Have a Wild Day out at Barton Broad

Sunday 23 May Barton Turf Adventure Centre 11am-5pm

Families are invited to celebrate the International Day of Biodiversity and Go Wild at Barton Broad on Sunday 23^rd May by getting close up to nature and experiencing a range of Broads’ activities.

The free Go Wild event is organised by the Broads Authority and Norfolk Wildlife Trust at Barton Turf Adventure Centre between 11am and 5pm.

It is part of the BBC’s Springwatch Wild Days Out initiative which aims to encourage people to take action to protect a wide range of species  around the world.

BBC Springwatch presenter Kate Humble says: “The Springwatch Wild Days Out are a great opportunity to learn more about the importance of biodiversity and to see what small thing you and your family can do for nature in your area.”

Families will be able to take part in a variety of wild outdoor activities bringing them in close contact with nature in the Broads.

They can try pond dipping and study their catch on video microscope, make mini beast homes, bird or butterfly feeders and bat boxes, learn how to dress reed and step out on wildlife nature trails.

The North Norfolk Worm Charming Championships organised by Coltishall and Horstead Pre-School promises to attract hot competition to charm the most worms out of the ground. The rules can be found on the Barton Turf Adventure Centre website.

East Norfolk Bird Ringers will be ringing reed and sedge warblers to learn more about their migratory routes and learn how better to protect them, while the Hawk and Owl Trust will carry out pellet analysis.

The RSPB, British Trust for Ornithology, the British Dragonfly Society, Anglian Lepidopterists, Butterfly Conservation, Norfolk Amphibian and Reptile Group, Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Group and a mollusc display will represent the diversity of wildlife interests. The Norfolk Biodiversity and Information Service will be recording wildlife seen on the day.

The event offers opportunities to get out on the broad on a wide variety of boats. Visitors can go canoeing, sailing or take a trip aboard the Broads Authority’s solar boat Ra, Nancy Oldfield Trust’s electric boat White Admiral, the Museum of the Broads’ steam boat, Falcon, and Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s new electric launch Damselfly. Most of the trips cost £3 and can be booked on arrival. Falcon costs £2.50.

Meanwhile children will be able to listen to storytellers, watch an open air Nutmeg Puppet Show – ‘Pip’s Wildlife Garden’ and a historic re-enactment display, have their faces painted or try their hand at nature crafts.

There are Springwatch prizes to be won and refreshments will be available. For more information ring Hoveton Information Centre on 01603 756097 or 01603 782281.

Springwatch will be broadcast from Pensthorpe and the Broads from Monday 31 May 8pm.

European funding will promote green tourism on the Broads

A total of 500,000 euros of European funding has been made available to promote green tourism on the Broads over the next three years.

STEP –Sustainable Tourism in Estuary Parks —is part of the Interreg Two Seas programme which is a strand of the European Regional Development Fund.

The money will provide substantial funding for the Broads Authority’s new tourism website, which will be launched at the end of this month.

It will also fund a variety of tourism projects on the Broads. These include reviewing how to improve interpretation and visitor facilities between Ludham Bridge and How Hill, a conservation fund in which visitors will be invited to contribute money to fund enhancement projects, an increase in the number of the number of electric charging points on the waterways and the promotion of the Green Tourism Business Scheme in the Broads.

The STEP project involves the Broads working in partnership with the  Biesbosch National Park in the Netherlands and a protected area around Kruibeke in the Schelde Estuary, Belgium.

The project will be launched on Tuesday May 11^th in Kruibeke which will be attended by key Broads Authority staff and the chairman of the Broads Tourism Forum, Ian Russell.

Bruce Hanson, Broads Authority Head of Tourism said: “This funding gives us a tremendous opportunity to do many things that we have wanted to do for a long time but have not had the resources for. It provides a great boost for sustainable tourism in the Broads and we are particularly pleased to be working very closely with the Broads Tourism Forum to achieve our aims.”

