Cornish Seaweed Festival to show importance of species

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

The Cornish Seaweed Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday in Marazion.

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

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

Activities will take place in several locations around Marazion, including the town hall, the Methodist church and the beach.

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

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

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

“It supports our fisheries, it provides habitat for so many other species, so it’s a really productive ecosystem.”

Ms Gall said climate change was having an effect on seaweed at a local level and it was essential to continue to monitor the impact it was having.

“A lot of species in the Southwest are just at the edge of their range in terms of what they can handle in the temperatures,” she said.

“We have new species coming in moving north, we’re losing other species that are probably retreating further north, and we’re also getting a number of non-native invasive species coming into our waters.

“So it’s something we have to be really careful about because it’s just such precious habitat.”

Entry to the festival is free, but organizers have advised that advance booking is required for workshops and some of the events.