MONTEGUT, La. (AP) — An artificial reef has been created near the Louisiana coast to protect several historic Native American mounds from erosion and rising sea levels.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the Montegut reef was built this month by the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and volunteers. About 200 tons of oyster shells were collected from New Orleans-area restaurants and repurposed to build the partially submerged reef.

This is the second such reef built in Louisiana by the coalition, which started its oyster shell recycling program in 2014. In 2016, the coalition used about 4,000 tons of recycled shells to build a half-mile-long reef in St. Bernard Parish.

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Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com