Seaweed festival to show importance of species

Seaweed experts said Cornwall had a wide range of species along its coast

Seaweed and all its uses is being celebrated during a festival in Cornwall.

The Cornish Seaweed Festival is being held on Saturday and Sunday in Marazion.

Organisers said activities at the event will include snorkelling and cooking demonstrations with experts on hand to talk about different seaweed species.

Natural England said it wanted to highlight the crucial role seaweed plays in marine ecosystems.

The activities will be held at a number of venues around Marazion including the town hall, methodist church and the beach.

Natural England is holding the event in partnership with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Mounts Bay Marine Group and natural history group, the Linnean Society of London.

'Foundation for everything'

Angela Gall, marine senior adviser at Natural England, said Cornwall and the South West in general had a wide range of different seaweeds including kelp forests, pink maerl beds and colour-changing rainbow wrack.

Ms Gall said: "Seaweed is the basis of so many marine food chains. It's the foundation for everything.

"It supports our fisheries, it provides habitat for so many other species, so it's a really productive ecosystem."

'Precious habitats'

Ms Gall said climate change is having an affect on seaweed locally and it was crucial to keep monitoring the impact it was having.

"A lot of species in the South West are just on the edge of their range in terms of what they can cope with in temperatures," she said.

"We've got new species coming in moving north, we're losing other species that are perhaps retreating further north and we're also getting a range of invasive non-native species coming into our waters.

"So it is something we really need to keep an eye on because they are just such precious habitats."

Entry to the festival is free, but organisers have advised pre-booking is required for workshops and some of the events.