Displaying items by tag: Habitiles

19th October 2023

Cornish Harbour Gets ‘Living Wall’ to Promote Biodiversity

A Cornish harbour has teamed up with a local environmental charity to install a set of special tiles to make a ‘living wall’ for marine wildlife and plant life.

According to Marine Industry News, the ‘Habitiles’ now in place in Falmouth Harbour are designed with nooks and crannies for marine life to proliferate where it normally wouldn’t in a flat-walled harbour.

“We’ll see seaweeds and algae making their home here which then provide shelter and food for small invertebrates which in turn become a food source for larger animals,” said Tina Robinson from charity Our Only World.

The tiles are manufactured locally from byproducts of the granite and quarrying industries, and manufacturer ARC Marine says their production will soon be carbon-neutral.

Similar installations in Plymouth and Australia use tiles made by Sydney-based Living Seawalls, which recently signed a production and supply partnership for the UK and Ireland with Co Offaly’s Inland and Coastal Marina Systems (ICMS).

Marine Industry News has more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife

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About the Watersports Inclusion Games

The Watersports Inclusion Games are an award-winning event organised by Irish Sailing with partners from across the watersports sector, that enable people of all abilities from the physical, sensory, intellectual and learning spectrums to take to the water to participate in a wide range of water activities.

More than 250 people with physical, sensory, intellectual and learning disabilities typically take part in the weekend's events.

Participants will have the opportunity to try more sports than ever before, with an expanded range including sailing, kayaking, canoeing, paddle-boarding, rowing, surfing, water skiing and powerboating all on offer.

The Games typically take place each August.

The organisers of the Games want to let people of all abilities know that there are multiple watersports available to them, and to encourage more people from all backgrounds to get involved and out on the water regardless of ability. They aim to highlight that any barriers faced by people with disabilities can be eliminated.

There are social, health and wellness benefits associated with sailing and all watersports. These include improved muscle strength and endurance, improved cardiovascular fitness and increased agility, enhanced spatial awareness, greater mental wellness through the balancing of serotonin levels and the lowering of stress levels, improved concentration and the forging of positive relationships.