From June to early August 2024, Smart Bay S. Teresa hosted the children and teens from WWF Travels campus, organized by Verdeacqua and Scuola di Mare, who spent 7 weeks to discovering the underwater wonders of the bay.
These young citizens contributed to the regeneration of S. Teresa Bay by actively taking part to The Oyster Project, under the guidance of Sofia Lorenzini (a master’s student at the University of Milan Bicocca and ENEA) who introduced them to the importance of ‘regeneration’ actions of a ‘stressed’ marine environment such as the bay. Sofia, together with educators from Verdeacqua and Scuola di Mare, guided the children and teens in the creation of natural structures (pillows) made of hemp nets (provided by Reeco) filled with shells of the concave oyster (Magallana gigas), locally grown by the Cooperative of Associated Mussel Farmers. These pillows were then placed on the bottom of the bay by the young citizens during snorkeling activities, thus making three-dimensional substrates available for the colonization of benthic organisms (mollusks, worms, bryozoans, algae,..).
This ‘citizen’s science’ project- carried out by Smart Bay S. Teresa for three years- is relevant for three main reasons: 1) Implementing the ecosystem services provided by marine ecosystems for the bay by favoring their regeneration; 2) Adopting ‘circular’ solutions with the reuse of waste from shellfish farming and the textile industry, reducing disposal costs, CO2 emissions associated with disposal, and employing waste shells in their natural environment, the sea; 3) Making citizens and producers active actors of a major changing process, with Nature regeneration as key factor for sustainability in marine environment. Last but not least, The Oyster Project is part of a much broader regenerative pathway that will affects the entire Gulf and involving, in the long run, the knowledge, protection and restoration of flat oyster ‘beds’ (Ostrea edulis), a native species present in the Gulf since the late 1800s but highly threaten by direct and indirect anthropogenic impacts.
