We are cleaning our oceans by restoring oyster reefs
Oyster reefs used to cover 20-30% of the North Sea . However, 150 years ago oysters were a popular cheap source of protein, and were eaten to virtual extinction without realizing the damage this would cause on the environment.
Oysters are amazing creatures. They play a key role in their ecosystems, protect our shores from erosion, generate biodiversity, remove excess nitrogen and filter the water.
We need to bring oysters back to restore ocean health.
Our vision
Our team of outstanding scientists has researched the best possible way to help oysters, and developed a tool-set to revolutionise marine restoration, making it meaningful, cost-effective and scalable.
We’ve run lab and field tests in The Netherlands and Denmark to prove the efficiency of our tool-set with successful results.
Biodegradable. Climate Friendly. Low Cost.
The currently deserted sea floor is not a suitable place for oysters to live. They would sink in the sand and die.
So we created the Mother Reef.
These bricks will be the base that will cover the deserted sea floor. We worked out the best conditions to help baby oysters attach to the Mother Reefs and release them into the ocean back to where they used to be, and become home to millions of other creatures too.
Our projects can be deployed anywhere in the world where oyster restoration is needed. We partner with local fishing communities and provide them with a new revenue stream and type of work.
Fishermen will use their boats, equipment and knowledge of the water to plant the Mother Reefs into the ocean. They will also benefit from the improvement of the ocean health and biodiversity.
Thanks to the Mother Reef, the cost of restoring a reef will be significantly low at 0,25€ per oyster, compared to other projects with a cost varying between 20 to 1.000€ per oyster. Now marine restoration can finally reach large scale.
To fund more oyster restoration projects, we sell the ecosystem services that oyster reefs provide to businesses that want to become more sustainable and manage their environmental footprint. This way, for every reef we build, we can fund the next three, and so on.
Partners and supporters
Oyster restoration projects play a vital role in preserving marine ecosystems and mitigating the effects of climate change. These projects have taken place in different parts of the world over the past years, both offshore and near the coasts.
In the vast blue expanse of our oceans, a hidden threat lurks beneath the surface: eutrophication. This complex term describes a concerning phenomenon driven by human activities, impacting marine ecosystems in ways we can no longer afford to ignore.
Eutrophication occurs when excess nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus derived from human activities, enter water systems leading to excessive algal growth that disrupt the balance of marine ecosystems.
It’s evident from our name, Oyster Heaven, that oysters are our primary focus. But why? Why do we emphasize oysters over other marine creatures when it comes to restoring the balance in our oceans and cooling down the planet? Of all the endangered species in the world, why is it our mission to bring oysters back to where they used to be?
Our model allows us to do this independently and at scale because oyster reefs do really valuable jobs such as filtering water, managing nitrogen and improving biodiversity. We carefully monitor and measure these jobs and sell them as “credits” using the profits to further regenerate oyster reefs. But what organisations should we work with?
Oysters are not the most beautiful species out there, but they have fascinating qualities. We might be a bit biased, but we are sure that these incredible features will surprise you too.
Oyster Heaven creates the first scalable solution to regenerate lost oyster reefs and raises €800,000 from Orange Wings Investments
