[3] Billion Oyster Project believes that engaging community members — especially young people — in reef restoration will lead them to become more environmentally aware in the future.

The project aims to engage hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, and community scientists in marine restoration-based STEM educational programming.

[5] Along with Harbor School, Billion Oyster Project is stationed on Governors Island and the scope of their work is confined to the five boroughs of New York City.

[6] Oyster reefs in New York City are thought to have covered more than 220,000 acres (890 km2) of the Hudson River estuary and filtered water, provided habitat for other marine species and attenuated wave energy but are now functionally extinct in the Harbor due to overharvesting, dredging and pollution.

[11] As part of the strategy, discarded oyster shells from over 70 New York restaurants are collected, then left outside for a year to be naturally cleansed of organic matter.

[14] The oysters on the walls will create 13,000 feet of natural breakwaters a quarter mile off the shore of Tottenville as part of a risk management effort against climate change, in light of an expected rise in both storm frequency and sea levels.