It is not oil or gold... a treasure hidden under water worth 12 trillion dollars

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Scientists have recorded the total "gross environmental output" that the world's oyster reefs can provide to support the health of the planet and the well-being of humanity, if appropriate interventions are applied to restore and protect their natural habitats.

The researchers estimated that the combined ecological services of oyster reefs — which include food production, carbon sequestration, water filtration, and shoreline protection — could be worth $12 trillion annually. To realize this potential, 90% of the sites suitable for oyster reefs will need to be rehabilitated, and 80% of them protected through conservation efforts.

A new study shows that oyster reefs around the world are an undervalued and underutilized resource. The study's authors sought to calculate the potential "gross environmental product" (GEP) of these reefs — the environmental equivalent of gross economic output — to arrive at an estimate of the billions of dollars in environmental goods and services they provide annually to various aspects of planetary health and human well-being. However, realizing this full potential requires restoring and protecting oyster reefs globally.

In this regard, Dr. Matteo Convertino, associate professor at Tsinghua University and corresponding author of the study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, and reviewed by the “Arabiya Business” website, said, “We estimate here that completely restoring oyster reefs in the ten most important hotspot countries around the world would achieve a total environmental output of $12 trillion.”

It is noteworthy that Goal 14 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Life Below Water) calls for the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources to protect human well-being. But today, oyster reefs — like all coastal ecosystems — face increasing pressures from overexploitation, pollution, and climate change. The Earth's loss of these reefs is estimated at about 85% over the past century, especially in river estuaries and deltas.

Convertino and his team set out to assess where around the world today there is suitable habitat for oyster reefs, and where reefs could form spontaneously if they were given protection and restoration interventions. They then estimated the potential value of the “total portfolio” of ecological services these reefs could provide; In addition to providing shellfish for human consumption, these services include: water purification, coastal protection, nutrient recycling through the food web, and carbon sequestration. Oyster reefs also provide food, shelter and nursery areas for large numbers of fish and invertebrate organisms.

Scientists imported thousands of geotagged recordings of oyster reefs from two public databases, then used a proven artificial intelligence algorithm to predict the geographic distribution and suitability of habitats around the world, and identify potential new reef locations. The suitability assessment took into account a number of environmental criteria; Such as local water temperature, salinity, light, nutrient richness, and oxygen content. Any site with a suitability score of 65% or greater was rated as valid. Combining the suitability of a given area with a measure of the ecological services that oyster reefs can provide there, the researchers ranked the “ecological potential” of each site; The higher this potential, the greater the potential benefit.

The results showed that the projected “environmental potential” was highest in ten “focal countries”: the United States, Australia, Chile, China, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, France, Germany and Italy. The usable area in these countries is estimated at about 295 thousand square kilometers, equivalent to 6% of their coastal areas. Data suggests that oyster reefs currently occupy only 10% of this area (mostly in lagoons, bays and estuaries), meaning there is plenty of room for expansion. More importantly, only 23% of the usable areas are currently subject to any form of marine protection.

If oysters occupied all the areas with positive ecological potential, the researchers calculate that these reefs would be able to filter huge amounts of water: 77.58 quadrillion liters in the United States, 69.92 quadrillion liters in Australia, and 46.58 quadrillion liters in Chile. These reefs can also sequester up to 12.3 million metric tons of carbon annually. In the United States alone, the potential combined value of nitrogen removal, carbon sequestration, and water purification by oyster reefs has been estimated at $25.1 billion annually.

However, the researchers stressed that these figures are only estimates that infer environmental services based on global averages of key indicators, which may be affected by changes in oyster communities over time or by the climate crisis. Unlocking this potential requires extensive work to rehabilitate and protect habitats.

“We estimate that 90% of sites suitable for oyster reefs require rehabilitation, while 80% need to be protected through conservation efforts,” Convertino added. “In other words, the current state of oyster reefs is far below par, but there is tremendous opportunity given the potential benefits.”

He concluded: “As global warming generally reduces the quality of oyster reef habitats, we expect their global GDP to fall below the current potential value of $12 trillion. But some countries may see reef expansion as a result of more favorable conditions for oyster growth and spread, particularly in Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and France.”