A PROJECT to help save the Colchester oyster will be given a share of a £7.4 million cash pot.
The Essex Native Oyster Restoration Initiative will be awarded the money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The group, made up of scientists, volunteers and fishermen, is set to create the region’s first Mother Oyster Sanctuary in the Thames estuary.
Work has begun on creating the new habitat for the oysters using recycled shells from oysters bred in Mersea and sold in the capital’s Borough Market.
This process is called “laying the cultch” and provides oysters with the hard surface needed for them to grow – something not naturally present in the estuary beds of Essex.
Adult female oysters will then be laid and when the conditions are right will spawn, starting off the first stages of the European native, or Colchester oyster’s lifecycle.
Oysters are essential to the ecosystem of Essex’s coast as they filter water and provide food for other species.
Farming of the species has taken place on Mersea since Roman times.
However, overfishing in the last 200 years has seen the species suffer a 95 per cent population drop.
Its recovery has also been hindered by problems with habitat loss, pollution and new diseases.
The project aims to kick-start a self-sustaining population of the species.
It is among 15 nature projects across the UK that will receive funding.
How much each project will be given has not been revealed yet.
Other projects including saving species of moths, whales and dolphins and hedgerows and parkland.
The project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Suffolk Coast and Heaths and the Dedham Vale Areas of Natural Beauty will also receive a share.
Drew Bennellick, from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Urgent action is needed to help nature recover.
“National Lottery funding is creating incredible opportunities for people to take such action for species under threat and, crucially, equipping a new generation with the skills and passion to make a real difference for the future of our natural world.”
To find out more about the project visit zsl.org/MotherThames.
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