Biodiversity boost to Padstow Harbour
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A PROJECT to bring an Earthshot Finalist to Padstow Harbour has completed, creating new habitat features that support biodiversity and help marine species thrive along the harbour wall.
Part of a collaboration between the Duchy of Cornwall and Cornwall-based charity Our Only World, the development is using ecological tiles to enhance marine habitats along the sea wall. Today marked the final stage of installation, completing the wall with a third set of tiles added to earlier work carried out in November.
The tiles are designed by three different tile manufacturers, including 2021 Earthshot Prize Finalist Living Seawalls which uses textured surfaces that mimic natural rockpools and other shoreline features, offering small areas of refuge for marine species. Marine life colonises them rapidly, bringing life back to the harbour wall within weeks.
The project has been developed over the past three years by Our Only World founder, Tina Robinson, with support from a £10,000 donation from the Duchy of Cornwall. This project is part of the Duchy’s wider efforts to enhance biodiversity and demonstrates how the Duchy is applying Earthshot solutions across its sites. Ongoing monitoring in Padstow will help identify where similar interventions could be introduced next and provide a blueprint for improving marine habitats at other coastal locations.