<aside> 💡 The ocean Imagineer is a floating platform that produces hydrogen from solar power above water, and underwater oysters clean water, increase biodiversity and sequester carbon.
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Photo: Link EJ Insight
Hong Kong North Point was once a popular place to swim for families.
But do not be mistaken: humans were not alone is this clean water. It is the abundant biodiversity that made the water clean. Oysters and other filtering animals kept Hong Kong water clean. If we ever want to swim in clean water again, we must bring back other species, and learn to live together with other species.
“Rewilding is not about abandoning civilization but about enhancing it. It is to ‘love not man the less, but Nature more’.”
George Monbiot, “Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding”
"New research produced jointly by The Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS), Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), published recently in the scientific journal Restoration Ecology, shows the enormous potential of restoring lost oyster reefs, bringing significant environmental benefits. [...] A primary benefit that healthy oyster reefs contribute to coastal environments is their role as natural water purifiers: This new study found that, just 7 m2 of Hong Kong oyster reef can filter up to one Olympic swimming pool of water each day; a single Hong Kong oyster (Crassostrea hongkongensis) can filter up to 30 liters of water per hour at summer temperatures, among the highest filtration rates recorded of any oyster species."