Environmental & Conservation Policy
Conservation and Being Green
The Lake District National Park is a very special place, and we care profoundly that our visitors both appreciate and understand that its special nature is maintained in a sound sustainable way.
The Lake District has recently been awarded the coveted title of being the Worlds first accredited green globe travel destination and is trying very hard to be a truly sustainable tourist destination. Broadrayne Farm cottages has also just been awarded a certificate for" Responsible Tourism". We are active conservationists and always appreciate our guests helping us with recycling and other conservation issues.
Recent events (foot and mouth, reduction of subsidies, poor sheep prices and wool prices so low that it costs far more to clip the sheep than farmers get for the wool has left all hill farmers in a serious financial position and in a difficult position to carry out any conservation work.
Our hope is that by caring about the landscape today, we will be able to enjoy it with our children and successive generations without shame. We all have a part to play as accommodation providers and as visitors. Please help. You may consider any contribution that you are willing to give as being small, but it does make a difference and, it is much appreciated.
Supporting conservation work within the Lake District from tourist donations and accommodation providers
We are raising funds to restore the footpaths around the Lake District and also for various conservation projects such as supporting the raising of water voles and reintroducing them into the wild in appropriate habitats, improving the red squirrel population, and so on .
Our Environmental Targets
for 2006-7 are:
- to produce all our own eggs (duck and chicken).
- to plant 50+ ash trees for coppicing firewood.
- to plant more native broadleaf trees for animal shelter.
- to plant damsons and other fruit trees for our own consumption. We now have a freezer full of fruit!
- to form specialised wet areas around the farm to encourage frogs etc. This is proving very successful
- to plant more food for wildlife.
- to plant more trees suited to river banks to stabilise our riverbank.
- to beat the bracken around 300 newly planted trees to give them a chance to grow unrestricted.
- to put up more bird nesting boxes.
- to keep up to date our "green notice board" for guests to read to encourage them to adoptgood environmental practice.
- to reorganise and improve our recycling area to encourage further good practice.
- to improve our compost heap areas to provide more efficient composting.
- to build greenwood furniture for our guests' use.
- to source more eco-friendly cleaning supplies and
- to source more eco-friendly office supplies.
- work with our local primary school to achieve 'Eco status' and to maintain it
- we hope to shortly introduce our solar panel water pump which will also be used for demonstration purposes to educate our local children, the community and our guests as to how effective it can be.
- to continue lobbying our council for better recycling facilities than is currently available locally.
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While you are in Grasmere do take a look at where your recent contributions have been used. Over the last four years visitors contributions collected by several Grasmere businesses, including ours have helped pay for the restoration of the very popular lakeshore footpath and the well known Lion and Lamb footpath over to Easedale.
Our thanks go to everybody who contributed.
As part of our visitor care we are happy to provide:
bike accommodation, advice, map and trail routes both on and off road;
local information and advice including bus and train timetables.
access and loan to our map and walk library (a small donation to the Tourism and Conservation Partnership would be appreciated);
continued car parking on your departure day if we have space;
and
facilities for sorting your rubbish into designated recyclable bins for glass, aluminium drinks cans, paper and cardboard.
We then take all the recyclable rubbish to the correct sites for recycling.
We then take all the recyclable rubbish to the correct sites for recycling.
Are you doing your bit? We are trying to do ours.
Our recent contributions to the local environment include:
- joining and supporting the Tourism and Conservation Partnership with collecting boxes;
- introducing in 2007 an opt out scheme whereby our guests pay a donation of £1 per person staying in each of the cottages which we pass directly onto the Tourism & Conservation Partnership every quarter of a year:
- providing The National Park Authority with 150 tons of stone for footpath repairs;
- carrying out various hedge and tree planting around the farm. (This has included planting 140 native trees and a mixed hedge with holly, ash, field maple, hawthorn, beech, alder, rowan and hornbeam), and other tree planting include plum trees (2 varieties, cherries (2 varieties), apples (4 varieties), pears, crab apples and Westmorland damson trees which will be planted in November;
- introduced a wormery by our composting bins.
- putting up various bird boxes around the farm to encourage nesting of different species;
- commitment to the ESA scheme with DEFRA and our tenant farmers to adopt a more friendly approach to farming our land. We have drastically reduced the number of sheep stocked on our fell land to encourage natural tree regeneration. We practise environmentally friendly farming and have reduced overgrazing. One of our farmers who leases the land from us is now going organic in his practice;
- leaving uncultivated areas around the farm to encourage wildlife. Most of our dead trees are left to rot. This is important for ecology including insect life and the wildlife food chain.
- We also use a lot of Ecover products in our daily cleaning of the hostel and weekly cleaning top up of the cottages and refill all the washing up bottles with Ecover washing up liquid for all the cottages.
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