Ian Russell, Chairman of the Broads Tourism Forum said: “Funding of this type presents a range of wonderful opportunities to deliver new initiatives which will help Broads tourism businesses and improve the visitor experience. Programmes like STEP also create opportunities for the Broads Authority and the private sector to develop closer working relationships.”

The Broads became the first member of the English National Park family to be awarded the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in 2006. This high accolade, which plays a significant role in gaining funding, the respect of key partners, and raising the Broads profile, expires early next year. The STEP funding will assist with the reapplication of the Charter and the revision of the Broads Tourism Strategy.

STEP is also a learning exchange between the participant parks. The Broads Authority  hopes to help the Biesbosch gain the European Charter while learning about visitor management and sustainable boating from its European partners.

Especially when it comes to the beautiful sailing boats of the past. Now a project to restore a 112 year old Norfolk Wherry has gained National recognition.

The competition for this years prestigious National Flagship competition was so close that judges were forced for the first time ever to award a runner up prize.

The Norfolk Wherry “Albion” was given the prize to acknowledge the ten year restoration project that has brought this vessel back to life.  The Wherry was a vitally important part of broads Life in the past being the principle means of moving freight and goods to and from the Norfolk broads.

Martyn Heighton, Director of National Historic Ships, said: “Competition was fierce – however the entry from Albion was so strong and comprehensive that the adjudication panel decided to award a runner up prize and a cheque for £250 for Albion.”

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Built in 1898 and rescued from impending oblivion in 1949 the 60ft Albion has been in the care of the Norfolk Wherry Trust ever since. She is one of only two trading wherries remaining from an original fleet of over 300.  Her huge black sail, measuring 1,500 s ft, has become an iconic feature of the Broads.

Over the last 10 yrs a rolling programme of restoration has been carried out by the Trust which this winter saw the replacement of her tabernacle knees. The technical shipwright works were in the hands of Maynard Watson and his assistant Kim Dowe, but the preparation and after care were carried out by volunteers of the Trust.

Trustee and volunteer project co-ordinator Roger Watts said,” We are delighted to have this exceptional award and see it as recognition of all the support and hard work we receive from our members and volunteers in keeping Albion afloat, in increasingly good condition, and available for cruising and viewing by the general public throughout our waterways.”

The Broads Authority is considering bidding for World Heritage Status for the Broads —the ultimate cultural accolade which would raise its profile on the global scene.

It would put the area on a par with the Pyramids, Machu Picchu, Victoria Falls, the Great Barrier Reef and the historic centre of Florence.

The Broads is already a member of the UK’s family of National Parks and a wetland of international importance and renown.

World Heritage Status carries enormous prestige. It helps to promote the site internationally and attract new visitors as well as encouraging the highest quality standards for tourism and for managing and protecting the site.

The decision to bid for recognition of the Broads as a cultural landscape under the World Heritage Convention, was first mooted in 2005/6, but was put on hold to await government guidance.

On Friday May 14^th Broads Authority  members will discuss whether the Authority should go ahead with its bid.

The 890 World Heritage Sites are “places of outstanding universal value to all humanity and are of great importance for the conservation of mankind’s cultural and natural heritage.”

There are 28 sites in the UK including Durham Cathedral and Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Ironbridge Gorge, Stonehenge, Blenheim Palace, the City of Bath, Tower of London, Palace of Westminister, Dorset and East Devon Coast, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.

John Packman, Chief Executive of the Broads Authority, said: “The Broads is a very special area and we believe merits this international recognition. Our preliminary view suggests that the Broads would meet the UK criteria in three of the ten categories under which sites can be nominated.  As a member of the UK’s family of National Parks we are some distance there already.”

The Broads is already well supplied with management plans and surveys necessary to make a bid. This means that the normal costs involved in submitting a bid and then managing a World Heritage site would be considerably reduced. The Broads Forum, a committee of user groups, is supporting the proposal.

The World Heritage Convention was established in 1972 by UNESCO (United Nationals Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.)  At the beginning of this year the Government decided to scrap its current “tentative list” and draw up a shorter list from which one would be selected each year for WHS nomination.