NOTES FOR EDITORS

The holiday dates for the 2007 Green Ibiza Tour are:
Friday 25th - Tuesday 29th May
Friday 13th - Tuesday 17th July
Friday 7th - Tuesday 11th September

For more information visit Light Visions at:
http://www.webroot-es.com/lv/index_eng.htm

www.ecofriendlytourist.com is a user-friendly guide for green travellers. It was launched in December 2006, is based in London and its content is based on journalistic research.

For further information please contact: webmaster@ecofriendlytourist.com

17th April 2007
by North York Moors National Park Authority

Boost your green credentials
The website www.ecofriendlytourist.com hears about a popular eco-working holiday in Yorkshire

Holiday-makers looking for a break with a difference should head to the North York Moors National Park this summer where the ultimate in green getaways is on offer. Staying in the country’s first eco-friendly hostel (the YHA hostel in Lockton), participants will join rangers and volunteers on essential tasks to improve visitor access to the National Park. In addition to making a lasting contribution to the local countryside, the holiday also offers the chance to learn some different skills, meet new friends and most importantly, have fun.

The ‘eco-volunteers’ will be working in two locations in the National Park, both of which lie on Alfred Wainwright’s well-trodden 190 mile Coast to Coast Walk. The first task is in the small rural community of Sneaton and the second is right in the heart of the Moors at the enchanting Arncliffe Woods in Glaisdale. The volunteers won’t be short of things to do in the evenings either with a range of social activities and wildlife watches planned, as well as a full day’s excursion around the Park.

Sally Ann Smith, Events and Exhibitions Co-ordinator at the North York Moors National Park Authority, said:

“Our eco-working holiday is an enjoyable and incredibly rewarding experience. Not only do participants get to soak up the spectacular scenery and rich cultural heritage of the National Park but they can also feel proud to have made a positive contribution to preserving the Moors for future generations to enjoy. We’ve had some fantastic feedback from previous eco-volunteers and some people have already booked for this year’s holiday.”

Graham Stubbs, Volunteers Officer at the Authority, added:

“There is a lot of emphasis at the moment on individuals taking responsibility for reducing their own carbon footprint and as a result, more and more people are looking for an alternative to jetting off to exotic locations. On our eco-working holiday, participants are encouraged to travel to York by train where they will be picked up in our low emission, bio-diesel minibus. We also try to source all the food we use locally to keep ‘food miles’ to a minimum.”

This is the third year that the National Park Authority has run the eco-working holiday. In previous years, the eco-volunteers built a boardwalk and carried out vital maintenance to the footpath and steps in Little Beck Wood and installed steps along a badly-eroded hillside above Goathland Train Station.

The seven-night holiday runs from 17 to 24 August 2007 and is open to everyone aged 18 and over who is reasonably fit and active. It costs £195 per person, which includes transport to and from York railway station, accommodation and food (kitchen duties are shared out amongst the group). Accommodation is at the YHA’s youth hostel in Lockton which has been booked solely for the eco-holiday group. The hostel boasts 26 eco-features including a water harvesting system, compost toilet and solar panels and was the first eco-friendly hostel in England and Wales when it opened in March 2005.