本集內容

The oyster shells used to build a living flood barrier 牡蠣殼被用于建造 “活的” 防洪屏障

文字稿

These oysters are helping to protect the US city of New Orleans.

這些牡蠣在幫助保護美國新奧爾良市的海岸濕地。

Their empty shells are being used to build a barrier to defend these coastal wetlands.

牡蠣的空殼被用來建造一道屏障，以保護這些海岸濕地。

Dickie Brennan, Bourbon House
"We have to save our coastline. It's a crisis."

迪基·布倫南       Bourbon House 餐廳
“我們必須拯救我們的海岸線。這是成敗的緊要關頭。”

US Geological Survey 2017
"Every 100 minutes, the Louisiana wetlands is losing an area as big as a football field due to canalling, levee building and rising sea level."

美國地質勘探局 2017
“每100分鐘，路易斯安那州就會失去一個足球場那么大面積的濕地，原因是開鑿運河、修建堤壩和海平面上升。”

This has drastically weakened the wetlands' flood defence function.

這大幅削弱了濕地的防洪作用。

Kim Reyher, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
"With every hurricane season, we stand to lose. The land is slowly slipping into the water. The water is slowly coming up. And so, we can't just sit here and expect to stay here without taking action."

金·雷伊爾       路易斯安那州海岸恢復聯盟
“每到颶風季節，我們都定有損失。陸地慢慢陷入水中。海水緩緩涌上來。因此，我們不能坐以待斃、無所作為。”

Some New Orleans restaurants think their oyster shells can help.

新奧爾良市的一些餐館認為客人飯后留下的牡蠣殼能幫上忙。

Dickie Brennan, Bourbon House
"This one restaurant has recycled over 700 tons of oyster shells. The neat thing is that every oyster that we get down there goes in the water. There's no waste."

迪基·布倫南       Bourbon House 餐廳
“光這一家餐廳就回收利用了700多噸牡蠣殼。最妙的是，我們從水中得到的每只牡蠣都會回到水中，用作防洪屏障。一點也不浪費。”

The shells are being brought to the edge of the wetlands. They're put against the bank to form a living, growing barrier.

牡蠣殼被運到了濕地邊緣。它們被鋪在岸上，筑成一道不斷生長的活體屏障。

Darrah Bach, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
"The oyster shells that we're putting into the water are actually going to attract those baby oysters. They will settle on the shells and that's where they will grow. Not only are these shells going to attract oyster growth, they're going to attract other species. Fish are going to feed on them. Birds are going to feed on them. So, it creates a beautiful ecosystem."

達拉·巴赫       路易斯安那州海岸恢復聯盟
“我們放入水中的牡蠣殼其實會吸引牡蠣幼體。牡蠣幼體會在殼上安家、生長。這些牡蠣殼不僅會吸引牡蠣幼體，使其在礁體上生長，還會吸引其它物種前來覓食。魚類會以它們為食。鳥類會以它們為食。因此，這道屏障創造了一個美麗的生態系統。”

This costly and labour-intensive project has covered 2.4km of the coastline so far. But one oyster reef has cut coastal erosion there in half over five years.

到目前為止，這個耗資巨大的勞動密集型項目已經為海岸線鋪上了2.4公里長的牡蠣殼屏障。但這道牡蠣殼礁已在五年多內使海岸侵蝕減半。