Nurture Lakeland, UK

Finalist, Destination Stewardship Award

Nurture Lakeland is a non-profit membership organisation located in the UK's Lake District with the mission to inspire businesses and individuals to contribute to the conservation and enhancement of the area through sustainable tourism. It comprises of a strong stakeholder network including local businesses, regional tourism authorities and conservation NGOs.

Nurture Lakeland's most prominent scheme is a voluntary visitor payback scheme whereby guests to the Lake District area are offered the opportunity to donate when purchasing locally or at their accommodation provider. To date Nurture Lakeland has raised £1.8 million through this scheme. The funds go to a wide range of conservation projects including upland footpath recovery, protecting rare red squirrels, safeguarding the ospreys, caring for woodlands and environmental education.

Nurture Lakeland also promotes natural and cultural heritage conservation through campaigns such as the 'Herdy Fund' aimed at the upkeep of traditional Herdwick Sheep breeding, or the 'Fix the Fells' campaign which supports the art of dry stone walling - a traditional technique in countryside management. Its 'Love your Lakes' campaign seeks to improve the water quality of the local lakes and engages locals in minimising their phosphate impact on the local environment. The 'Fresh Air is Free' campaign aims at reducing visitor car travel.

Nurture Lakeland works with the Lake District Park Authority as well as Cumbria Tourism to ensure sustainable tourism is embedded into every one of their tourism policies. Furthermore, by conducting Visitor Travel Innovation workshops, Nurture Lakeland engages local businesses in the sustainable development process and local procurement. Their visitor education programmes are examples of communicating Nurture Lakeland's commitment to sustainable tourism development in the Lakeland District and Cumbria. Nurture Lakeland acts as a voice between businesses, conservationists and statutory organisations.