a valuation of services currently being delivered. Researchers used habitat and ecosystem-service modeling to assess the potential of reefs in the United States, Australia, Chile, China, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, France, Germany and Italy. The analysis identified about 295,000 square kilometers of suitable habitat across those countries. Existing reefs occupy about 10% of that area, while 23% falls within marine protected areas, according to the study. Gross ecosystem product, or GEP, describes the flow of goods and services nature provides. For oyster reefs, those services include filtering water, removing nitrogen, storing carbon, buffering shorelines and providing food and habitat for fish and invertebrates. The researchers estimated that restored reefs could sequester as much as 12.3 million metric tons of carbon annually.