Baseline information:
Dongshan County oysters are known for their thin shells, deliciousness, and rich nutrition, but Dongshan County also faces the same problems as many other local fishing communities. Oyster shells discarded are randomly piled up near farms or on beaches, making oyster shells occupy a large amount of land and sea area. Over time, oyster shells breed bacteria and emit a foul odor, seriously affecting people's health. It has become one of the important pollution sources in the coastal zone and needs to be solved urgently.

The pollution problem of oyster shells is severe, but it has solutions. The first task is to raise the awareness of environmental protection among fishers in the community. People join in the treatment of oyster shell pollution. Secondly, reusing oyster shells with ecological, social, and economic benefits, turning them into treasures, can reduce oyster shell pollution and make it a sustainable business. For example, The North Carolina Coast Federation of the United States has already incorporated oyster shells' collection and resource utilization into the local garbage sorting and recycling system. Finally, we cannot solve the pollution problem of oyster shells without the guidance and support of the government.

At present, oyster shell reuse methods mainly include the following aspects:
1) Oyster attachment base and oyster reef: Oyster shells are perforated and made into skewers, which can replace plastic and foam as the base for oyster farming. In extreme weather, such as storm surges, the attached oysters are not easy to fall off, and the mature oysters are of better quality. Oyster shells can be made into oyster reefs. It has the effect of reducing coastal erosion, improving seawater clarity, reducing water pollution, providing shelter and foraging places for marine organisms, increasing biodiversity and ecosystem stability, and increasing carbon storage. For example, The Chesapeake Bay in the United States has carried out recovering oyster shells for repairing oyster reefs.
2) Soil conditioner and fertilizer: Modern agriculture uses many pesticides and fertilizers, which causes the soil to be acidic and compact, and the soil quality is severely reduced, which leads to a decline in the quality of agricultural products. A soil conditioner made from oyster shells can improve soil water retention, fertility retention, air permeability, and soil structure. Oyster shells are made into fertilizers that can neutralize acidic substances in the soil and improve the quality of agricultural products.
3) Medical and health care products? Oyster shell is a traditional Chinese medicinal material used as a sedative. It has the effect of curing dizziness, restlessness, and insomnia. Oyster shell also has cosmetic effects, and oyster shells were ground and eaten to achieve cleansing and beauty effects in ancient times. Modern scientific and technological research has proved that the inner layer of the oyster shell is rich in 24 kinds of beneficial elements such as calcium carbonate and keratin, which are helpful for beauty.
4) Building materials: The history of building walls with oyster shells can be traced back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. People will glue oyster shells one by one to make walls. The shape is very artistic, the sound insulation effect is good, and it is warm in winter and cool in summer.
5) Handicrafts: Oyster shells can be used to make various handicrafts, such as candles, decorations, photo frames, ornaments, etc., because of their hard and distinctive shell.

The purpose of this project is to visit fishing communities and government departments to distribute brochures, carry out nature-based education curriculum activities in schools, educate the general public on the dangers of oyster shell pollution, and promote the reuse of oyster shells and their benefits. This demonstration activity focused on building oyster attachment bases and oyster reefs, inviting fishermen, women, youth, and government personnel to participate in the experience, raising community fishermen's awareness of environmental protection, and obtaining government support for the oyster business?remediation and reuse of contaminated shells.

Main problems
1) Discarded oyster shells occupy a lot of land and sea resources
Oyster shells discarded are randomly piled up near farms or on beaches, making oyster shells occupy a large amount of land and sea area, mainly where the oyster is farmed throughout the whole area. This phenomenon is particularly obvious and has become one of the important pollution sources in the coastal zone, which is urgent to solve.
2) The long-term accumulation of discarded oyster shells produces bacteria and pollutes the environment. Discarded oyster shells have been accumulated on the beach for a long time. The juice and meat of the remaining oyster shells make the oyster shells smelly gradually, breed bacteria, release odor, pollute the environment, and harm people's health.
3) The random accumulation of discarded oyster shells poses a safety hazard
Oyster shells are hard and not easy to degrade. Randomly dumped on the roadside may cause traffic safety hazards. They will easily block the river if they accumulate in tidal flats and river courses. In the coastal areas with abundant rain, it will harm flood control and drainage.
4) The residents of the community have weak environmental awareness and resource awareness, fail to realize that environmental pollution is closely related to their health and safety, and lack the relevant skills for resource utilization of oyster shells;
5) The local government is not strong in resource awareness and fails to realize that oyster shells are misplaced resources and what aspects can be used for resource utilization of oyster shells.

Activities:
Activity 1:Establish a project council composed of stakeholders
Activity 2:Organize experts and project directors to formulate the oyster shell resource utilization plans
Activity 3:Recruit volunteers and conduct systematic training based on three technical instruction manuals
Activity 4.:Voluntary publicity activities for the utilization of oyster shell resources: Volunteers visit fishermen?s communities to distribute technical instruction manuals??Technical Guidance Manual of Oyster Shell as Raw material for Oyster Culture Attachment Base? 600 copies /?Implementation Plan of Oyster Shell Artificial Fishing Reef Construction Project ?600 copies/
?Manual of Oyster Shell Resource Utilization ?1000 copies??publicize the harm of oyster shell pollution, and promote the way of oyster shell reuse and its benefits.
Activity 5:Demonstration activity of resource utilization of oyster shells: Demonstration focusing on making oyster attachment base and oyster reef, inviting fishermen, women, youth , and government personnel to participate in the experience and witness the process and benefits of resource utilization of oyster shells
Activity 6:Nature-based education curriculum activities: Organize volunteers to conduct a total of 12 marine science education once a month to raise children's awareness of promoting marine environmental protection
Activity 7:Production of project brochures and promotional videos: The results and experience of the project are summarized and promoted in Dongshan County and Fujian Province through videos, brochures , and social media (WeChat official account and Weibo)

Anticipated outcomes:
1. A council project comprising stakeholders is established to coordinate the implementation of the project and the formulation of project-related program decisions.
2.The oyster shell resource utilization model jointly developed by all stakeholders was initially formed.
3.Form a volunteer team with a particular professional knowledge base to lay the foundation for the follow-up fishermen visits and nature education work.
4.?Community fishermen's awareness of environmental protection has been improved, they are aware of the necessity of recycling oyster shells, and they have learned how to reuse oyster shells in various ways.
?During the visit, a WeChat group was established to build an audience base for the follow-up on-site demonstration activities.
5 ?Improve the resource awareness of community residents, and let community residents learn the relevant skills of oyster shell resource utilization;
?Improve the resource awareness of government departments, deeply realize that oyster shells are misplaced resources, and understand the various ways and future prospects of oyster shell resource utilization;
6.Children's awareness of marine environmental protection and resources is enhanced. They realize that maritime environmental protection issues are closely related to their personal lives and indirectly influence parents to manage discarded oyster shells actively. And this activity consciously reduces the behaviour of discarding and accumulating oyster shells at will.
7.More and more people realize the harm of discarding and accumulating discarded oyster shells at will and the value of oyster shell resource utilization. They actively participate in the business of oyster shell resource utilization.
It has attracted the attention of government departments and promoted the sustainable development of oyster shell remediation and reuse through policy formulation, investment attraction, supervision, and management.