Pafos Live 11 January 2025
Seaweed sites are important habitats that preserve marine life and the coastal zone, Civil Engineer, Coastal Engineer and President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Studies and Research AKTI, Dr. Xenia Loizidou.
She added that cleaning seaweed with agricultural tractors is a wrong tactic because along with the seaweed, sand that is scarce material is also removed.
Loizidou said that algae must be protected, since they are a very important parameter for marine life and a very important marine ecosystem and absorb carbon dioxide.
She also estimated that these "could be exploited if we put them in the balance of carbon dioxide emissions".
According to Loizides, the so-called Posidonia meadows that grow around the coast of Cyprus have many positive effects.
Loizidou said Posidonia is the first plant to die if for any reason there is toxic pollution. So, she explained, it's a net of clean coasts.
She explained that algae are deciduous and shed their leaves in winter. These dead leaves of Posidonia, he continued, are carried by the waves to the shores, there they are stacked and create a cushion of protection so that the waves of January, February and March do not erode the shores and towards the end of March when these long waves begin they carry the long leaves of Posidonia from the coastline back inward and become food for marine life.
She also said that "when we construct breakwaters in areas where there are Posidonia meadows, then we violently interrupt this cycle", adding that "the dead leaves of Posidonia are trapped between the breakwaters and the ridge and a process of rotting is created".
She also said that a very systematic research could be done so that these dead algae that come out on the shores can be used, since they are very good substrates. They could even be used in the cosmetics industry, she pointed out.
Ms. Loizidou said that the properties of seaweed are unique since they are full of phosphorus.
