England (Commonwealth Union) – The UN climate change conference COP27 (Conferences of the Parties) is set to commence on the 6th of November and go on till the 18th of the month in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. A team of academics working with Colchester Borough Council on the application of natural resources in coastal defense development have been invited to host a session at the conference this month.
The academics are heading the project titled Building with Nature for Ecosystem-Based Coastal Defense and Economic Resiliency in Colchester, and are set to host an event at the conference.
The cryosphere are areas of our planet covered by frozen water, which is of specific risk of climate change. The melting of the earth’s ice is believed to threaten large parts of the globe, such as coastal communities like Essex via rising sea levels. Coastal erosion is a larger local effect of climate change. The project was designed to resist the problem while also supporting local jobs.
Dr Boroka Bo, who is Project leader of the University of Essex, Department of Sociology, stated that many people were aware that our coast is home to the UK’s largest protected places for native oysters, with oyster farming preset in the communities since the Roman times, what most oyster consumers do not know is that oysters also defend the community from coastal erosion and floods.
Nature has served as one of the greatest protectors against the negative effects against climate change. Just as oysters also defend against coastal erosion, mangroves also serve as key protector against coastal erosion, particularly in tropical nations such as Thailand. “In addition to being ecosystem engineers by creating natural storm barriers, an adult oyster can filter almost 190 litres of water per day. By doing this, oysters remove pollutants from our water and protect us from harmful algal blooms,” Dr Bo said.
