What is Sustainable Tourism?
Sustainable Tourism is all about finding the right balance between welcoming visitors, and making a low impact on the environment.
At Harford Bridge Park we see our commitment to Sustainable Tourism as ensuring that a slow pace of development makes the park a lovely place to stay at, whilst the environment is safeguarded so that all its precious qualities can continue to be enjoyed for a long time to come.
We hope you share our commitment to Sustainable Tourism on Dartmoor and its surrounds and choose to stay in a well managed environment that is cherished.
Our Commitment to Sustainable Tourism
As a benchmark to demonstrate our commitment to sustainable tourism we strive retain a 'Gold' standard David Bellamy Award for Conservation which we have held since soon after its inception and for more than 20 years. We now hold the David Bellamy Blooming Marvelous Pledge for Nature 'Tree-mendous Challenge for the planting and establishement of over 450 trees and the beginnings of a cider & cherry orchard in our Tree & Wild Flower Reserve.
We have focused our approach to managing the park environment in three main ways:
Improve wildlife value - for example:
- Nesting boxes and hedges are maintained so that birds and hedgerow dwelling animals and insects have refuge and habitat to survive all year round.
- We now plant only native species of shrubs, trees and plants so that food and shelter is available for the wild birds, mammals and insects. In November 2019 we planted over 470 native trees in part of our wildflower meadow and during the winter we planted over 100m of native hedging.
- We give nature a helping hand by seeding wild flowers and letting wild flowers flourish rather than importing garden centre species.
- Food is provided for birds and mammals when conditions are too harsh for them to survive otherwise. There are several resident hedgehogs and many, many birds that benefit as a result of active intervention.
Protect wildlife on site:
- We do not cut some grass and certain riverbank vegetation so that wild life has food and shelter in our managed landscape.
- This policy means that some non-natives, such as riverbank dwelling Mink, benefit from better cover, but we don't persecute them!
- We use pesticides or chemicals very sparingly and only on an exceptional basis. For example, to deal with issues that may affect the safety of our guests or to hold back invasive weeds on the managed grass.
Use minimum resources:
- We try to minimize the use of vehicle fuel by cutting the grass only when necessary.
- Wherever possible, staff 'walk the park' to carry out their work.
- We use energy saving technology wherever possible to minimise carbon emissions.
- Centralised waste and recycling maximises the benefits of sorted waste streams for recycling and minimises land-fill waste.
- We use the bare minimum of ornamental plants that are locally sourced and grown on.
Harford Bridge Park is part of a scheme through the Dartmoor Charter for Sustainable Tourism which aims to encourage all establishments concerned with tourism to pledge to improve their own environment and to promote appreciation of Dartmoor. Work is ongoing to gain a Green Business Award.
In the 2020 Visit Devon Tourism Awards the park was awarded a Bronze for Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism