New York (CNN Business)The New York Harbor for years has been polluted and depleted of marine life. But one nonprofit is working to clean the murky water and revive its long-lost ecosystem — one oyster at a time. The Billion Oyster Project has worked since 2014 to rebuild oyster reefs in the waters surrounding New York City. The creatures are natural purifiers: A single adult oyster can cleanse about 50 gallons of water per day. And their reefs can provide a habitat for other marine life and help protect New York’s shores against storm surge during rough weather. The group has so far restored about 30 million oysters to local waters. But that’s still a tiny fraction of what used to thrive in the area. "Without the oyster reefs, the whole shoreline is fundamentally changed," the group’s executive director, Pete Malinowski, told CNN Business’ Rachel Crane. "We think oyster reefs can be part of an integrated approach to resiliency and proactive planning for climate change." Malinowski said his team is seeing promising signs. Last year, there was a "dramatic" increase in the number of wild oysters that latched on to Billion Oyster Projects’ reefs. "For restoration to be successful, […]
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