The oyster is your world
Europe sets a path to restoring degraded natural areas, such as oyster beds, in hopes of showing that harmony with nature can not only help the climate but also boost prosperity.
Turbines at Ørsted's offshore wind farm near Nysted, Denmark, Sept. 4.
REUTERS
Last year, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, Ørsted of Denmark, began work with the World Wildlife Fund to prove a point: that restoration of reefs in Denmark’s North Sea can bring back lost populations of oysters and horse mussels – and could be done in harmony with giant wind farms.
The five-year BioReef project, as it is called, aims to show that humanity can “solve both the climate and the biodiversity crisis” without conflict, says Bo Øksnebjerg, secretary-general of WWF Denmark.
Much of Europe can now expect many more attempts to rehabilitate eroded waterways and landscapes, with the added goal of proving that humans can still thrive when they work in harmony with nature. On Tuesday, the European Parliament came together to give final passage to a “nature restoration” law.
The law requires the bloc’s 27 countries to restore at least 20% of the Continent’s land and sea areas by 2030 and 60% by 2040. These levels will help bring the scale and diversity needed for animals and plants to form a sustainable balance.
To be clear, the new law aims to restore former wilderness – from peat lands to oyster beds – not simply to protect the already wild areas. About 26% of land in the European Union is protected.
Political harmony in the European Parliament, located in the French city of Strasbourg, was essential to the law’s passage. Farmers, worried by claims they might lose agricultural land, were given a few concessions but not without some agreement on the benefits of restoration, such as making land more resilient to extreme weather, pest outbreaks, and loss of pollinators.
A report for the EU found that the economic benefits of restoring ecosystems far outweigh the costs. Restoring land and waterways, says Virginijus Sinkevičius, European commissioner for the environment, oceans and fisheries, will help provide Europe with a healthy economy. If the price of oysters starts to drop in Denmark in a few years, he may be right.