UK's first kelp conference held in Brighton

The UK's first national conference on kelp ecology is being held in Brighton.

Kelp forests once covered vast areas of the Sussex seabed between Selsey and Shoreham, but 96% of them had been destroyed by 2019 after trawler fishing and the Great Storm of 1987.

Now, four years after trawlers were banned from the area, the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project (SKRP) is hosting Kelp Summit 2025 at the University of Sussex.

The event has seen more than 200 national scientists, conservationists and policy makers share knowledge of how to best conserve underwater forests.

Henri Brocklebank, chairman of SKRP, said: "Sussex has put rewilding on the map, starting with the epic Knepp rewilding project and now with the largest marine rewilding initiative in the UK.

"We are thrilled to welcome participants for the UK's first national kelp ecology conference to progress marine research, monitoring and recovery at scale."

The SKRP said kelp forests were among the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, with each hosting as many as 80,000 individual organisms.

However, they are threatened by global pressures including climate change and human activities such as pollution, trawling, increased sediment and invasive species, event organisers said.

And as kelp forests provide crucial nursery habitats for fish and invertebrates, their loss significantly impacts fisheries and marine biodiversity.

The conference coincides with a new report by SKRP partner Blue Marine Foundation on the barriers to kelp recovery in UK waters.

The outcomes of the conference and the conclusions of the report will help to develop a wider understanding of kelp ecosystems and marine recovery in Sussex and beyond.

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